The Double-Turn?

[BTD MS]

The double turn is a breath of fresh air that the WHC picture needs. While respecting and enjoying the in-ring ability that ADR shows, I was never really fully sold on his potential to be a viable face for the company. I mean when you have to feed of the coat tails, so to speak, of another performers gimmick, "Si! Si! Si!" anyone, it's really clear that the higher ups of WWE were wanting to get him over in the worst way possible , but unfortunately that is not the case. When your personal ring announcer gets bigger pops than you as a face, then something needs to change......with the quickness.

Ziggler turning into a face makes tons of sense. He has been getting very nice pops from around the country for quite some time now. His selling ability is very enjoyable to watch and his athleticism in the ring puts on for a very entertaining match. While I was a little down to see him drop the WHC so soon after cashing in, I understand why WWE went with this angle in hopes to really get Zig over. The "smart" crowds have already been cheering for the guy and awaited his face turn for some time now, so now with the announce team portraying the match the way they did, shows that they now want the "sympathy" vote to go for him as weel and in turn, get the casual fans to start cheering for the guy.

Overall, this summer has huge potential for the WWE if done properly but I know we have to hold our breath and wait to see if this is the case. If ADR returning to his former heel status and Zig dropping the WHC temporarily to receive a face turn and the HUGE push he so deserves, I'm all ok with what they produced last night at the PPV.

 

[Ellye]

The commentary's reactions made it very clear to me that it was a double turn. Cole and King, the babyface commentators, began to condemn Del Rio for his actions and repeatedly mentioned the valiant effort and heart shown by Dolph.

I enjoyed the whole thing, mainly because it was very unexpected (probably the only truly unexpected thing that happened all night). I didn't think in a million years that Del Rio would be heel again this soon, nor that Dolph would begin a face turn in this manner.

I didn't enjoy Del Rio much during a lot of his previous heel run, but I'm willing to give this a chance regardless. I think it means big things for Dolph, and it's a cool shakeup to the SmackDown title scene to carry us into the summer.

I agree with your whole post.

The commentators lampshading what was happening was what gave it away for me, too, that this was indeed likely a setup for a double turn. And I enjoyed the surprise.

Also, I think it's actually a good thing that Ziggler dropped the belt, even though I highly enjoy his work - his character (even as a heel) works best as a underdog. He is the type of character that works much better when chasing a belt, I don't think he would actually be all that much with the belt around his waist.