Night Of Champions Predictions: Dolph Ziggler VS Rusev
This Sunday live on the WWE Network Dolph Ziggler and Rusev will do battle once again when they go one on one at the two thousand and fifteen Night Of Champions pay per view. The pair have been feuding for the past couple of months with the love square storyline and this weekend they look to prove who the better man is once again. Now unlike some matches on the card this weekend this booking does make sense simply because neither superstar has been able to pick up a clean victory over the other. The past couple of weeks has seen their feud get much more personal and with Lana out of action Ziggler will be out alone with no one in he's corner but will that work in the favour of Rusev? Or Ziggler finally put a stop to the ruthless Bulgarian brute without Lana by he's side? In today's blog post I'm going to be taking you through all of the recent action between both superstars, recapping what we saw from them at SummerSlam, and making my final bold predictions for this match this weekend.
Here is what I wrote about their SummerSlam match from last month in my SummerSlam Review:
"For the past couple of months now we have seen a great feud between Dolph Ziggler and Lana and Rusev and Summer Rae all based on the split of Lana and Rusev. I wasn't expecting to like this feud in the slightest. I started out absolutely hating it. I felt as though it was stupid, cliché, and I didn't like how the WWE were using Summer Rae but this storyline grew on my big time. The longer it went on and the more attention I paid to it the more interested I was in the whole thing. Honestly, this has become one of my favourite storyline of the past month or so and I never ever saw myself saying that. Lana and Summer Rae have done a great job making this a fun to watch, entertaining storyline and have worked really hard to keep everyone interested. I was expecting a lot from this match once again. These are two super talented superstars and even thought they have quite different styles you just know that because of their styles they are just going to put and epic match and I was hopeing they were going to get a great deal of time just because I know that this could easily have been a match of the year candidate if given the time. It had a great story and build up behind it and so I was really really into this match from the get go. Before we get talking about the match can we talk about how freaking hot Lana and Summer Rae looked last night! Absolutely stunning! Now the match itself was very split from the start but after a short amount of time Rusev took full dominance of the match and took control of Ziggler using he's strength to he's advantage. The former US champion kept Ziggler locked in the bear hug for quite some time, really wearing down the fan favourite and taking the energy out of him. The continuous theme of this match was clear. Whenever Ziggler looked to be gaining some momentum and taking control, it would't take long for Rusev to stop him in he's tracks and regain control again. I loved the facial expressions from Rusev throughout this match and he's athleticism amazed me just like it always does. Rusev really did up he's game last and took it to Ziggler. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that Rusev is one heck of an all round performer and has some serious athleticism. This was a really really fun match to watch. The entertainment just kept coming and the only thing that disappointed me was the ending. No one likes a double count out ending do they? It just felt like a really weak ending after an amazing match. The work between Lana and Summer was great too and made this match even more entertaining. I would have loved a different ending and a longer match but it was a great match and I really enjoyed what we saw. I cannot wait to see where this feud goes next."
