It occurred to me that WWE may have, purposely or inadvertently, spoiled the ending of Dolph Ziggler's MITB run. The way I see it, Swagger winning the Chamber means that Ziggler's cash in can only result in four possible outcomes.
In the current scenario, Swagger has won a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, held currently by Alberto Del Rio, at Wrestlemania. At the Elimination Chamber PPV, Dolph Ziggler stated that he would cash in his MITB "before Wrestlemania". Now either that was a botch, or the outcome has already been determined, because it doesn't make sense otherwise. Let's assume that Swagger/Del Rio is going to proceed as planned, and the recent borderline racist gimmick he has seems to point in that direction. That means that Del Rio will still be champion come Wrestlemania, which seems to indicate that Ziggler won't be. His MITB expires at Wrestlemania, if memory serves me, which means if he doesn't cash in before or at the event, it's a wash. That means we can only go a select few ways at this point without WWE pulling a major swerve job (which they HAVE done in the past).
Let's take a look at what these outcomes are.
- Dolph Ziggler Turns Face. If Ziggler turns face, then the current plan would make sense. There was some news chatter about the idea that some in WWE want to turn Ziggler into a face due to his current popularity. While I think this is a huge mistake given his whole #HEEL methodology (something he made famous, BTW), and given potential future feuds with WWE stars would be extremely less exciting with him in the face seat, it would restore continuity to the storyline at least, because he could then cash in against Del Rio, turn face, and go against a heel Swagger (even though it cuts directly into Swagger's current gimmick). Still not a desirable option and I hope WWE is smarter than this.
- Dolph Ziggler Cashes In But Does NOT Win. In this outcome, Del Rio/Swagger is allowed to go forward as planned, but I can't see this being beneficial for any of these guys. It leaves Ziggler with nothing to really look forward to and Swagger in a position of being guaranteed to lose to Del Rio, which would drop his steam severely. It also puts Ziggler in a worse position than Cena, since Ziggler would more than likely actually lose his match unlike Cena where he just didn't get the title but still won.
- Dolph Ziggler Cashes In But Loses The Title Back To Del Rio Before Wrestlemania Somehow. I seriously hope WWE doesn't go down this path, because it would be a repeat of his last WHC title "run" where he was essentially a champion in name only and didn't get a chance to really run with it.
- Dolph Ziggler Cashes In After Del Rio/Swagger. This is also problematic, because it means Swagger is guaranteed to lose that match (we believe he will lose anyway, but this outcome pretty much guarantees it), as it's extremely doubtful that they would let Swagger take it, Ziggler cash in on him, and then Swagger turn his attention back to Del Rio rather than try to get the title back. Whereas if Del Rio wins but is decimated in the process, it opens the door for Ziggler to take the title, freeing Del Rio from the main event hunt long enough to continue the feud between him and Swagger. Ziggler is then freed up, as champion, to go against people like a returning Christian, or Jericho, or more long term, Orton.
Now technically, #4 should not be possible since the MITB should be expired. But since it's WWE I wouldn't put it past them to do something like this. What worries me more is the fact that these outcomes are the only possibilities I can see unless they pull a major swerve. Swagger's return and newfound gimmick have thrown a wrench in things, which may actually be a good thing...unless they go with #1.
