But right after WWE, still somewhat surprisingly, treated Punk and Bryan like the main event level talent that they are, the promotion set right out to stomp all over any kind of legitimacy Dolph Ziggler has built up over recent months. Even without any real clean wins to speak of, Ziggler has become a real credible threat in WWE, due in large part to the actual quality of his matches and his getting-better-every-week-and-can-go-toe-to-toe-with-Mick-Foley microphone skills. So, it's super-frustrating that he had to lay down for Randy Orton.

Making things even worse is the fact that one night earlier, Ziggler was pinned for three-counts numerous times during his match with Punk. The first three weren't effective at ending the match, but they did an absolutely phenomenal job of making Ziggler look like an absolute loser. I'm not saying that he should have gone over on Orton, and in fact, WWE was right to have the returning Viper beat him, but it's crazy that someone made this match in the first place. Makes me wonder if Ziggler, who really appeared to be on the cusp of a legit main event push, did something to piss someone off backstage. Is this malice at work, or just simple incompetence?