Thoughts on Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena and MITB contract

Almost 5 pay per views have passed since Dolph Ziggler won the Money in the Bank Ladder match and with that the MITB contract. It still remains not cashed as on date. WWE has not done much with MITB this year. As far as the story lines are concerned, their money has been safely in the bank this year. MITB ladder matches are usually a treat to watch. There are 8 people trying to climb the ladder and grab the contract. The matches are generally very engaging and the wrestlers showcase their acrobatics by jumping off the ladder and putting their bodies on the line.

MITB was initially held at WrestleMania events, where the winner has the contract to challenge any champion (Inter-continental, US heavy-weight, World-Heavyweight and WWE championship) anywhere and anytime they want. It was a great platform to judge new talent, whether they would be able to handle the pressures of being the top guy. It was advantageous that the image of the Champion who loses will not be tarnished and at the same, a new talent can be put over. The Idea then became diluted when a separate pay per view was created to host two separate ladder matches, one for WWE championship and the other for the World Heavyweight championship. The unfathomable part was that the main-event for the theme driven PPV were not the MITB ladder matches.

We witnessed a farce this year, where Big Show was part of the MITB match. That is absolutely foolish booking. There is not much a giant could do in a ladder match. Paul Heyman was very great because he knew how to hide all the chinks in the talent’s Armour and only showcase what the talent does best. WWE missed that trick by booking the Big show. It did not end there. John Cena was booked to win the MITB contract, only to cash it in the night after the PPV and then lose it. Two grave mistakes were committed. Number one, MITB should be used to put over new talent and not the face of the company and number two, it really did not make any sense to play your wild card the next day of the PPV. On the contrary, we have Dolph Ziggler who won the World Heavyweight Championship MITB contract and is yet to cash in. We witnessed the two extremes this year, didn’t we?

Dolph Ziggler will be defending his “MITB contract” against John Cena, the other competitor who lost his respective MITB contract. I personally feel that the match has been arranged to keep both of them occupied with some kind of story line till the Royal Rumble or later. We need not read too much into it.

I just hope WWE doesn’t book Cena to win the match at TLC. Dolph Ziggler has paid his dues in the business. He is easily the best seller in the business right now, very good talker, equally good worker and technically very sound. The hallmark of a great wrestler is that he performs and takes bumps in a legit way and yet does not injure his co-wrestler in the process. Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, Curt Hennig and all great wrestlers had that. Bret never injured anyone throughout his career. Fate would have it that Bret’s career would be put to a halt by a mistimed kick from a certain Bill Goldberg. Dolph Ziggler, in my opinion also seem to possess the same qualities. It is no wonder that he has the 2nd most number wins at collegiate level amateur wrestling championships for Kent University.

I also suggest you to listen to this episode of Art of Wrestling Podcast by Colt Cabana, during February earlier this year where Ziggler was on as a guest. It is high time that WWE drops the ball on Ziggler and I am positive that he will run with it, all the way to glory.