Happy Birthday Dolph - A look at The Show Off

Happy Birthday, Dolph!

Nick from the Spirit Squad turns a year older today – Yaaay!

Too bad, the all-male cheerleaders had disbanded to go their own separate ways and aren’t around to cheer on the one guy who made it out of one of the lamest gimmicks to ever be put out on WWE TV, and go on to be one of the best things on TV today – The Show Off!

Ziggler has waited a long time to become what I believe he is on the verge of becoming – the next breakout WWE superstar. Who would have thought this would happen when he first broke out on the scene as a member of the Spirit Squad over 7 years ago. Among an assortment of under-developed characters, Dolph never had the chance to stand out and it was a good thing that they were packed off in a dump and sent back to oblivion.

But Ziggler has always battled opposition more than his own size. A collegiate wrestler, he for a long time, held the record for most number of wins at the university he studied in and usually did it against men much bigger than him. This amateur background has helped him in more ways than one can imagine, as he is an athlete par excellence and with his mat savvy style, is a pure treat to watch. His style in the ring is reminiscent of two of the all-time greats – HBK and Mr. Perfect – while his look is clearly modelled along the lines of the ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. But when you put all of it together, the sum of the parts might just get to be better than the whole.

Ziggler has really been stealing the show for quite some time now and deservedly got the chance to shine when he won the Money in the Bank briefcase last year and kept teasing of cashing it in for the longest time, till he actually did earlier this year. The night after WrestleMania 29 was special in a lot of ways, but with the crowd egging on Ziggler to become the new World Heavyweight Champion that night, he finally proved that he had paid his dues to rightfully become the champion that he always showed flashes of and the entire place came unglued.

Ziggy was the champion at last! Something that looked uncertain when he was holding the MITB briefcase as the booking wasn’t necessarily always great.

Taking a closer look at Dolph’s mannerisms among other things, it is easy to see why he is so good. He gets ‘it’ and had he been a few inches taller and a few pounds heavier, he would have been multiple-time champion by now as he has the perfect look of a pro-wrestler. Still if you ask me as to who can be the face of the company if Cena ever decides to step down, my smart money is on Ziggy.

It’s a shame that after the long wait, when he finally got the title around his waist, he had to withstand a concussion, resulting in him dropping the title back to Alberto Del Rio. But the time was right for him to wade into baby face waters as people have started getting behind him now and with him talking a lot more, I hope it’s only a matter of time that the championship belt gets to be shown off around the super-fit waist of The Show off.

His current feud with AJ and Big E has all the potential to be interesting as hell, and with a monster of the size of Big E involved, Dolph has got an excellent chance to move from being a star bumper to a star who also bumps better than anyone else. Watch out for Ziggler this year. As he celebrates his 33rd birthday, he is poised for the best things to come out of his WWE experience.

A very happy birthday to ‘The Show Off’ Dolph Ziggler.