10 Times WWE Dropped The Ball With Dolph Ziggler
6. Pairing With Maria
Looking back at Ziggler's WWE career so far, you'll notice that he's almost always needed a manager to garner heat as a heel. Before there was Vickie Guerrero and AJ Lee, however, there was Maria, who served as his eye candy for the summer of 2009 during his feud with Rey Mysterio.
Ziggler was already ascending the ladder on SmackDown, but throwing the directionless Maria into his act only added more depth to his character. Although he was a heel and she was still technically a babyface, it made fans want to boo him because they hated seeing her treated poorly at the hands of the former caddy.
Oddly enough, the duo split up prematurely mere months into their run without any explanation. Reportedly, there were plans in place to turn Maria into a full-fledged heel and do a Bonnie and Clyde-like deal with the two (which had the potential to be very fun), but Ziggler's legitimate girlfriend at the time Nikki Bella didn't approve of the pairing and played a part in their on-air demise.
Ziggler floundered even more without her, and she was released from WWE the following February.