Dolph Ziggler: The Best is Not Good Enough

Dolph Ziggler will likely spend his entire professional wrestling career in WWE. There's nothing wrong with that; a lot of guys never even make it to Vince McMahon's company, much less spend a lifetime there.

And Dolph is a former World champion. A lot of guys that do make it there never touch a belt of any kind, much less a top championship. Ziggler has accomplished a lot in WWE and any fan will tell you he should be proud of it.

But those same fans will also tell you that Ziggler has been doing nothing but spinning his wheels for the bulk of his career. Consistently viewed as perhaps the best hand in WWE, Dolph is usually busy doing what he claims to do; stealing the show.

It's a nice catchphrase and looks good on a T-Shirt but it's the absolute truth for him. If WWE were covered on SportsCenter, Dolph's matches would always make the highlight reel.

But none of that does any good in the long run because he's still in the same place. Think about that. The guy that is argubaly the best worker in the locker room, makes everyone he's in the ring with look good, is getting virtually nothing for his efforts.

Yes he's on TV and yes he's featured on a regular basis but for most of his supporters, it's not enough. Fans expect the best to rise up and honestly, they should. The top talents should get the top spots, that's the way the business has traditionally always worked.

Of course this is WWE, where tradition doesn't always matter. McMahon is going to use who he wants, when he wants to use them. We're all aware of that, we know how the game is played.

And Ziggler's routine is beginning to wear a little thin. He's been the "overachieving mid-card star being held down" for much too long now. Everyone believes he's capable of more and everyone believes he's not getting enough to prove it.

And we've all been singing the same song for a long time now.

The problem is, nothing's changing. Dolph cuts one promo after another, proclaiming his greatness via his work ethic and stating he doesn't need gimmicks to show how good he is. He's become the poster boy for the "worked shoot" interview.

We know he's right. We feel what he's saying. But after he says it, it's back to business as usual. Dolph Ziggler is up to his neck in mud and he can't spin his way out of it. Was this the character he wanted? Is this really going to be the direction he goes in from now on?

How long are we going to be talking about Dolph as the guy that should get a break but never does?

There are a couple of things at play here. One is the fact that Ziggler is a workhorse, a guy depended upon to bring it home night in and night out. He's always on TV, he's always dependable and at the end of the day, he can be counted on to keep his head down and deliver.

And guys like that are needed where they are. They're the meat and potatoes of the card, the steak among the sizzle. Take Dolph out of that and he will need to be replaced. But how do you replace a performer of his quality?

The second thing is the most obvious; WWE has put him up in a top spot before and he was hurt in the process. He was Daniel Bryan before Daniel Bryan was there and now Dolph is breaking his back every week for a main event run neither he or Bryan is getting.

Is it coincidence that Dolph was hurt after getting the World Championship? Of course it was. Is it stopping WWE from giving him another chance? It sure looks that way.

So we're left with a talent that deserves all the acclaim he receives, a guy that has been compared to Shawn Michaels and Curt Hennig, a guy that can get it done on the highest level, yet he's got nothing to show for it. He's the Superstar that could take the ball and run with it when his name is called but all he does is ride the bench.

WWE uses him where it needs him and truth be told, that's okay. And it's not okay. Maybe it's meant to be both and maybe that's the point. Maybe Dolph is supposed to be that guy, the underdog that's not really an underdog.

He's the favorite to move up, to be "the guy" but it's not happening. He's the best but it may never be good enough.