10. United States Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder - TLC 2011
Throughout the summer and fall of 2011, Dolph Ziggler regularly appeared on Zack Ryder's YouTube show "Z! True Long Island Story." On their own, and without the assistance of WWE's production or creative teams, the two young stars built a rivalry that had fans anticipating a match between the two over one of the more prestigious midcard titles in wrestling history, Ziggler's United States Championship. Eventually, WWE caught on to the feud and booked the match for its TLC pay-per-view in December. With the eyes of the wrestling world on Ryder, who had built a passionate underground following for himself in the weeks preceding the event, he and Ziggler set out to deliver on the promise their feud had demonstrated both on, and off, WWE television. Ryder stepped his game up, as many expect, but he was not the only one. Ziggler, recognizing the increased exposure the match gave him, turned in one of his finest performances to date. Much like Bret Hart did in 1992 when he defended the Intercontinental Championship against British Bulldog at SummerSlam, the Showoff may have lost the match but he came out of the match looking like a performer destined to rise to the top of the industry and hold the most prestigious title in the land. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pphhUGgnvg From a strictly in-ring perspective, Ziggler was far and away the superior wrestler. Though Ryder celebrated a title victory with his father and friends at ringside, it was the former champion who had fans buzzing about his performance coming out of the show.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
