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WWE Clash of Champions 2017 was a pay-per-view that didn't really have any big surprises or shocks throughout the night, except for one, right at the start of the show when Baron Corbin looked to defend his United States title against Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode, with Dolph Ziggler incredibly emerging as the new United States Champion.
It's a move I certainly didn't see coming, with Bobby Roode still waiting for his big moment since being called up from NXT and Baron Corbin looking like he was going to have a fairly lengthy run with the US title after his convincing title defences against AJ Styles and Sin Cara.
Now, you might be confused about this shock decision to put the title on Dolph Ziggler, but here are 5 reasons why Dolph Ziggler won the US Title.
#5 Nobody expected it
As soon as Ziggler was announced as a participant in the match, there were many people in the wrestling circles that I am part of writing him off from the start, stating that he was in the match to 'bump like mad' and make the other two look good, with one of Roode or Corbin expected to win the match.
This is, in part, because Ziggler has had a bit of a lacklustre run in the WWE of late, losing most of the feuds he's found himself in during 2017 and creating the expectation that he is just there to lose to whoever he's up against.
Now, with Ziggler leaving Clash of Champions clutching that coveted title the WWE have subverted expectations and flipped everything on its head, in a move that was an unexpected, but welcome surprise. This is especially a good thing as it was the only real shock in a pay-per-view that played it quite safe for the rest of the night.
#4 It elevates the US Title
Say what you want about Baron Corbin, I think he's greatly improved and is on his way to becoming a potential top guy in the company, but he's not quite there yet, and he's certainly made no indication that he's going to raise the prestige of the United States title in the same way that AJ Styles did.
However, a wrestler like Dolph Ziggler, who is a veteran within the WWE now, can carry the United States title and raise it's stock, in a similar way to John Cena's 'open challenge' run and The Miz's memorable Intercontinental Title run.
#3 It frees up Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode
The feud between Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode seems to be in its infancy, which means that they now have more options going forward now that Corbin is no longer the United States champion.
Sure it's likely that Corbin will invoke his rematch clause, but I fully expect Ziggler will retain and Corbin and Roode will go on to continue their animosity towards each other in the ring. This will also give SmackDown LIVE more options in general as they will be able to introduce new Superstars into the mid-card title picture.
#2 Dolph Ziggler will be better placed to put people over
Ziggler finds himself in a spot on the main roster where he's sort of the 'gatekeeper' to the new guys who get called up from NXT. He's two most recent feuds were against Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode.
However, these two feuds didn't really do either man any favours, Nakamura and Roode didn't get the boost they needed to propel themselves into the mid-card and Ziggler's stock further fell following 'yet another' predictable loss.
This title win means that Ziggler has some momentum again and this will undoubtedly be a good thing for the Superstars that he puts over going forward.
#1 It's WWE's way of giving him the recognition he deserves
There are those out there who don't 'get' Dolph Ziggler, probably because of his enthusiastic in-ring style that seems him taking bumps like Shawn Michaels. I, however, have been a fan of his for a long time and I'd like to think that even Ziggler's detractors can appreciate his worth-ethic, his loyalty to the WWE and the matches he puts on.
The fact that the WWE have trusted him with the new call-ups from NXT and have managed to keep him on the upper-mid card for years clearly shows that they have a lot of faith in the Superstar, but they've never quite managed to fully pull the trigger on 'The Showoff' even after the spell he wrestled two matches per Pay-Per-View or when he was the survivor of Team Cena vs Team Authority.
I'd like to think that this title run is the WWE's way of given Ziggler the recognition he deserves, and their way of saying thank you for all of the work he's done for them.
