Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialThe Best Wrestlers Of 2014 (Pt. 6)

The Best Wrestlers Of 2014 (Pt. 6)

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This is the sixth of an eight part series to decide the best wrestlers of 2014. On this occasion,  we focus on the wrestler voted “Most Charismatic of 2014” by our
EWN Facebook followers. In the end, there were only two wrestlers worthy enough to win, and it was between last year’s winner Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler.

The fans voted Dolph Ziggler the winner deservedly. This has been a year of special moments for Ziggler, and although he spent most of 2014 in the mid-card, the fans were adamant in their support for the “Show-off’. This led to the recent push, and Dolph personally thanked the fans on Twitter for their support.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Ziggler started the year by picking up another concussion during his match with Ryback on Superstars. He returned at the Royal Rumble, only to be eliminated by Roman Reigns. He returned to full-time action after defeating The Miz in the Battle of Cleveland match. He was unsuccessful challenging Big E for the Intercontinental Championship, the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania XXX, and the Money in the Bank ladder match won by Seth Rollins.

After feuding with The Miz over the Intercontinental Championship, Ziggler defeated The Miz at Summerslam for the title. It was the beginning of his second reign.

Dolph defended the title against The Miz until Night of Champions, when he lost it back to The Miz. He regained the title the following night on Raw. (01:43 for the pin-fall)

Ziggler went on a winning streak as champion, defending the title against The Miz and Cesaro. This included a 2-out-of-3 falls match against Cesaro at Hell in a Cell. In late October, Ziggler shook hands with Cena, confirming his loyalty to Team Cena at Survivor Series. A short time later, The Authority devised a plan to discredit Ziggler by ordering interference in the Luke Harper vs Ziggler Intercontinental Championship match. Harper defeated Ziggler with the help of Seth Rollins, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble.

The Survivor Series match was surprising, as Team Cena looked down-and-out after Big Show betrayed the team. Ziggler helped to eliminate Rusev earlier in the match. As the sole survivor of Team Cena, Ziggler eliminated Kane and Luke Harper on his own. This took the match down to a one-on-one between Ziggler and Seth Rollins. After interference from Triple H, Sting made his début and delivered a Scorpion Death Drop on Triple H. He aided Ziggler to the pinfall victory over The Authority ousting them from power. Ziggler triumphed despite all the odds, and the wrestlers of Team Cena got to keep their jobs.

His year ended with a bang. Anyone who saw the match between Luke Harper and Ziggler at TLC will know what I’m talking about. It was one of the most brutal ladder matches I have ever seen. There were some botches, but they just added to the overall intensity. It appeared that both men didn’t care what they put their bodies through. It was unpredictable, dangerous, and a little worrying. I was almost certain Harper broke his arm at one point. Both men were bleeding, both men were hurt, but in the end Ziggler claimed his fourth Intercontinental Championship. The commentators (especially JBL) sold the match as one of the greatest ladder matches of all time, comparing it to classics such as Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon.

I strongly recommend this match if you didn’t see it. I managed to find a video of the match, but the video is in slight slow-mo, so the commentary sounds off, but the match is definitely watchable.

So to wrap this up, I wanted to list all the “Best of 2014” wrestlers so far. We still have “Best Technical Wrestler” and “Best World Champion” to come.They should be decided before 2015 arrives. Thanks for reading!

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