Finally the much awaited storyline feud involving Dolph Ziggler and Rusev will reach its possible climax after the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) made their tiff official at WWE SummerSlam this coming Sunday, Aug. 23.
Ziggler has been out of the WWE scene for over a month, taking time out to film WWE Studios' "6:42." Ziggler, together with another WWE star Kane, heads the cast of the said film.
To recall, Ziggler was last spotted on RAW last July 6. At that time, Ziggler was viciously attacked by Rusev who made it look that he was still injured and supported by crutches. As it turned out, Rusev had fully recovered and attacked Ziggler with the crutches that resulted in the Showoff being seriously injured (per storyline)
The time off has allowed Rusev to gain some momentum after suffering immensely due to consecutive losses to U.S. champion John Cena. Even though it was an up and down ride for the Russian, Lana kept the storyline alive by occasionally appearing to interfere and jaw with Summer Rae, Rusev's new backer.
Prior to WWE RAW last Monday, Aug. 17, Rusev and Summer Rae got their hands on Lana and punished her with an Accolade hold for her continued meddling. Such would have happened again but fortunately, Ziggler managed to appear just in time, enabling both of them to fight back at Rusev and Summer Rae.
So with the stage set, it will be interesting to see how the match would turn out. In terms of power, Rusev has the obvious advantage while Ziggler carries the agility that could frustrate and wear out the Bulgarian Brute.
But attention will not solely be limited inside the WWE ring with Lana and Summer Rae on the outside. It won't be surprising to find both women getting it on at some point, and such could cause a distraction that could work to the favor of either Ziggler or Rusev.
WWE SummerSlam takes place at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday, Aug. 23. The WWE pay-per-view (PPV) will be aired live via the WWE Network starting at 7 p.m. EST and 4 p.m. PST.
