10 Times WWE Totally Dropped The Ball On Something Hot

4. THAT Post-'Mania Buzz Around Dolph Ziggler

WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Sami Zayn
WWE

Bar Seth Rollins' Heist of the Century at WrestleMania 31, Dolph Ziggler is the person with the greatest Money in the Bank cash-in in WWE history.

When Ziggler's music hit on the Raw after WrestleMania 29, New Jersey's Izod Center lost its collective mind as the Show-Off headed to the ring, flanked by AJ Lee and Big E Langston. By this point in time, Ziggler had long been viewed as not only one of WWE's smoothest in-ring workers, but also a worker who was forever undervalued by the company.

Sure, he'd had the briefest of brief cups of coffee with the World Heavyweight Championship - holding that belt for less than an episode of SmackDown back in February 2011 - but fans had started to clamour for Dolph to get a proper run as a main event act and a World Champion. And when WWE decided to have the real-life Nic Nemeth cash-in on Alberto Del Rio the night after 'Mania, it looked as if the company was finally going to make the most of the increasing support behind Ziggler.

While longer than his first run with that prize, Dolph's second reign as World Heavyweight Champion only clocked in at 70 days, he didn't have one successful title defence, and was absent from TV for a month before dropping Big Gold back to Del Rio at WWE Payback that June.

The reason for that TV absence was down to a concussion suffered at the hands of Jack Swagger, and that absence reportedly resulted in Vince McMahon labelling Dolph Ziggler as injury prone. Even when WWE would later place Ziggler in major spots - such as having Dolph be the sole survivor in the Survivor Series 2014 main event - the promotion would do zero to capitalise on any momentum generated by the talent.

Regardless of his ability and, at times, the connection he's had with fans, Ziggler has instead been the ultimate utility player for WWE rather than the prolonged main event star he had the potential to be.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.