10 Stars WWE Took A Perverse Pleasure In Burying

9. Dolph Ziggler

Daniel Bryan Dolph Ziggler
WWE.com

At WrestleMania 32, on April 3, 2016, Dolph Ziggler made up the numbers in the multi-man ladder bout for Kevin Owens' Intercontinental Title.

A few weeks prior to this, Ziggler - who both Triple H and Vince McMahon reportedly perceive as a weak Shawn Michaels tribute act - ran into Trips and Stephanie McMahon and stood up to them. Which meant he was seconds away from having his balls removed from the sac. This led to a match presumably designed to keep Triple H strong ahead of his date with Roman Reigns - even though Dean Ambrose performed that role at Roadblock days earlier. It was hard not to infer that Ziggler was punished, counterproductively, for his petition to face Daniel Bryan in a singles match.

Stephanie, as she was wont to do, cut into Ziggler far too deeply by reinforcing and making real what he was already perceived as. "You're good, Dolph - but you're not that good." It's probably true - but you don't say it. What's the point?

"We're big enough to see the big picture," Triple H said, easing on their threat to fire him. The irony was apparently lost on him: he defeated Ziggler with some ease in a meh match on the March 14 RAW.

So Ziggler wasn't that good, then.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!