For the past year or so Rusev has been one of my personal favourite WWE superstars. He has been one of the most dominate forces on the roster and has been one of the fastest growing/rising NXT stars upon he's call up. I will admit that at first I was sceptical about him. I wasn't a fan of he's NXT work and I wasn't sure how he would adapt and break out on the main roster, but he has been extremely impressive and week after week we have seen him first hand improve in every single aspect from he's character, to mic ability, to he's in ring work. The early stages of he's career saw him compete in squash matches and mini feuds to get him stated and put him over. Working with former World Champion Jack Swagger was the major turning point and becoming the United States Champion and feuding with Cena in he's first Wrestlemania match would cement Rusev as another great to come out of NXT. Breaking up Lana and Rusev was always going to be a risk but something that had to happen. They spent well over a year working alongside one another and became the Sable and Marc Mero of this generation, sharing amazing chemistry but all things must come to an end and to be fair, the WWE did a great job providing a fantastic storyline in the build up to their split. What I didn't like was how Rusev went from being the barbaric Bulgarian brute to the bitter ex who can't leg go. He went from being undefeated for a year, a man everyone should fear, to almost being brought to tears as Lana rejected him and found love elsewhere. However, despite the not so great booking and a storyline that failed to showcase he's skills to their full potential Rusev has made every single second count and making what a lot of superstars would struggle to work, work. He is putting one hundred and ten percent effort into he's character and every single piece of TV time that he receives and as a result it has paid off massively. The WWE universe may not be wearing Rusev support shirts but he is getting us to look at him and still take him seriously. He is still making us want to watch him compete and is making us care. Rusev remains extremely convincing throughout the storyline. Every single promo, interview, and segment is on point and when he is wrestling whether it be against Ziggler or any other WWE superstar he is telling a story and keeping us all interested in he's current love square storyline. He has managed to squeeze in a couple of great matches throughout the past couple of months including singles and tag team matches against and alongside the likes of Kevin Owens, John Cena, Sheamus, Cesaro, and Randy Orton, meaning that he has always had a certain level of momentum throughout the storyline. When it comes to allying himself with Summer Rae I have been very up and down about the idea. They clearly don't share the level of chemistry that Rusev and Lana had/have but they have both made it work and Rusev in particularly has adapted well and made the most of it. What Rusev really has shown throughout the feud is that he can make almost anything work that the WWE throw at him and he can make himself look great regardless. This Sunday I will be backing Rusev despite the fact that I doubt he will pick up the victory. He is great at telling a story throughout a match as I have already mentioned and no matter what we will all be left talking about he's overall performance regardless of the outcome.
You guys all know that I have never been the worlds biggest Dolph Ziggler fan, but I can sit here and say honestly that I agree one hundred and ten percent that he is one of the best all round performers and wrestlers that the company has but is also one of the most underutilised in the history of the WWE. The current feud with Rusev to be completely honest hasn't done all that much good for the former World Champion. Regardless of how well both superstars embrace the story the reality is is that most members of the WWE universe do not enjoy watching the typical love triangle (or in this case square) storyline. It doesn't help that he had to take almost a month out of action to film a movie. It may have helped the storyline itself grow for Rusev and Summer Rae and even Lana but it didn't do any good or Dolph Ziggler and also didn't help that he didn't have much chemistry with Lana. As a result he has next to no momentum but bags of motivation. Going into SummerSlam he didn't have much going for him apart from Lana by he's side and the WWE universe chanting him on. He struggled to tell a story because of the lack of work he had done in the build up and I did feel like Rusev carried a great deal of it when it came down to storytelling. However, they both worked well together throughout and as a result put on a great match that unfortunately ended too early and in the wrong way. I wasn't expecting a double count out ending and just like everyone else I wasn't happy about it either. Since then Ziggler has once again been at the short end of the storyline. Rusev and Summer Rae have kept momentum at a high despite being taken out by Ziggler and Lana. They have both been string the pot and scheming to get the upper hand to also cause tensions between the happy couple. The other bad news that Ziggler has to deal with is Lana's wrist injury. The timing of the injury could not have been worse. I think we were all pretty much expecting her to make her in ring debut at Night Of Champions and it's such a shame that she is unable to do so. Because of the injury and the fact that she is due to be out for the rest of the year it does mean that Ziggler will be out there alone with no one by he's side this weekend witch of course means that he is going to have eyes at the back of he's head. We have seen just how dangerous and the major role Summer Rae has/is. There is no doubt that she will be playing an important role yet again this weekend doing everything she can to allow Rusev to pick up the victory. Dolph will have a real task on he's hands this weekend but will he be able to come up on top? And will this be the end of this love square?
This is a storyline that has divided opinion amongst the WWE universe. I personally was not a fan at the start but as time passed and I gave it a chance my opinions began to drastically change and instead it became one of my favourite storyline's during the summer season. Closing this storyline is going to be extremely difficult with Lana absent for so long and it's such a shame. I am worried that Summer, Rusev, and Ziggler will all fall flat and struggle to keep looking strong after Night Of Champions but I do like to have hope that the WWE know what they are doing. The story going into their match this weekend is clear. After the allegations from Summer, Ziggler is out to prove he is
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