This day in Pro Wrestling history - 19th March: Ziggler wins the gauntlet
Dolph Ziggler has done it all in the WWE despite the company booking him continuously as the good guy who always comes up short. His best run came when he was booked as an obnoxious heel and was paired with AJ Lee.
After turning face in a match against Alberto Del Rio, Ziggler was booked as the good guy who always fought the good fight. But when Wrestlemania 31 came about, Ziggler was one of the favourites to win the Intercontinental title ladder match, even though the field included one Daniel Bryan.
Ziggler would beat all the IC title contenders in a gauntlet match to gain momentum but would come up short in the actual match. Today we look back at the gauntlet that Ziggler won. We also remember the debuts of Rhyno and Spike Dudley as well as the inglorious run of DDP in the WWE.
#1 Dolph Ziggler wins the IC title contenders’ Gauntlet match – 19 March 2015
Wrestlemania 31 finally brought prestige back to the secondary titles in the WWE when it was announced that both the Intercontinental and the United States title would be defended on the show that year.
It would be John Cena moving away from his main event duties and challenging Rusev for the US title, whereas the IC Champion Bad News Barrett would defend his title against six men in a ladder match.
With the likes of Daniel Bryan and Dean Ambrose involved in the latter match, WWE decided to have a preview of the match by entering all six challengers to the title in a Gauntlet match. Ambrose started the match and beat both Stardust and R-Truth before running into Luke Harper.
The Wyatt family member would get rid of Ambrose with a powerbomb before battling the eagerly awaited entrant Daniel Bryan next.
Bryan would produce yet another master class, countering Harper’s Powerbomb into a leg lock to pick up the submission victory. This would leave Bryan alone in the ring against the final entrant Dolph Ziggler. The duo would have a great match and it would be Ziggler coming out on top with a ZigZag out of nowhere to win the Gauntlet.
Ziggler and Bryan would also battle each other during the climax of the title match at ‘Mania where a battle of headbutts would see Bryan drop Ziggler from the top of a ladder to claim the title.