Dolph Ziggler – The unofficial Grand Slam Champion
Dolph Ziggler is arguably one of the most skilled and talented heels in the WWE. He has seen it all, done it all and won it all. Since joining the WWE in 2004-2005, he’s risen from the lower-mid card to the elites impressively.
Most won’t remember that Ziggler’s first noticeable work in the WWE was as a part of the Spirit Squad. On January 23, 2006, the Spirit Squad made their WWE television debut as a group, appearing on Raw and helping Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry "The King" Lawler by distracting Lawler.
The Spirit Squad later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. The villainous McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple handicap matches.
Since then, Ziggler has seen his stocks rise in the WWE, and he has been involved in many feuds which have helped him establish as one of the top stars in the WWE, while the other members of The Spirit Squad went under.
Overall, “The Showoff” has an impressive record and has won numerous titles during his time with the WWE. He’s won the World Tag Team Championship once with his buddies The Spirit Squad and is currently the WWE Raw Tag Team Champion with Drew McIntyre. Along with that, he has won three individual titles on multiple occasions.
He’s won the WWE Intercontinental Championship 6 times, the WWE United States Championship twice and the World Heavyweight Championship two times! Now that is an impressive tally of titles, and he sure deserves to be in the list of WWE’s Grand Slam Champions.
According to WWE.com, the Modern format requires a Superstar to win the following to become a Grand Slam Champion:
“What exactly qualifies a Grand Slam Champion in WWE has changed several times as the roster of championships has, and only nine Superstars had managed to meet the current set of criteria: Intercontinental Champion, United States Champion, either the Raw (formerly WWE) or SmackDown Tag Team Championship and either active heavyweight title — as in, WWE Championship or, now, the Universal Championship. That is, until WWE Fastlane, when the ranks of Grand Slam Champions grew by one.”
This makes Dolph Ziggler a Grand Slam Champion, for the fans at least. This means that even after winning a primary championship in the form of the World Heavyweight Championship, both the tag team championships and both the tertiary championships, Dolph still loses out as the World Heavyweight Championship is a part of the “old format”. He thus becomes an unofficial Grand Slam Champion.
Now WWE follows the “modern format” which requires him to win either the WWE Championship which is with SmackDown Live or the Universal Championship with his current brand.
So, what does Dolph have to do to sit high among the ranks with Kurt Angle, Edge, The Big Show, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns and Jeff Hardy? All he’s got to do now is beat Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship on RAW or switch brands to SmackDown LIVE and take on AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.
Is that too much to ask for? Share your views in the comments below and let us know if you want to see Dolph Ziggler as a Grand Slam Champion.