What's on the horizon for Dolph Ziggler?

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

A few days ago, I read an article about Ziggler getting injured again, in particular he suffered a concussion, similar to when he was WHC.

Simple question: Once he comes back (probably gonna take some time, because it is the second time it happened), what would you do with him? Is he trustworthy to be placed on the main event? What if he gets injured again? Has he lost his momentum to go back to the title picture? Is he just going back to jobbing 2008-spiritsquad style?

 

[Best in the World 79]

He needs to comeback heel. He needs a manager because his promos do suck. I love watching him wrestles. He sells better than any current star and he puts on good matches with just about everyone. Have him drop the pink shit and smile and start super kicking everyone. If he's going to be booked to lose then he needs to work heel so they can at least accomplish a little bit of something

 

[Mustang Sally]

Whether he comes back from his concussion as a heel or face is fine to speculate about as a short-term subject, but how management regards his long-term future is the real question. Plainly, someone decided a few years ago that this guy was championship material. The pushed him like I've never seen anyone pushed before......but once he finally reached main event status, they dropped him back to mid-card, making me wonder whether the "star-making" mission was actually just a brief sojourn to the top.

Then, after winning and losing (mostly losing) against main eventers while occupying the mid-card, Creative suddenly launched Dolph to the very top, cashing in MITB on Alberto Del Rio. When that happened, I figured he was going to be at the top of the card for the next decade. Instead, after a brief injury time-out, he was shipped back to the mid-card, where he remains today.

Has management decided Dolph isn't main event material after all.....or are they making him pay more penance before sending him to the heights for good?

I honestly can't figure it out. If Dolph gets extra money for the number of ring appearances he makes, the guy should be doing well financially. But whether the company is figuring on this guy being one of their top attractions for years and years is beyond my ability to fathom.....possibly because they might yet know it themselves.

Stay tuned.

 

[Best in the World 79]

That was spot on. I agree.

With that said, he's in his early thirties, a former champion, has great matches consistently, and he is over. His promos are pretty bad still, so I still think him working heel with possibly Heyman, or another manager that's any count. His persona better suits as a heel in my opinion. He's talented enough to rebound. He's young enough to be around the main event til about 2020.

Oh what a few clean wins could do for a guy like Dolph

 

[George Steele's Barber]

He'll probably have eggs for breakfast then surf Facebook to see what some of his old girlfriends are up to. Then he'll walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes, see that he left his computer still on, watch some porn and then take a nap.

I don't know anything about the severity of Ziggler's injury but if it takes him out for a long time he is going to come back as a face, since the smarks always make everyone come back as a face. He'll wrestle for a while, they will continue to try new things with him, he'll get hurt again and eventually you'll be able to contact him through email for independent bookings.

 

[sjdigitall]

Either push him to the main event and make him a star or fire him, it really has come to this for Dolph Ziggler. He has been in the WWE for nearly about 9 years now, if he isnt ready now to be in the main event then im afraid he never will be. My opinion is he is ready, his mic skillls are good but he hasnt really been given anything interesting to work with.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

No doubt there are NO plans for Dolph Ziggler. This should not come as a surprise because WWE have done nothing indicate that will change anytime soon. It's a shame and a waste of talent but what can you do?

 

[Ex-Degenerate]

There were rumors last year about him being managed by Ric Flair. If they are going to give him a big push, that would be the way to do it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't think the future is all that bright for Dolph Ziggler as far as his prospects as a main eventer. For one thing, and things started to go downhill for Ziggler after this, Ziggler suffered a concussion back during the summer and, as you'd imagine, resulted in an immediate stop in his push. Now, due to his match with Ryback at the Main Event tapings, Ziggler suffered his second concussion within 6 months.

WWE has to be looking at Ziggler's long term potential. As I mentioned in another thread in which Fandango was mentioned, medical science is learning more & more about the long term effects of head trauma. It's led to every sports organization really taking a much closer, longer and harder look at head trauma as a whole and those athletes that've endured said trauma. In Ziggler's case, it wasn't his actions that led to his concussions, but the mistakes made by Jack Swagger and Ryback. Swagger miscalculated a kick that was meant to catch Ziggler in the chest or shoulder area and Ryback's often being accused of being reckless and stiff in the ring, which he was as he delivered the meathook clothesline to Ziggler. Ziggler will probably be watched very closely for a while when he ultimately comes back.

