50 Ups & 50 Downs For WWE's Decade: The 2010s
45. Dolph Cashes In
Taking place in front of a raucous post-WrestleMania 29 crowd that had love to spare for the 'Show Off', Dolph Ziggler determinedly stomped down to the ring alongside AJ Lee and Big E Langston after World Heavyweight Champion Del Rio had been left for dead by downed WrestleMania opponent Jack Swagger. He was about to have the greatest moment of his entire career.
Ziggler had held the briefcase for nearly the full year having won his ladder match the previous July, and targeted Del Rio's injured leg with a flurry of kicks before scoring a nail-biting nearfall. Ziggler briefly lost control of the match, drawing panicked boos from the capacity crowd, but his kick-out generated another thunderous cheer.
Del Rio locked in an arm-breaker as the audience genuinely feared a tap-out, but Ziggler lasered in on the leg yet again and hit a mammoth Zig Zag to win the World Heavyweight Title to the sound of joy and palpable relief from the Izod Center crowd. His fanbase have been chasing a dragon like this one for nearly seven years since.