Dolph Ziggler has had a successful career in WWE by most standards, though he’s never quite broken through as a consistent main event player. He’ll likely never do so either, because, well, this excerpt from the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter shows how the company views him on the totem pole (emphasis mine):
The World Cup came down to The Miz from SmackDown against Dolph Ziggler from Raw. It was in many ways booked backwards. The idea is who from Raw is low enough on the pecking order that they could be squashed by Shane McMahon in a few minutes and it doesn’t matter that much. Of Ziggler, Bobby Lashley, Rollins and Kurt Angle, the only one viable was Ziggler.
You just know there was never any real consideration for anyone other than Ziggler, always the guy tasked with getting the other guys over. Pro wrestling needs those types, yes, but it has to hurt to understand that this is his place and it’s almost certainly always going to be.
It’s no wonder he’s long flirted with finally calling it a career and moving on to other pursuits. This ceiling is relatively low, and made of steel.