Dolph Ziggler beats Seth Rollins to Continue Climb up RAW Ladder

Dolph Ziggler celebrates the Show's latest achievement, with his tag partner Drew McIntyre on Monday Night Raw. Courtesy of WWE and Sky Sports.

By Matthew Klink (@klinkmatt)

6/19/2018

Let’s see here. Lemme check the old wire here to see what happened on Monday Night Raw…

Rousey Suspended 30 days…no biggee. She’s been gone longer than that.

Braun Strowman yelled ‘Get These Hands’, but no Brock…so…I guess we’ll just wait on that former UFC Champ to grace us with his presence as well.

Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley…woah…I have so many ideas for a new article surrounding their new hit comedy coming this fall on the same network that brings you crap like The Big Bang Theory, CBS!

Hmmm…what else happened…OH! There it is! We have a NNNNNEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Intercontinental Champion! DOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPHHHHH ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGLERRRRRRRRRRRR!

Woohoo!

That’s right! The Brothers of Discussion call it again! The Show, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre make their first big wave on the Raw main event scene by stealing Seth Rollins’ beloved IC strap. And that’s breezing past the fact that they are finally featured on Hulu (after weeks of being shunned) and have a brand new, smoking hot t-shirt!

Making his weekly challenge to the entire roster, Seth Rollins called out for a new competitor to try and take the belt from him. Seth has been amazing in this stretch, by the way. I don’t want this to sound like I’m dumping on Seth. Ever since he took over as the Intercontinental Champion, Seth has been absolute gold in the ring. Near perfect in every match, both in athletic performance and his incredible story telling ability. This night and this challenge would be no different. However, the usual outcome (similar to Seth’s first 69 days as champ…Nice…) would not come to fruition. What did? Only the first of many steps predicted by the Brothers of Discussion.

As we’ve detailed over the last couple of months, the movement of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre had the potential to be something great for Raw and the WWE Universe. Their ownership of a couple of tag teams and Chad Gable made them look unstoppable. I begged for their run to continue. And continue it has! Putting their teamwork and winning streak to the test was sure to come in the next month, but none was as great as taking down the man who has carried the Raw roster on his back (since the Universal Champion disappeared).

Seth’s heroic weekly call to the Raw roster ended out of his favor not only after a smooth and impressive performance from Dolph, but also from the assist of his new partner in crime, Drew McIntyre. What I hoped would mean eventual gold for Drew, swerved into a wonderful tale of brotherly success. What has now been demonstrated is the ability for this team to not only do whatever it takes to win, but that neither of superstars is more important than the other. While I would’ve easily guess that this tandem’s main goal was to make Drew look like a believable opponent for Braun Strowman, it is now clear that they intend to take over the roster, no matter who benefits and no matter who they need to take down to do it.

The group’s first big takedown was the likes of Finn Balor and Braun Strowman. A team that also looked to be building a lot of momentum and would be very tough to takedown. I actually remember thinking when the match started, that this would define the destiny of Dolph and Drew. A loss and they were now heel fodder for the good guys. Their victory of Braun Strowman, regardless of it being a tag match, was huge.

The next big test for the show was this past Raw against Rollins and they are now 2 for 2 in character defining matches. Ziggler and McIntyre are a force to be reckoned with and if you aren't paying attention, you’re doing yourself a disservice. I for one hope that Ziggler can get the victory next Monday on Raw, in the rematch against Seth (not to mention, giving Seth a chance at the main event scene with the Universal Championship). Let Ziggler and McIntyre burn down Seth Rollins and grab another rung on the ladder of success.

Listen, Subscribe and Review the Podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes! Thank you!