Another problem for Ziggler as a main eventer is that there's, once again, only a single World Championship in WWE. As a result, I view WWE as being a lot more particular about who gets to carry the top title. That coupled with Ziggler's history of severe head trauma makes me think that he's going to be firmly within the mid-card and/or tag team scene going forward.

 

[Pedigree1]

Ziggler is interesting to say the least! He is athletic to say the least,but as it stands now he cant stay healthy. He received a massive push a incredible one if you say,someone did indeed decide lets push Ziggles i see championship material on him. Okay i can see him being Champion one day,but not as soon as it happened. But as soon as he rise to the top,he fell even faster to mid-card status. A former champion whose combined reigns didnt last more than a cup of coffee,is in obvious parallel.

The real question is not whether whats on the horizon or not,its whether can the man stay healthy. Turn him heel or face,he has got to stay healthy,i dare say one more concussion in less than a year could spell the end of his career!! WWE has got to be thinking long term future with this guy,not just short-term because hes popular. As the title is now unified,could you honestly see ziggler as the WWE WHC,knowing he is only one more concussion away,from being on the shelf again? The future does not look bright at all for mr ziggles "Sorry Dolph its true its true"

 

[$Mr. 100%]

Once he is healthy bring him back as a heel. Would love him b da new nature boy w/ric flair as his mentor and even using his real name naturebby nick nemeth. But he has 2 stay healthy so wwe can trust him n da main event

 

[Softcore Holly]

Once he is healthy bring him back as a heel. Would love him b da new nature boy w/ric flair as his mentor and even using his real name naturebby nick nemeth. But he has 2 stay healthy so wwe can trust him n da main event

I don't think health is that much of a issue for Dolph, he's been healthy for most of his WWE career but he just run into some bad luck/sloppy opponents. Accidents happen and that alone shouldn't keep him out of the main event.

I think the bigger concern is he needs to watch what comes out of his mouth. No more bad-mouthing top stars(least not in public), no more 4th wall breaking, nothing that would get him into anymore trouble with the guys upstairs. We're seen guys come back and be huge stars despite multiple injuries that made them stay away a lot longer then concussions(HHH, Edge, Batista, etc) but unless they're huge we don't see people come back from backstage heat.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

What's on the horizon is at minimum a Christian length break. Christian had one concussion, Dolph's is the 2nd in one year so they are gonna be uber careful. He has the Max Landis movie (although that is also part of the problem he has heat most likely) and most likely a chance to be repackaged on his return.

He's not irredeemable but he has a knack of finding trouble, it's not even bad luck.

He's got to be safer in the ring, even if that means toning the ragdolling down. He's got to stop burying Cena every chance he gets (although Pratista may have just surpassed him) and he's got to accept that he is probably not going to be "the guy" again but a solid mid/upper mid card hand. His window passed, did he blow his chance? Partly but he only got that chance cos he blew someone elses for them.

Would a repackage work? I think so - the name is a major handicap for him, it screams "phoney wrestling name" - He still has time to go back to Nick Nemeth or something else and the E would perhaps be wise to look at this. Image wise he could do with a tweak, he tried it with the dark hair, much as I hate the way wrestlers always seem to go shaven headed, he might suit that kind of image. Hell if it doesn't work out for Bryan they could make Dolph a Wyatt for a while... that might give him more to do.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

If Dolph can stay Healthy when he returns and keeps his head down like Softcore Holly Said, Then the Guy could be a massive star. He had a great run when he First turn face and I really thought that Zigglers time had arrived. The fans had really gotten Behind the guy and was starting to build some momentum, But Dolph got himself in trouble again backstage and his run came to a end. I imagine Ziggler will not return now until after Wrestlemania and if he can return a model employee like Cena i'm Sure he can still be a main Event Guy and seeing as Lesner will more then likely disappear again after Wrestmania, Hayman will need something to do and I'm sure Paul is more then capable of taking Dolph to the top.

 

[CultOfPersonality]

I don't think he needs repackaging. He suits his 'Show Off' gimmick pretty well and it's a good enough gimmick. When he comes back he needs to get himself into the IC/US title picture ASAP. Those titles mean a lot more than the last time he had a title run and he has the right amount of standing in WWE to bring a lot of respect and have some good matches with one of those titles. I do agree he needs a manager - if he came back heel I think he'd make a decent Paul Heyman guy. Heyman likes representing guys with big egos and Dolph has one of the biggest.

If he stays face then you'd need to find a suitable face manager for him, there isn't any around right now though unless you brought back an old face. Who knows, but I certainly think Dolph Ziggler has a future as long as WWE haven't given up on him!