Breaking The Streak: Dolph Ziggler Ready To "Show Off"

Birthdate: 10/26/1978 (age 36) Height: 6'2" Weight: 218 Ib He was titled in the WWE as "the longest-reigni...

In a recent revelation, it has been said that the WWE is looking to rewrite history by starting a new title reign that will outlast the streak put in motion by C.M. Punk. Is it a coincidence that the WWE would devise a plan to shatter a record held by their former disgruntled employee? I am guessing that this is precisely the ammunition Vince needed to make sure this plan was put into motion.

CM Punk holds the record of the longest reigning WWE champion of the modern era, as he held the WWE championship from November 20, 2011 to January 27, 2013 for a total of 434 days. CM Punk’s nearly 15-month title reign is the sixth longest WWE title reign of all-time. The longest reigning WWE champion of the modern era before CM Punk was, in fact, John Cena.  After Cena won the WWE championship for the third time in his career, he held the title for 385 days before an injury forced him to relinquish the title.

There is a belief around the Wrestling world that Roman Reigns is the company’s pick to be the new record holder and lead the WWE back to prominence. Roman has come a long way in a short time, but still doesn’t have the charisma and promo skills needed to be a yearlong Champion. He has the in-ring ability and the fan support, but I have feeling that his gimmick could become boring and redundant if pressed upon to remain at the top for a long period of time.

The question is, if not Roman Reigns, who? If it were up to me, the pick would be Dolph Ziggler. Dolph has proved, almost in the same token as Daniel Bryan a year ago, that once you get the backing of the WWE Universe, there’s nothing to stand in your way of climbing that mountain. The chants and cheers consistently erupt every time his name is mentioned. His charisma can be felt by the thousands of viewers at home. This guy could be the second coming of HBK. Yes, I said it. HBK.

Dolph was battling some concussion like symptoms for a while which forced him off of TV, but now seems to be back in full force. His recent work at Survivor Series and weekly matches against Luke Harper has been catching the praise of the locker room, along with WWE officials. What if this praise excelled him into a bigger spot in this year’s Royal Rumble? What if the WWE finally gave us an unpredictable outcome and pegged him as the last man standing?

If this were to happen, he would go onto Wrestlemania 31 and presumably win the WWE Championship, igniting the Ziggler streak. This would be the streak of remaining Champion for 435 days and showing that he is the new face of the WWE, not Roman Reigns. Based on this assessment, the stable would be pretty strong with Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler jockeying for position on a monthly basis. I think this is a pretty decent array of talent to keep fans interested for the next couple of years. Let’s just hope Dolph doesn’t get buried in mid-card hell battling the likes of the Miz every other Thursday. Now that would certainly be bad for business!

What are your thoughts? Could Dolph be the man?

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Ric Flair Reacts To 'Taker's Streak Ending & 'Net Fans

Credit: The Niagara Falls Review

Ric Flair recently spoke about the Undertaker's streak ending and more. Here are the highlights…

On Charlotte Getting Into Wrestling: "I didn't encourage her," he says. "She just went to WrestleMania with me. She was making a real nice living running a personal training center…(WWE's) John Laurinaitis saw her and said, 'Why aren't you wrestling?'"

Also read: ?Rene Dupree Discusses Being Sober, Misconceptions, More

On Internet Fans: "I don't pay any attention to that," he says. "The internet thinks they're smarter than we are, but they're not. If you read the internet, it's like watching Fox News…you don't know what to believe. They all want to predict what they think will happen, but nobody ever knows for sure," he adds. "As an example, 42 years in the business and I never thought Daniel Bryan would win that match (at April's WrestleMania XXX). I didn't think he was going to beat Hunter, and I'm attuned to it!"

On The Undertaker's Streak Ending: "I wanted to see (the streak) go on, but I understand," Flair said. "Times change, it is what it is. You saw how quiet the fans got. They weren't ready for that, so obviously they didn't foresee that."

Major Backstage Update - The End Of Undertaker's Streak

Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter

UPDATE: Despite reports to the contrary, it was not Undertaker's decision to end his legendary undefeated streak at WrestleMania XXX this year. The belief, however, is that if he didn't want to end the streak, he could have put up a fight and it probably wouldn't have happened. Regardless, Vince McMahon made the call to have Brock Lesnar win the match.

Another interesting note is that the original plan for the match was for The Undertaker to go over, however a few days before the show, McMahon changed his mind. The feeling is that McMahon knew of Undertaker's physical condition and the chance that this was going to be his last match, and decided that if the streak was ever going to be broken, it was now or never.

As far as Undertaker's reaction, as previously reported, there are conflicting reports. One friend of his said that he had to be talked into it, while another person who would likely know, said that he didn't argue the decision at all. 'Taker also has enough backstage power that if he didn't want the streak to end, it likely wouldn't have been done.

ORIGINAL: It is said that there were several people who were displeased backstage about the decision to have The Undertaker lose to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30, but were not able (and won't) say anything publicly about it.

The decision to end the streak was reportedly made by Vince McMahon, not The Undertaker. There are some who were "in the know" who say that Vince had to talk Undertaker into it, while others say he went along with it without argument.

