Dolph Ziggler made his return to WWE television on Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown LIVE.
After WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Sami Zayn in a non-title match, Paul Heyman appeared and teased that Brock Lesnar was there and going to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Ziggler then attacked Kingston instead. He put Kingston’s head inside of a chair, slammed it into the announce table, and continued to attack Kingston as referees tried to stop him.
Kingston was put on a stretcher after the attack angle. When he got to the stage, Kingston insisted on walking to the back on his own.
Ziggler came back out in front of the audience to cut a promo. Ziggler said he should have been the person who did what Kingston did by taking advantage of an opportunity and becoming champion. At the end of his promo, Ziggler said he’ll defeat Kingston for the WWE Championship at WWE Super ShowDown and the WWE Universe will admire, respect, and love Ziggler.
Prior to Kingston vs. Zayn, it was indicated that Big E had also been attacked backstage. The announce team noted that Xavier Woods accompanied Big E to a “local medical facility.”
Prior to Tuesday night, the last time fans saw Dolph Ziggler on WWE programming was in January at the Royal Rumble. Ziggler entered the Men’s Royal Rumble Match at No. 28 and eliminated his former tag partner, Drew McIntyre, before being thrown out by Braun Strowman. Despite his absence, he remained on the WWE roster as a member of Raw.
