The historic April 8, 2013 edition of Monday Night Raw was highlighted by Dolph Ziggler cashing in his Money In The Bank contract and winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Alberto Del Rio. After consistently stealing the show and drawing comparisons to some all-time greats for the past two years, it seemed like Ziggler was finally at the top of the company and the fans couldn't be any happier as they clearly showed when Ziggler was announced the new champion. One month later, while interfering for Big E Langston during his match with Jack Swagger, "The Showoff" suffered a concussion after a vicious front kick to the head by Swagger. The concussion was so severe that Ziggler would later state in interviews that he doesn't remember the two days or so leading up to the concussion. He was suffering severe headaches, and as such, Ziggler was off TV for a month, including missing a scheduled title defence against Del Rio and Swagger in a ladder match at Extreme Rules. This took away any chance to establish him as the World Heavyweight Champion. Dolph would never even successfully defend the championship, as he would lose the title back to Del Rio in his first match back on TV at WWE Payback. Ziggler has been on a downhill trend since then, and while some would point to that being due to his tendency to ruffle feathers in interviews, there is no doubt that before the concussion, Dolph Ziggler was on top of the world and ready for a lengthy reign as champion. A reign that less than a year later seems like a distant memory.
JV Vernola has been a wrestling fan since he was three (around the same time Hogan was bodyslamming Andre) and has been able to write almost as long. He lives in the scorched earth that is the Arizona desert while trying to maintain awesomeness.