Regarding who knew ahead of time that the streak was ending, it is certain that Vince McMahon, Brock Lesnar, Undertaker and Paul Heyman knew, and possibly Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Beyond that, it is difficult to say. No finish was listed on the script but that isn't unusual and it wasn't the only one for the pay-per-view. None of the agents reportedly knew.

Those who saw Undertaker backstage at RAW said that he had a heavy limp and looked to be "in rough shape."

As previously reported, WWE referee Chad Patton -- who served as the official for the Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania XXX -- was not informed ahead of time that Lesnar was going to be defeating Undertaker during the bout. There is, however, some who feel that Undertaker or Lesnar may have tipped him off while they were actually in the ring.

Prior to the match, Patton was pulled aside and told to count to three, as if the match were a shoot, if either guy had their shoulders pinned to the mat. He was told that the only exception would be if Undertaker applied his "Hell's Gate" submission, to not count Undertaker's shoulders down while doing that particular move.

John Cena Speaks Out - Bray Wyatt, Legacy, 'Taker's Streak

In an interview with AMNY.com, John Cena spoke about his Wrestlemania XXX match with Bray Wyatt. Here are highlights:

On preparing for Wyatt: "This one is peculiar. You ask me any other WrestleMania opponent I've ever had, I'd be able to give you a clean cut shot: "John Cena's going to walk into wherever and kick the holy hell out of somebody." But the Bray Wyatt situation is different. He's a difficult opponent to scout because I don't necessarily know what he wants to do at WrestleMania. A lot of my WrestleMania opponents in the past want to simply win. Bray Wyatt has stated that the most important thing for him to do on April 6 is ruin my legacy and he's also that that doesn't necessarily come at the cost of defeating me. He's done some very awkward stuff on "Monday Night Raw" at the cost of victory, having victory within his grasp or one of his family members having victory within [their] grasp and then just throwing away victories just to create an embarrassing moment, or undermining moment for me. So, it's very been very difficult for me to scout Bray, very difficult for me to come up with a battle plan or a playbook and I think, from an outside perspective, that's what makes WrestleMania interesting. It can be the first match that I've been in where I may win, but I may wind up the loser, if that makes any sense."

On his legacy: "I'm certainly not afraid to address the fact that there are a lot of people that enjoy my performances, a lot of people that don't. I think the one thing that I've been consistent to over the years is the reason I go out there. I've openly said I love the WWE. I truly operate on a schedule of hustle, loyalty and respect. That's the term on the T-shirt, but it simply means hard work, respect everyone, even though they may be your enemy, and be loyal to those who are loyal to you. That's pretty much my ideology — so good, bad or indifferent. You know, I've been around for 12 years now, so when you come out and say that the first time, people may not believe it, but 12 years people, people are like, you know what, this is what this guy stands for. And I think Bray's trying to do what he's trying to do – he may see me in a different light or whatever, but he says he's going to change the way people think about me."

On what matches he's looking forward to: "I'm looking forward to The Shield, because I really find excitement in new. I'm a member of the WWE Universe. I'm a fan as well as a superstar, so when I see these new superstars, I get excited. … I'm really looking forward to the Andre the Giant over the top Battle Royal because it's a 30-man situation with so many new superstars and somebody is going to have a WrestleMania moment there. I hope it's a breakout moment for someone. The match that I am most interested in is Triple H versus Daniel Bryan, only because for six months, maybe even longer than that now, Daniel Bryan has been labeled as the guy who will never ever get an opportunity, the guy who is always being kept down. And I agreed with that, until Daniel Bryan occupied Raw and made demands. And those demands were met. And I think Daniel Bryan is a wonderful competitor. I think he has as much passion as anyone else in the WWE. But he asked for these matches, and it looks like a pretty unfair set of circumstances, but if you go back and watch the Raw where he took over, he asked for it. So if he doesn't take advantage of that opportunity, if he doesn't capitalize on that opportunity, then you really can't say he never got one. As unfair as it may be, it's the exact one that he asked for. So, as I said, WrestleMania is made of defining moments and when you ask for an opportunity at WrestleMania and you're gifted opportunity, you better perform, so my eyes are on that match, big time."

On if Triple H will be rusty: "He's my boss, but I've also been in there with him and I've been in there with him at WrestleMania. So he is above all else, he can wear a suit and be Triple H, or whatever he calls himself at the Tower in Stamford, Conn. When he steps in there, he's The Game. And that is 100% true and he has that same passion that I have. I want a bigger stage. I want more eyes. I want this event...

Shawn Michaels On The Undertakers Streak, Wres...

Shawn Michaels was the guest on the first 30 Years Of WrestleMania Podcast with Renee Young. Here are the highlights…On whether the Undertaker's Streak Should End: "Oh, no. I think The Streak is The Streak. It can't really be called The Streak if there's a one in the loss column."On how he feels about the Undertaker retiring him: "I was thrilled about it, again, it's certainly for me much like all of my career. There wasn't a lot of planning, a lot of thought, the majority of what I di...