title: Polio vaccine

text: Soon after, following a similar protocol to Kolmer, Brodie proceeded with self experimentation upon himself and his co-workers at the NYC Health Department laboratory. Brodie's progress was eagerly covered by popular press as the public hoped for a successful vaccine to become available. Such reporting did not make mention of the 12 children in a New York City Asylum who were subjected to early safety trials. As none of the subjects experienced ill effects, Dr. Park, described by contemporaries as "never one to let grass grow under his feet," declared the vaccine safe. When a severe polio outbreak overwhelmed Kern County, California it became the first trial site for the new vaccine on very short notice. Between November 1934 - May 1935, over 1,500 doses of the vaccine were administered in Kern County. While initial results were very promising, insufficient staffing and poor protocol design left Brodie open to criticism when he published the California results in August 1935. Through private physicians, Brodie also conducted a broader field study, including 9,000 children who received the vaccine and 4,500 age- and location-matched controls who did not receive a vaccine. Again, results were promising. Of those who received the vaccine, only a few went on to develop polio. Most had been exposed prior to vaccination and none had received the full series of vaccine doses being studied. Additionally, a polio epidemic in Raleigh, North Carolina provided an opportunity for the U.S. Public Health Service to conduct a highly structured trial of the Brodie vaccine using funding from the Birthday Ball Commission.


title: Polio vaccine

text: While their work was ongoing, the larger community of bacteriologists began to raise concerns regarding the safety and efficacy of the new poliovirus vaccines. At this time there was very little oversight of medical studies, and ethical treatment of study participants largely relied upon moral pressure from peer academic scientists. Brodie's inactivated vaccines faced scrutiny from many who felt killed virus vaccines could not be efficacious. While researchers were able to replicate the tissue immunity he had produced in his animal trials, prevailing wisdom was that humoral immunity was essential for an efficacious vaccine. Kolmer directly questioned the killed virus approach in scholarly journals. Kolmer's studies however had raised even more concern with increasing reports of children becoming paralysed following vaccination with his live virus vaccine and notably, with paralysis beginning at the arm rather than the foot in many cases. Both Kolmer and Brodie were called to present their research at the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association in Milwaukee WI in October 1935. Additionally, Dr. Thomas M. Rivers was asked to discuss each of the presented papers as a prominent critic of the vaccine development effort. This resulted in the APHA arranging a Symposium on Poliomyelitis to be delivered at the Annual Meeting of their Southern Branch the following month. It was during the discussion at this meeting that Dr. James Leake of the U.S. Public Health Service stood to immediately present clinical evidence that the Kolmer vaccine had caused several deaths and then allegedly accused Kolmer of being a murderer. As Rivers recalled in his oral history, "All hell broke loose, and it seemed as if everybody was trying to talk at the same time...Jimmy Leake used the strongest language that I have ever heard used at a scientific meeting." In response to the attacks from all sides, Brodie was reported to have stood up and stated, "It looks as though, according to Dr. Rivers, my vaccine is no good, and, according to Dr. Leake, Dr Kolmer's is dangerous." Kolmer simply responded by stating, "Gentlemen, this is one time I wish the floor would open up and swallow me." Ultimately, Kolmer's live vaccine was undoubtedly shown to be dangerous and had already been withdrawn in September 1935 prior to the Milwaukee meeting. While the consensus of the symposium was largely skeptical of the efficacy of Brodie's vaccine, its safety was not in question and the recommendation was for a much larger well-controlled trial. However, when three children became ill with paralytic polio following a dose of the vaccine, the directors of the Warm Springs Foundation in Georgia (acting as the primary funders for the project) requested it be withdrawn in December 1935. Following its withdrawal, the previously observed moratorium on human poliomyelitis vaccine development resumed and there would not be another attempt for nearly 20 years.


