Dolph Ziggler has finally turned a corner, as his frustration has gotten the best of him. He snapped on both Kalisto and Apollo Crews last week on SmackDown Live and then did the same, this time with a steel chair on this week’s show.
With Ziggler's heel turn essentially set in stone, opportunities are open for new mid card good guys to step up. Kalisto is a pawn in this situation because WWE appears to finally be ready to give Apollo Crews his chance. Can he capitalise? We'll have to watch, wait, and see.
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These are the reasons why Ziggler's heel turn is going up benefit SmackDown Live, for himself, other wrestlers, and the show as a whole.
#5 Strong storylines without titles involved
One of the many things that RAW lacks right now is a decent feud that doesn't involve a title. They have issues with the title feuds too, but with nothing in place to fight for, there is just a blank space where a lot of guys do stupid things for stupid reasons.
SmackDown Live is a shorter show, but they have been able to make time for a number of stories that don't involve titles. Natalya vs. Nikki Bella is a great example of that. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kalisto and Apollo Crews will be another.
The titles are all well and accounted for, but there is plenty of talent available to fill in other roles. With Ziggler taking on his new heel persona, it opens the door to let many others in. It starts with the story of his frustration leading to Crews defending his friend and can lead to more opportunities for other young wrestlers to get in the ring with the veteran Ziggler.
#4 Apollo Crews gets his shot
Crews was brought into NXT with tonnes of fanfare, and it looked like WWE was priming him for a big push. It didn't take long for that to get derailed, and Crews ended up facing a few losses at the hands of Baron Corbin while they were both in NXT.
The lack of direction continued when he came up to SmackDown Live, with a quick burst to show him off a bit that led to him disappearing from TV. Now he has the motivation and a reason to fight. Ziggler took out his friend and then attacked him too, and did it two weeks in a row.
If Apollo can deliver in the ring with Ziggler and show just a little bit of emotion when he speaks, it opens the door for him to start climbing back up the ladder that was pulled out from under him.
#3 The fresh character is more interesting
Ziggler has been more interesting ever since failing to win the WWE Championship from Dean Ambrose this summer. He’s been fired up, excited and very motivated. His character had some doubts, obviously, but as a performer, he put on some of the best shows of his life both in the ring and on the microphone.
That was great for him, as it became a career resurgence, but after losing the Intercontinental Title that character was going to ebb.
Ziggler hasn’t been a bad guy for a number of years now, and the anger he is showing is incredibly fresh. It makes him more interesting and it will make SmackDown Live as a whole more interesting because it allows for the creation of new match-ups.
#2 Learning opportunities for younger stars
The young stars Ziggler will be working with, Kalisto and Apollo Crews, have a gigantic opportunity by getting to be in the ring with the ring general that Ziggler has become. Sure, the chance to be part of a storyline with Ziggler is a big deal for their characters, but just as wrestlers learning out to perform in front of WWE audiences; this is huge.
Dolph has big match experience as both a good guy and a bad guy, so he can use his knowledge and understanding of how to wrestle a match from both sides to help his young counterparts learn the nuances of a WWE ring.
Crews is already a very good wrestler but needs that extra boost that getting in the ring with a bonafide star and wise veteran can give him. Kalisto has had some experience like this, as he had a multi-match rivalry with Alberto Del Rio, but Del Rio wasn’t motivated the way Dolph Ziggler is right now.
Wrestling Ziggler now can help them become breakout stars soon.
#1 Ziggler will soon be a brand new main eventer
Smackdown Live has a main event scene that flirts with the mid card scene, with multiple performers that are good enough to be the Intercontinental Champion or WWE Champion at any time.
Ziggler is one of those guys, but as a good guy, he outlasted his welcome in that area. Sure, matches with AJ Styles were available, but AJ won’t be a bad guy forever, and Ziggler will be waiting for him when he turns babyface.
In terms of other wrestlers, Ziggler can renew his rivalry with John Cena. He can have a more dirty, true heel-face rivalry with Dean Ambrose, which was lacking when they fought over the WWE Championship.
Most importantly, though, Ziggler’s turn is such a refreshing move that it will propel him back to the level that can see him becoming a very proficient, very worthwhile WWE Champion.
That’s a very big deal because as a good guy he had trouble holding onto the Intercontinental Championship, but as a bad guy, his ruthlessness and anger will help him hold onto the WWE Championship much better, and much longer.
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