The Curious Case of Dolph Ziggler in the WWE

Dolph Ziggler has to be the most frustrating character on the WWE roster right now. Before the end of 2017, Ziggler vanished from WWE television just before Christmas, relinquishing the U.S. Title in the process and then not being heard from for months of television.

Recently, he returned at the Royal Rumble. But where did he go? Why did he return?

There has never been an explanation. Now, a few weeks after the Royal Rumble, we’re told from Ziggler that he “needs to be more selective when it comes to picking his spots.”

Really? What does that even mean? That’s all we get as far as an explanation for where Ziggler vanished to, and why he gave up a title in the process?

Then Ziggler finished the promo by saying no one can out-shine him and he wants the one title that has eluded him, the WWE Title.

Essentially, WWE had Ziggler give up the U.S. Title and leave for a few weeks and they didn’t even bother to come up with a reason why. There’s no logical reason provided for why that storyline even took place. What caused it? We’ll never know. Why? Because WWE doens’t think that it’s audience cares about the details.

Charlotte beat Sarah Logan

Given the circumstances, there’s reason to believe we’ll see Charlotte face Ruby Riott next week and complete the trio of matches against the group. This match in particular did more for Logan and the Riott Squad than it did Charlotte. It’s not that long, competitive matches aren’t important. But these are relatively new wrestlers, so it’s defining Charlotte down to their level to a certain extent. As much as it would bury the Riott Squad, Charlotte should plow through this competition. At the very least, she should steamroll the first two before finally getting to Ruby Riott last. I’d rather they not book this match at all, and give the Riott Squad something to do that will build them up better.

Baron Corbin beat Kevin Owens to earn a spot in the WWE Title match at Fastlane

This was a good match, but it suffered in terms of reaction because both guys were heels and the crowd wasn’t sure who to invest in as a babyface. Both are heels and both acted as heels. That being said, they worked hard to get the people invested and it seemed, by the finish, that the crowd was more into what they were doing.

Big E & Kofi Kingston beat Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin

There will certainly be a rematch here at some point, after Xavier Woods ran a distraction and interference to allow New Day to get the win. The match was really quick though, much quicker than I thought, but that’s covered somewhat by the case that it wasn’t clean. It also helped protect Gable and Benjamin, which they need. 

Dolph Ziggler beat Sami Zayn

This was a really strange match, and a strange way to end the program. Owens wrestled Corbin in a heel-heel match, and I think Zayn-Ziggler was also a heel-heel match? It’s hard to say, because I don’t think any of us know what Ziggler is anymore. Is he a heel like he was before he left, or is he an unexplained babyface now, after his unexplained last few weeks?

All that being said, the crowd was getting more invested in Ziggler throughout and I think that was because of his superior ability. The match was very good. But Ziggler’s character is an obvious mess. There’s no consistency at all to what he’s been doing. That all needs to change if they want him to be taken seriously.