title: Polio vaccine

text: While Brodie had arguably made the most progress in the pursuit of a poliovirus vaccine, he suffered the most significant career repercussions due to his status as a less widely known researcher. Modern researchers recognize that Brodie may well have developed an effective polio vaccine, however the basic science and technology of the time was insufficient to understand and utilize this breakthrough. Brodie's work using formalin-inactivated virus would later become the basis for the Salk vaccine, but he would not live to see this success. Brodie was fired from his position within three months of the symposium's publication. While he was able to find another laboratory position, he died of a heart attack only three years later at age 36. By contrast, Park, who was believed in the community to be reaching senility at this point in his older age, was able to retire from his position with honors prior to his death in 1939. Kolmer, already an established and well respected researcher, returned to Temple University as a professor of medicine. Kolmer had a very productive career, receiving multiple awards, and publishing countless papers, articles, and textbooks up until his retirement in 1957.


title: Polio vaccine

text: A breakthrough came in 1948 when a research group headed by John Enders at the Children's Hospital Boston successfully cultivated the poliovirus in human tissue in the laboratory. This group had recently successfully grown mumps in cell culture. In March 1948, Thomas H. Weller was attempting to grow "varicella" virus in embryonic lung tissue. He had inoculated the planned number of tubes when he noticed that there were a few unused tubes. He retrieved a sample of mouse brain infected with poliovirus and added it to the remaining test tubes, on the off chance that the virus might grow. The "varicella" cultures failed to grow, but the polio cultures were successful. This development greatly facilitated vaccine research and ultimately allowed for the development of vaccines against polio. Enders and his colleagues, Thomas H. Weller and Frederick C. Robbins, were recognized in 1954 for their efforts with a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Other important advances that led to the development of polio vaccines were: the identification of three poliovirus serotypes (Poliovirus type 1 – PV1, or Mahoney; PV2, Lansing; and PV3, Leon); the finding that prior to paralysis, the virus must be present in the blood; and the demonstration that administration of antibodies in the form of gamma globulin protects against paralytic polio.


title: Polio vaccine

text: During the early 1950s, polio rates in the U.S. were above 25,000 annually; in 1952 and 1953, the U.S. experienced an outbreak of 58,000 and 35,000 polio cases, respectively, up from a typical number of some 20,000 a year, with deaths in those years numbering 3,200 and 1,400. Amid this U.S. polio epidemic, millions of dollars were invested in finding and marketing a polio vaccine by commercial interests, including Lederle Laboratories in New York under the direction of H. R. Cox. Also working at Lederle was Polish-born virologist and immunologist Hilary Koprowski of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, who tested the first successful polio vaccine, in 1950. His vaccine, however, being a live attenuated virus taken orally, was still in the research stage and would not be ready for use until five years after Jonas Salk's polio vaccine (a dead-virus injectable vaccine) had reached the market. Koprowski's attenuated vaccine was prepared by successive passages through the brains of Swiss albino mice. By the seventh passage, the vaccine strains could no longer infect nervous tissue or cause paralysis. After one to three further passages on rats, the vaccine was deemed safe for human use. On 27 February 1950, Koprowski's live, attenuated vaccine was tested for the first time on an 8-year-old boy living at Letchworth Village, an institution for physically and mentally disabled people located in New York. After the child had no side effects, Koprowski enlarged his experiment to include 19 other children.


title: Polio vaccine

text: The first effective polio vaccine was developed in 1952 by Jonas Salk and a team at the University of Pittsburgh that included Julius Youngner, Byron Bennett, L. James Lewis, and Lorraine Friedman, which required years of subsequent testing. Salk went on CBS radio to report a successful test on a small group of adults and children on 26 March 1953; two days later, the results were published in "JAMA". Leone N. Farrell invented a key laboratory technique that enabled the mass production of the vaccine by a team she led in Toronto. Beginning 23 February 1954, the vaccine was tested at Arsenal Elementary School and the Watson Home for Children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.


