The year 2013 had it’s ups and downs when it came to great moments but this is one that won’t be forgotten any time soon. WrestleMania 29 had a few decent matches but is widely looked back on as one of the weaker cards in the history of the big event. The night after however will live in infamy.
Dolph Ziggler had been working his way up the card since debuting with the Spirit Squad in 2006 and he was getting a lot of attention from the WWE fans and management for putting on quality matches night after night. He had been working as a heel for most of his career but the fans were starting to embrace him and cheer him despite the fact that he was supposed to be a bad guy. After a few brief glimpses at main event status many people were starting to wonder what it would take to keep Dolph at the top of the card in WWE. Finally in the summer of 2012 Dolph won the money in the bank briefcase and everyone had high hopes that his time had arrived.
Dolph would spend most the next 9 months in high profile feuds and he teased cashing in the briefcase quite a few times. The tease was done perfectly and the trigger was pulled at exactly the right moment. The night after WrestleMania 29 Dolph picked his spot and cashed in on Alberto Del Rio. What followed was one of the loudest pops in the history of Raw as fans around the world rejoiced because all of Dolph’s hard work finally paid off.
Of course the story doesn’t have much of a fairy tale ending. A short time after winning the World Heavyweight Championship Dolph Ziggler suffered a concussion during a match with Jack Swagger. He was out of action for a number of weeks and when he returned the powers that be decided he would drop the title to Alberto Del Rio.
After losing the title to Del Rio Dolph made a few comments about how he was understandably frustrated with his spot while doing media interviews for Summerslam. WWE didn’t seem too thrilled about the comments and Dolph has been getting humbled by WWE management ever since. He’s dropped pretty far down the card once again and seems to lack direction despite the fact that his matches are consistently great and the fans continue to support him.
Although things may not be going all that well for Dolph right now, no one will ever be able to take this moment away from him. Even if it ends up being the peak of his WWE career, it’s one hell of a claim to fame.
