As for why Ziggler is a face, why not?
More then anything, what I was asking is "What qualities is he attributing that make him a face?", more then the decision to turn him into one in the first place.
If anything, he looks to be walking more along the lines of a tweener than anything else. His promo on SD! last night was very much a tweener promo in which he confirmed and stated that he's "cocky" and "arrogant" and that he was proud of it. He's definitely a tweener leaning more towards he babyface side of the fence, but it's not a traditional "good guy" by any stretch.
Agreed, and this was the promo I was referring to in my opening post. He didn't downplay his cockiness or arrogance, rather, he made the point of accentuating the fact that he's
both of those things. But he did it with a nod to the audience, one that acknowledged them as important without pandering. He then did something I think was necessary: He pointed out the differences between himself and Del Rio, and he nailed it.
With the cocky, show off heel character he's been for a while, Ziggler had gone pretty far but it was staring to get a little stale.
That may be so, but he hasn't shown an inkling towards changing that persona. In fact, those were the very traits that he accentuated last night, that he was honest about, and even demonstrated in the aftermath of his matches with both Mahal and McIntyre of 3MB. The difference, and one that's been subtle yet appreciated, is that he's toned it down. He's not going as over the top as he did before, which is a small, subtle difference, but an important one nonetheless.
Since WWE hasn't been ramming Ziggler down people's throats since his return, I'm guessing they're taking I slowly to ultimately gauge the reactions he gets to see if they want to keep him on his current course.
It reminds me of the return Edge made in 2010, to be honest. An injury, made sympathetic because of the opponent. However, as soon as Edge was done with Jericho, he once again turned heel.
And that's the challenge they'll face with Ziggler. He's sympathetic now, because of the actions of Alberto Del Rio. He's involved in a personal feud, one in which he's easy to side with. Following that is the challenge, as they've got to either find a reason to make it stick, or turn him back.
I'm leaning, based on his scolding of AJ backstage and his promo last night, of them making it stick. One would think that the payoff to this feud has to be Ziggler eventually regaining the title from Del Rio, but I'm guessing not until Summerslam. That gives them more time to not only gauge his reactions as a babyface, but to build him as a solid one who can go into the fall as one of the top ones in the company.
Last night was an excellent start as to what needs to be done with Ziggler. I don't mind a slow turn, as long as they plausibly explain it.
