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We’ve known it was coming ever since Dolph Ziggler became Mr. Money in the Bank this past summer, earning a contract for a guaranteed shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at the place of his time and choosing, but no one was sure when. The prevalent theory was that he would become the first to cash in at WrestleMania, but that came and went. Further speculation was that Ziggler would wait, becoming the first man to wait a full year before cashing in his contract.
But the time for Ziggler came this evening on Monday Night Raw, as the Show-Off launched into the ring to face Alberto Del Rio for the big gold belt. Del Rio, his leg already weakened from a match with Jack Swagger, put up a valiant effort, but ultimately the Show Off proved all along that he truly had been “too damn good…for too damn long”.
With the win, Ziggler becomes a two time World Heavyweight Champion; his first championship run came in 2011, when he was awarded the title by Smackdown General Manager (and then girlfriend) Vickie Guerrero after Edge was stripped of the title for using his then banned finisher, The Spear, against Ziggler in a pay-per-view title match.
It’s unclear where Ziggler goes from here. It is unfortunate that Ziggler, despite being presented as a credible threat, still had so much trouble putting away the clearly weakened Del Rio. And while Del Rio is obviously due a rematch clause, there are bound to be numerous threats to Ziggler’s title. Hopefully, the new champ will find the strength to pick up and fight harder, and he won’t go the way of Christian and lose his belt during tomorrow night’s Smackdown tapings.