title: Polio vaccine

text: Salk's vaccine was then used in a test called the Francis Field Trial, led by Thomas Francis, the largest medical experiment in history at that time. The test began with about 4,000 children at Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, and eventually involved 1.8 million children, in 44 states from Maine to California. By the conclusion of the study, roughly 440,000 received one or more injections of the vaccine, about 210,000 children received a placebo, consisting of harmless culture media, and 1.2 million children received no vaccination and served as a control group, who would then be observed to see if any contracted polio.


title: Polio vaccine

text: The results of the field trial were announced 12 April 1955 (the tenth anniversary of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose paralytic illness was generally believed to have been caused by polio). The Salk vaccine had been 60–70% effective against PV1 (poliovirus type 1), over 90% effective against PV2 and PV3, and 94% effective against the development of bulbar polio. Soon after Salk's vaccine was licensed in 1955, children's vaccination campaigns were launched. In the U.S, following a mass immunization campaign promoted by the March of Dimes, the annual number of polio cases fell from 35,000 in 1953 to 5,600 by 1957. By 1961 only 161 cases were recorded in the United States.


title: Polio vaccine

text: A week before the announcement of the Francis Field Trial results in April 1955, Pierre Lépine at the Pasteur Institute in Paris had also announced an effective polio vaccine.


title: Polio vaccine

text: In April 1955, soon after mass polio vaccination began in the US, the Surgeon General began to receive reports of patients who contracted paralytic polio about a week after being vaccinated with Salk polio vaccine from the Cutter pharmaceutical company, with the paralysis limited to the limb the vaccine was injected into. The Cutter vaccine had been used in vaccinating 200,000 children in the western and midwestern United States. Later investigations showed that the Cutter vaccine had caused 40,000 cases of polio, killing 10. In response the Surgeon General pulled all polio vaccines made by Cutter Laboratories from the market, but not before 250 cases of paralytic illness had occurred. Wyeth polio vaccine was also reported to have paralyzed and killed several children. It was soon discovered that some lots of Salk polio vaccine made by Cutter and Wyeth had not been properly inactivated, allowing live poliovirus into more than 100,000 doses of vaccine. In May 1955, the National Institutes of Health and Public Health Services established a Technical Committee on Poliomyelitis Vaccine to test and review all polio vaccine lots and advise the Public Health Service as to which lots should be released for public use. These incidents reduced public confidence in polio vaccine, leading to a drop in vaccination rates.


title: Polio vaccine

text: At the same time that Salk was testing his vaccine, both Albert Sabin and Hilary Koprowski continued working on developing a vaccine using live virus. During a meeting in Stockholm to discuss polio vaccines in November 1955, Sabin presented results obtained on a group of 80 volunteers, while Koprowski read a paper detailing the findings of a trial enrolling 150 people. Sabin and Koprowski both eventually succeeded in developing vaccines. Because of the commitment to the Salk vaccine in America, Sabin and Koprowski both did their testing outside the United States, Sabin in Mexico and the Soviet Union, Koprowski in the Congo and Poland. In 1957, Sabin developed a trivalent vaccine containing attenuated strains of all three types of poliovirus. In 1959, ten million children in the Soviet Union received the Sabin oral vaccine. For this work, Sabin was given the medal of the Order of Friendship of Peoples, described as the Soviet Union's highest civilian honor. Sabin's oral vaccine using live virus came into commercial use in 1961.


title: Polio vaccine

text: Once Sabin's oral vaccine became widely available, it supplanted Salk's injected vaccine, which had been tarnished in the public's opinion by the Cutter incident of 1955, in which Salk vaccines improperly prepared by one company resulted in several children dying or becoming paralyzed.


