Dolph Ziggler is a wrestler that wrestling fans are often incredibly split on. There seems to be a huge group of fans that believe he is both underutilized and deserves to be in the main event scene, and there’s a group that thinks he should be relegated to being a jobber. While everyone has their own opinions, it can’t be said that Ziggler hasn’t had an incredible career with the WWE.
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Ziggler is actually a triple crown champion with the company. Altogether, he’s had fourteen separate title reigns throughout his career, two of which were World Heavyweight Championship reigns, and six of which were Intercontinental Championship reigns. His great in-ring ability even led him to a huge push a few years ago that ended with one of the loudest pops in the history of the business. With that said, there’s still plenty that fans have forgotten about Ziggler.
10 He Made His Debut On Sunday Night Heat
These days, Dolph Ziggler often feels like a staple in WWE, and his inclusion on any show is a treat for his fans. Before he rose to prominence, Ziggler debuted on a show that wrestling fans may have actually forgotten about entirely.
Ziggler’s first match for the company was actually a tag team match against Shelton Benjamin and Matt Striker. The match may seem like a strange way to debut a new talent, but Ziggler had been paired with a relatively interesting partner for his original debut.
9 He Was Originally Paired With Chavo Guerrero
It’s likely that most WWE fans would point to the spirit squad as the first time they laid their eyes on Dolph Ziggler, but that’s far from the truth. Dolph Ziggler was actually originally teamed up with Chavo Guerrero during his strange golfer gimmick.
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The pairing was rather ill-timed unfortunately as they were quickly split apart following the tragic passing of Eddie Guerrero. Chavo immediately stopped using his strange golfer gimmick, which meant Ziggler was left with nothing to do only a short while after his original debut.
8 He Was Demoted From The Main Roster Twice
Ziggler’s biggest fans probably know about the more recent unfortunate setbacks he’s faced during his career, but those troubles have plagued his entire career. Ziggler spent a lot of time in WWE’s developmental territory OVW during the early period of his career.
His first demotion came from being split from Chavo Guerrero almost right after he had debuted. His second demotion came at the hands of DX and Ric Flair when as a member of the Spirit Squad, the entire group was sent packing back to OVW.
7 He Was A Tag Team Champion With Four Other Men
While there are plenty of fun title reigns for fans to point to as their favorite from Ziggler’s career, many may have forgotten that he was technically a Tag Team Champion during his time with the Spirit Squad.
While Ziggler didn’t actually win the championships, the belts were said to be defended under the Freebird rule which let any of the men in the stable defend the belts. While the group didn’t last all that long, they did compete in plenty of matches against some iconic performers.
6 His Original Singles Debut Was Derailed
When Dolph Ziggler made his singles debut, there had to be tons of excited wrestling fans waiting to see what he could do. Unfortunately, Ziggler’s debut would end up being lackluster thanks to a wellness policy violation.
While he debuted in September of 2008 as Dolph Ziggler, he would be suspended just one month later for thirty days. Every wrestling fan knows how bad missing thirty days can be at most points of most wrestlers' careers, and he really wouldn’t begin to bounce back until 2009.
5 His First Feud Was With The Great Khali
Ziggler’s biggest fans may look back on his feuds with people like John Morrison, John Cena, Edge, and Alberto Del Rio fondly, they may be surprised as to who his first feud was with. The matchup seems rather strange on paper, but the two did a great job working together.
The whole feud centered around Khali trying to get Ziggler to stop cheating, and Ziggler trying to do everything he can to cheat to avoid a serious fight with Khali. Ziggler actually came out on top of the feud, even though it came with some help from Kane.
4 He Won His First Singles Title From Kofi Kingston
The unfortunate truth of Ziggler’s first title win is that it came at a time when almost all of the focus of the WWE was on the world titles and nothing else. The Intercontinental Championship can often feel like an afterthought and that seems to be the case when Ziggler first picked it up.
The win came during a taping for Smackdown, and it saw a relatively successful run for Ziggler. He managed to beat the always popular Kofi Kingston a number of times while he held the title, and he even managed to hold it for an impressive 160 days.
3 He Was A Pro When NXT Was A Competition Show
No one could be blamed for forgetting what NXT’s real roots in wrestling are. While the show is incredibly exciting these days, NXT was a strange competition show for newer wrestlers in its infancy.
He actually started as a pro on the fourth season of the show with Jacob Novak as his rookie, but he would quickly switch to having Byron Saxton as his rookie. Both of his rookies ended up eliminated from the show only a short time later. That’s what happens when wrestlers like those go up against wrestlers like Fandango and Brodus Clay.
2 His First World Championship Win Was Anything But Special
When fans hear that Ziggler won the World Heavyweight Championship twice, they may scratch their heads in confusion. That would be because the first time he won it, it was under rather dubious circumstances.
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Fans may have forgotten that Vickie Guerrero declared Dolph Ziggler as the World Heavyweight Champion for an incredibly brief span of time during his feud with Edge. People often bicker about how long he technically had the belt, but the whole thing was disappointing for his biggest fans. His major push and championship win was still a few years away at that point.
1 Ziggler Was Part Of A Rare Mid-Match Double-Turn
Heel-turns and face-turns are incredibly common in the world of wrestling. A good turn can lead to some of the best wrestling storylines that have ever been told. In a famous instance, Ziggler was a part of a somewhat rare type of turn.
Many fans were aware that Ziggler suffered a concussion shortly after winning the World Heavyweight Championship which kept him off TV. In a title defense, he would be attacked so brutally by Alberto Del Rio, that Ziggler would turn face as Del Rio turned heel over the course of a championship match.
