World Heavyweight Championship Picture

[Jack-Hammer]

F4WOnline.com is reporting that the winner of the Del Rio vs. Swagger match at Extreme Rules will get his shot at the title against Dolph Ziggler on the first episode of Raw in which Ziggler is medically cleared & able to compete. As a result, WWE will be able to keep whatever plans they have for the WHC in tact for the next ppv.

Neither the WWE or World Heavyweight Championships are defended on television all that often. In my opinion, WWE really should hype the title match as a big deal and give it a lot of attention.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I expect Randy Orton to be in the World Title picture soon, possibly by the next PPV and he'll turn heel after winning the belt. I'm not saying he'll win the belt at the next PPV. He'll probably feud over a couple PPVs with Ziggler, but as much as he's in WWE's doghouse, I see the belt going back to Orton by Summer Slam.

I agree with you that the WHC match on RAW should really be hyped but WWE just doesn't care about that belt anymore, unfortunately.

 

[Pedigree1]

SO when Ziggler is medically cleared he will defend his title on the first episode of Raw correct? Ziggler got kicked awfully hard so it might be a few weeks. From what i have read he is still suffering from symptoms. Migraines (Which i know all about)nausea and dizzy spills. But your right OP in saying the match should be hyped but lets face it the WHC is not really an important title anymore.

While Swagger should be champion (im probably in the minority on that one) and ADR well he was never an exciting champion to begin with it really should go to the Viper. Randy is a much much better heel than a face. But due to his Wellness Violations the WWE has lost a lot of faith in him. Randy Orton will be champion by summerslam. Randy will make the most credible champion on smackdown IMO for the time being

 

[Redemption-2012]

Why are they even having this match? They could have done MUCH more with this and yet again they waste it. With that being said, when DZ is recovered from his concussion I could see him entering a feud with Randy Orton.

 

[darkrain888]

Although Del Rio gets good cheers at events, I think Swagger should win the number 1 contenders match thus giving Mr Ziggles a chance at revenge against Swagger. I know heel vs heel normally doesn't work but I think in this case, if they hype it up just right it can. If the crowd gets behind ziggles and embraces him like a cheap ****e the way the IWC has, then you can have a heel Randy Orton vs a face Ziggler. I'm not sure why Big E is even a faction with ziggler and aj (threes a crowd) but having big e break away, then allows an interesting situation where orton (who I despise) is champion, and aj can dump mr ziggles for randy orton (thus making her rounds some more).

 

[LODemolition]

I believe that once Hell No loses the tag team titles, Daniel Bryan will be moved into a feud with Ziggler over the course of the summer. Probably starting at MITB and lasting until Night of Champions (I imagine Dolph will face Del Rio at Payback and retain). He is the most logical choice to work a program with Dolph, given his history with AJ and not to mention they've always worked well in the ring together. I really hope it's not Orton. We've already seen that match a thousand times on Smackdown, so why would that suddenly excite the fans?

On a side note, why the hell does Del Rio have to face Swagger to decide the #1 contender in the first place? He's the former World Champ. The former champ has a rematch clause.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I can see the winner at Extreme Rules being Del Rio to set up the match for RAW and, once the time comes for the bout, we get another Swagger attack ending the match to set up the Ladder Match for Payback that we were originally going to get this Sunday. As such, I can see the match getting quite heavily hyped (definitely on SmackDown) to garner the interest of potential PPV buyers wanting to see either Del Rio (as the cut and dried blue eye) and/ or Ziggler (as the smarky favorite) get their 'payback' on the old school heel Swagger.

 

[JakeAdams]

would anyone be opposed to Dolph working as a tweener? He gets face reactions and I think they could tease him going either way. Especially if Big E. is considered for a Face run. You could easily book them as a face team in place of Daniel Bryan's eventual blow out. Any thoughts?

 

[ChicagoMade Punk]

Everyone here is pulling for Orton to be the next one in the title picture, but I honestly would like to see Mark Henry vs. Ziggler. Imagine the rub Ziggler would get if he won. Everyone has that one match/feud that makes their title run memorable. Even if its small. Ziggler vs. Henry could be gold.

 

[Vault08]

Props to WWE for being smart and not making Ziggler surrender this title, though I'm not sure that anyone cares about Del Rio vs. Swagger now

 

[Trance Metaphor]

On one hand, it sucks that Dolph Ziggler is injured, but on the other hand it's great that he isn't in the originally-planned triple threat match. I'm not a big fan of triple threat matches and I would have hated Dolph Ziggler's first title defence being in a triple threat match. Anyway, hopefully Jack Swagger wins the match at Sunday and goes on to face Dolph Ziggler only to lose. Then, Alberto Del Rio gets his shot and also loses. That way Dolph Ziggler gets two successful title defences over two guys he should have been defeating as World Champion. Otherwise, the whole thing is worthless. Ziggler should be proving why he deserves to be the World Champion and so far, just hasn't been booked convincingly enough to pull that off. I can't really remember the last time a World Champion during a World title reign lost matches cleanly in non-title bouts. It makes the Champion look weak as hell. That's quite detrimental to any kind of value they are trying to build for themselves and the title itself. I do hope Randy Orton and a returning Christian will be the next ones to chase after the title in order to freshen up the picture a bit for the summer. It's never fun when the same guys are always hunting.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The toughest aspect of the World Heavyweight Championship picture to call is how Dolph Ziggler is truly regarded by management. They've given him the longest, sustained push toward the title I've ever seen......but now that he's there, how long will he hold it? Do they plan to have Dolph at the absolute top of the rankings for years to come, winning and losing the title at PPVs over the next decade? Or now that they've finally gotten him where they want him to be, do they plan to have him drop the belt at the next event he wrestles?

My concern is that it's #1: they decided a few years ago that Nick Nemeth was the guy who was going to take the company into the 2020's, turning face and turning back to heel as many times as called for, with the fans going nuts at the sight of him.....that's what WWE is hoping.

If this is so, I'm disappointed; I think they're backing the wrong horse. Although I like watching Dolph perform, I feel he's no better than a mid-carder and shouldn't be competing at a championship level. WWE, however, sees him as a champion and after a long, long building period....he is one, for better or worse.

As to his challengers, I can see Randy Orton or Alberto Del Rio as titleholders, but not Jack Swagger. When Big Show is in the title hunt (which he hasn't been for months) he makes a formidable champion. The same goes for Sheamus; he's capable of holding the belt, but he's not vying for the title at this time.

So, we're left with Dolph. We have to wait for him to get back......and when he does, we'll know what the company truly has planned for him...... and by extension, for the rest of the division.