Dolph Ziggler
An accomplished amateur wrestler, Ziggler set school records for wins at St. Edward’s High School in Ohio, and again at Kent State University before parlaying his skills into a WWE contract. In 2008, the bleached-blond Superstar first introduced himself to the WWE Universe by glad-handing every Superstar on Raw. Successfully introduced to just about everyone on the roster, Ziggler really made a name for himself after proved his mettle in high-profile contests against the likes of Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton and Daniel Byran. The Showoff defeated Kofi Kingston for his first big milestone, the Intercontinental Championship, with shrill girlfriend–turned–“business associate” Vickie Guerrero attached to his side.
Ziggler broke into WWE’s upper echelon during a string of contests against Edge in 2011 during a rivalry that netted Ziggler a controversial, and short-lived, World Heavyweight Championship reign of less than 12 minutes.
Summer 2012 brought with it one of Ziggler’s most impressive accomplishments. In a wild Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship contract, The Showoff managed to beat out seven other Superstars in the climb to the coveted briefcase, giving him a guaranteed title opportunity at any point in the next year.
After successfully defending his contract against John Cena in the winter, Ziggler finally cashed in his Money in the Bank contract the night after WrestleMania 29, capitalizing on an ailing Alberto Del Rio to capture his second World Heavyweight Title. The confident Showoff’s reign was cut short by a concussion, which Del Rio zoned in on to regain the title at WWE Payback.
A fiery Ziggler looked poised to regain the World Heavyweight Title, but his squeeze, AJ Lee, cost him the match. The Showoff dumped the unstable Diva, who, along with Big E Langston, temporarily distracted Ziggler from his championship dreams.
Though The Miz dashed Ziggler's hopes of becoming Intercontinental Champion once again at Battleground, The Showoff's fortunes changed at SummerSlam 2014 when he defeated the self-proclaimed movie star to win the title for a second time. After tweaking his knee outside the ring in the rematch one night later, Ziggler could not answer the referee's 10 count, giving The Miz a count-out victory, though he still kept the title. The Showoff still had enough energy to fight off a post-match attack from The Awesome One, ending the assault with a Zig Zag.
One week after his rematch with The Miz, the Hollywood star refused to face Ziggler and instead hired Damien Sandow as his stunt double. Despite the effort, The Showoff defeated Sandow and continued to aggravate The Miz the next week on Raw. Perhaps engaging in a bit of psycological warfare, Ziggler released private photos of both Miz and his new stunt double. Irate, The Awesome One attacked the Intercontinetal Champion, but Ziggler mananged to fend him off.
At Night of Champions, The Showoff looked well on his way to retaining the Intercontinental Championship, until Sandow distracted him, allowing The Miz to roll him up and capture the title. Ziggler would reclaim the title the following night on Raw and would hold it until Nov. 17, when Luke Harper ensnared his prize in an impromptu bout.
Recruited to Team Cena for the Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match against The Authority, Ziggler proved his resilience following Big Show's betrayal and John Cena's elimination. Facing 3-on-1 odds, Ziggler managed to eliminate Luke Harper and Kane to even the odds against Seth Rollins.
Although they were the sole survivors and Ziggler wouldn't stay down, the former Intercontinental Champion had to fend off The Authority before Triple H got involved and Pedigreed him in an attempt to secure the win for Team Authority once and for all. Just as it seemed The Authority would remain in power, though, Sting made his shocking debut and confronted Triple H. After taking out The Game, Sting pulled Ziggler on top of Rollins, securing the win for Team Cena and dethroning The Authority. Three weeks later, at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chars ... and Stairs, Ziggler's good fortune continued when he reclaimed the Intercontinental Title from Harper in a Ladder Match.
On the final Raw of 2014, Seth Rollins attacked Edge and forced John Cena to reinstate The Authority. Celebrating their return and fresh outlook for 2015, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon picked up where they left off, making Cena and his allies' lives miserable. Ziggler was forced to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett. Though Ziggler seemingly won the match, Director of Operations Kane announced it would be a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match. Barrett jumped at the opportunity and laid waste to Ziggler, claiming the title. Later in the evening, because of his association with John Cena at Survivor Series, Ziggler was fired along with Ryback and Rowan. However, another appeareance by the vigilante Sting enabled John Cena to defeat Seth Rollins, Big Show & Kane in a 3-on-1 Handicap Match on the Jan. 19 "Raw Reunion" to get all three Superstars reinstated.
Dolph Ziggler has proven time and time again that if you give him the opportunity, he'll steal the show ... and look good doing it.
Jack Swagger
Arrogance, athleticism and American pride all collide to create the larger than life persona of Jack Swagger. At 6-foot-6, 263 pounds, Swagger first came to WWE in 2008 as part of then-ECW General Manager Theodore Long's New Superstar Initiative and became one of most successful products of Long’s program.
Growing up, Swagger was enamored with sports-entertainment greats Danny Hodge and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, both of whom would personally help the Superstar on his career path. First becoming involved in competition at age five and attending a high school that boasted several state wrestling championships, he quickly developed into an outstanding amateur grappler, becoming a two-time high school heavyweight state champion. In true American fashion, he earned a full scholarship to a Division I school in both wrestling and football.
Swagger's tremendous amateur background carried him into the world of WWE, in a manner reminiscent of such legends as Bob Backlund and WWE Hall of Famers Jack and Gerald Brisco. His defined technique brought a completely different competitive style to ECW, and the WWE Universe took notice of his impressive combination of strength, ability and squared circle acumen, all complementing his physique and charisma.
At WrestleMania XXVI, Swagger reached a new level of greatness when he overcame nine other Superstars to win the spectacular Money in the Bank briefcase on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Just five days later, Swagger stunned the WWE Universe by cashing in his title opportunity against Chris Jericho to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
After a three-month losing streak, Swagger announced in September 2012 that he would be taking some extended time off. Five months later, he returned to WWE looking re-energized and even more aggressive. He appeared with Zeb Colter, who had some controversial words about what it means to be a "Real American," like himself and Swagger. After WrestleMania 29 in April 2013, they joined forces with Cesaro to form The Real Americans and spread their "We The People!" message across the WWE Universe.
As a tag team, their success was up and down and sometimes tense. After Cesaro shockingly proclaimed his allegiance to Paul Heyman, Swagger destroyed the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy Cesaro won at WrestleMania 30, and soon after their tag team partnership was history.
Swagger lost via count-out to Rusev at Battleground. Their rivalry continued all the way to SummerSlam where they competed in a Flag Match, where The Real American passed out rather than tap-out to the Accolade. At Survivor Series 2014 Kickoff, Swagger successfully stood up to Cesaro, who Swagger forced to tap out to The Patriot Lock. The Real American's rivalry with Rusev reignited after The Super Athlete assaulted Zeb Colter. Swagger vowed to break his Russian foe's ankle, but found himself trapped in the Accolade once again, with no choice but to submit at WWE TLC 2014.
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