12 WWE Failures Who Became World Champion
11. Dolph Ziggler
Imagine being involved in one of the most flagrantly racist and unwanted gimmick packages of all time. Dolph Ziggler went through that before he was even Dolph Ziggler! For a spell, he followed Chavo Guerrero's brutally offensive Kerwin White character around as his golf caddy. Hey, a gig was a gig, and young Nic Nemeth wasn't going to rock the golf cart by questioning management.
Later, the caddy became a male cheerleader in The Spirit Squad. That was slightly better, but it was also something WWE's writers were never going to take seriously. Foreheads were palmed once again when Nicky introduced himself as Dolph Ziggler. Then, he introduced himself again. Then again. Then again. Then again. It got old fast, but Ziggler was clearly keen to make a name for himself.
He'd become known as a solid hand, but the stench of those prior failures hung over him like a dark cloud. By 2011, WWE had Vickie Guerrero hand him the World Heavyweight Champion on SmackDown. That was done so Edge could put the heel in his place and thumb his nose at Vickie. Dolph dropped the belt he'd just been handed on the same episode.
Ziggler had to wait until 2013 for a proper World Title stint. It was infinitely more satisfying than his first had been, although a double turn with Alberto Del Rio brought on by Dolph's concussion issues stopped him short of being the lengthy champion he wanted to be. Still, he'd successfully traded carrying golf clubs around for toting the big gold, and that had to feel good for somebody who had grown accustomed to being overlooked by decision makers.
"Hi, I'm Dolph Ziggler" worked. It actually worked.