The Real Reason Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode Are Teaming In WWE
The thrown-together alliance conquered all on this week's Raw.
This week's WWE Raw brought unexpected developments in the tag division as Tag Team Turmoil pitted seven established tandems and a thrown-together Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler duo against each other for the right to face champions Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman at Clash of Champions.
Surprisingly, Roode and Ziggler won, eliminating The Lucha House Party, The Revival, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, and Heavy Machinery in a dominant closing run. It came out of nowhere, leaving fans asking "why?", and this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter has the answer.
Dave Meltzer writes that the whole thing was Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman's idea. The former ECW head honcho is apparently a huge fan of Roode and wanted to give him something substantial to do after being booked as a nobody for so long, with him and Ziggler eliminating four other teams designed to make them look strong.
There's currently no word on whether or not Ziggler and Roode will beat Strowman and Rollins or what WWE will do with them after that, but Heyman's support is encouraging for both men. Their pay-per-view victory could be used to build further tension for Strowman and Rollins' Universal Title clash later in the night.