9. Dolph Ziggler & Shawn Michaels
Nick 'Dolph Ziggler' Nemeth has been compared - at least superficially - to several wrestlers in the past eight years since his re-debut on the WWE main roster. There's the Mr. Perfect comparison, the two men sharing a hairstyle, a little of the attitude as heels, and some measure of technical prowess. There's the less appealing Billy Gunn schtick people trot out - well, they're both blond, they both use the leg drop bulldog... they both gyrate on their entrance. Ask Nemeth himself, however, and he'll name two others he's often associated with:
"Favorite wrestler of all timethat's a tricky one. There's two. Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair are my two favorite of all time... Just because of a talk I had with him last week at a TV, I'd have to go with Shawn Michaels. When I was in the Spirit Squad and first starting here he wasn't full-time, but he was around all the time, doing some live events and doing some TVs and things. I got to constantly go what would you do in this situation? Why am I not doing this? He had been in several similar situations that I had, just trying to get ahead and trying to get to the top, and literally last week was the first time I've seen him in a while. Sat him down and got to talk to him for an hour last weekend. Vent, got to ask his advice. So I got to go with Shawn on that." - The Spanish Announce Table podcast
Both he and Michaels share a scrappy, fast-paced big-bumping style incorporating the oversell as a storytelling technique, although Ziggler is notorious for overdoing it. There's still plenty of Flair in there, though: Michaels himself is more than a little influenced by the 'Nature Boy', and even took on the infamous 'Flair flop' before his own retirement a few years ago. Sadly, it seems that the Show-Off is fated never to scale the dizzy heights that the Show-Stopper reached. Despite that, his phenomenal showing at 2014's Survivor Series was quintessential babyface 'Heartbreak Kid', with more heart and guts on display than a Turkish abattoir.