Best Of 2014 ‘WWE Edition – Wrestler of the Year’

As many wrestlers there are in the world can probably have a few thousand to claim individually, but there’s always the crowd favorite that earns the inaugural title of ‘Underdog’. It doesn’t mean the wrestler isn’t talented it means by certain forces at bay the individual is put up against challenges and ultimately fail, but in the end despite all the adversity that wrestler faced he or she came out on top earning the crowds admiration and respect as a talent.

Now we mentioned inaugural as it means something that is being done here. One wrestler that comes to mind when it comes to performance, in-ring ability, and simply ‘stealing the show’ as he likes to put it.

We name WWE’s: Dolph Ziggler as our ‘Wrestler of the Year’. There were many WWE Superstars who were a plausible options for the title this year, but many of them had been impressive for specific parts of the year as opposed to Ziggler, who seemed to make an impact during every appearance he made throughout the year.

Not only has Dolph Ziggler had a banner year in the WWE, the WWE Universe continues to show support for him everywhere he goes. Chants of ‘Ziggler’ and ‘We Want Ziggler’ always fill the arenas as this is a sign that the beloved-talented wrestler has indeed transcended into the hearts of the fans as a true superstar.

In recent years Dolph, has become extremely vocal with his position in the company, which lead some to believe that as push back in 2012 was abruptly stopped after a string of loses to fellow peers Cesaro and Sheamus. Although those loses stumbled the ‘Zig-Zagged’ wrestler, he would get another push in late 2012 after defeating John Cena in the main event of the December 2012 TLC event. He went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship on the Raw that took place the night after WrestleMania, which was one of the most memorable moments of the year. The crowd absolutely loved it and he received one of the biggest ovations of the year despite the fact that he was a heel.

Sadly, that’s where the fun ended for Ziggler. Soon after his World Title win, he suffered a concussion that put him out of action for a few weeks. At the Payback PPV in 2013, Ziggler defended the World Title against rival Alberto Del Rio. Going into the match, Ziggler was the heel champion. By the end of the match, Del Rio was the heel champion while Ziggler became a babyface.

In the second half of 2013, Ziggler was never able to regain the momentum he had.

After all that happened to Ziggler, he would gain some ground in 2014 as the WWE Universe would throw their support behind him each time he came out. By July-August of 2014 Ziggler would see himself back in the hunt for the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the 3rd time in his career against, after being abruptly eliminated in the Battle Royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship (after Wade Barrett was injured) by The Miz. On the following RAW, Ziggler would successfully defeat The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship. Ziggler then retained the championship against Cesaro on September 26 episode of SmackDown, in a triple threat match against Cesaro and Miz the following week on Raw and at Hell in a Cell against Cesaro in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. On the October 28, 2014 episode of Raw, Ziggler and John Cena shook hands together backstage, which The Authority interpreted as a deal to plot against them. As a result, Ziggler was put in a match against Kane, which Ziggler won. Ziggler then announced that he would be part of Team Cena at Survivor Series. On the November 3 episode of Raw, Ziggler was brutally attacked by the returning Luke Harper. The following week, Harper was awarded a title match against Ziggler, which Harper won with assistance from The Authority, ending Ziggler’s reign at 56 days.

The 2014 Survivor Series event saw Ziggler emerging as the sole survivor for a second time. Ziggler contributed to Rusev being counted out, then after all his team-mates were eliminated, he pinned Kane and Luke Harper. Triple H twice prevented Ziggler from pinning final opponent Seth Rollins, but the debuting Sting provided an assist to help Ziggler win the match, thus ousting the Authority from power. At TLC on December 14, Ziggler defeated Harper in a ladder match to capture his fourth Intercontinental Championship. On 16 December edition of SuperSmackdown Live! Ziggler defeated Seth Rollins for the very first time, even though he battled him multiple times in singles matches. Three days after Rolling Stones would name Ziggler as WWE’s ‘Wrestler of the Year’.

It’s crystal clear why the WWE Universe would get behind such a decorated wrestler. He’s charismatic, talented, and definitely a show-off as he’s currently in his 4th reign as WWE Intercontinental Champion. Also held the World Heavyweight Championship twice, a one-time WWE United States Champion, and held the Money In The Bank briefcase one-time as well. Not only is his accolades impressive, he does it with pride as he holds his head up with no shame. One thing is remains unclear what is the future like for Dolph Ziggler? Can he stay on top? Or can he go so much further to even capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship? We know that in the WWE anything can happen, but one thing is constant and that’s Dolph Ziggler will continue to steal the show like only he knows how to.