title: Polio vaccine

text: An enhanced-potency IPV was licensed in the United States in November 1987, and is currently the vaccine of choice there. The first dose of polio vaccine is given shortly after birth, usually between 1 and 2 months of age, and a second dose is given at 4 months of age. The timing of the third dose depends on the vaccine formulation, but should be given between 6 and 18 months of age. A booster vaccination is given at 4 to 6 years of age, for a total of four doses at or before school entry. In some countries, a fifth vaccination is given during adolescence. Routine vaccination of adults (18 years of age and older) in developed countries is neither necessary nor recommended because most adults are already immune and have a very small risk of exposure to wild poliovirus in their home countries. In 2002, a pentavalent (five-component) combination vaccine (called Pediarix) containing IPV was approved for use in the United States.


title: Polio vaccine

text: A global effort to eradicate polio, led by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the Rotary Foundation, began in 1988, and has relied largely on the oral polio vaccine developed by Albert Sabin and Mikhail Chumakov (Sabin-Chumakov vaccine).


title: Polio vaccine

text: Polio was eliminated in the Americas by 1994. The disease was officially eliminated in 36 Western Pacific countries, including China and Australia, in 2000. Europe was declared polio-free in 2002. Since January 2011, no cases of the disease have been reported in India, hence in February 2012, the country was taken off the WHO list of polio-endemic countries. In March 2014, India was declared a polio-free country.


title: Polio vaccine

text: Although poliovirus transmission has been interrupted in much of the world, transmission of wild poliovirus does continue and creates an ongoing risk for the importation of wild poliovirus into previously polio-free regions. If importations of poliovirus occur, outbreaks of poliomyelitis may develop, especially in areas with low vaccination coverage and poor sanitation. As a result, high levels of vaccination coverage must be maintained. In November 2013, the WHO announced a polio outbreak in Syria. In response, the Armenian government put out a notice asking Syrian Armenians under age 15 to get the polio vaccine. As of 2014, polio virus had spread to 10 countries, mainly in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, with Pakistan, Syria, and Cameroon advising vaccinations to outbound travellers.


title: Polio vaccine

text: Polio vaccination programs have been resisted by some people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria - the three countries as of 2017 with remaining polio cases. Almost all Muslim religious and political leaders have endorsed the vaccine, but a fringe minority believes that the vaccines are secretly being used for sterilization of Muslims. The fact that the CIA organized a fake vaccination program in 2011 to help find Osama Bin Laden is an additional cause of distrust. In 2015, the WHO announced a deal with the Taliban to encourage them to distribute the vaccine in areas they control. However, the Pakistani Taliban was not supportive. On 11 September 2016, two unidentified gunmen associated with the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, shot Zakaullah Khan, a doctor who was administering polio vaccines in Pakistan. The leader of the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the shooting and stated that the group would continue this type of attack. Such resistance to and skepticism of vaccinations has consequently slowed down the polio eradication process within the two remaining endemic countries.


title: Polio vaccine

text: Travellers who wish to enter or leave certain countries must be vaccinated against polio, usually at most 12 months and at least 4 weeks before crossing the border, and be able to present a vaccination record/certificate at the border checks. Most requirements apply only to travel to or from so-called 'polio-endemic', 'polio-affected', 'polio-exporting', 'polio-transmission', or 'high-risk' countries. As of August 2020, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only polio-endemic countries in the world (where wild polio has not yet been eradicated). Several countries have additional precautionary polio vaccination travel requirements, for example to and from 'key at-risk countries', which as of December 2020 include China, Indonesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea.


title: Polio vaccine

text: , the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization supplies the inactivated vaccine to developing countries for as little as (about ) per dose in 10-dose vials.


title: Polio vaccine

text: A misconception has been present in Pakistan that polio vaccine contained "haram" ingredients and could cause impotence and infertility in male children, leading some parents not to have their children vaccinated. This belief is most common in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the FATA region. Attacks on polio vaccination teams have also occurred, thereby hampering international efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan and globally.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Dolph Ziggler, where he performs on the Raw brand.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: After a prolific career in amateur wrestling, where he established several school records for Kent State University, Nemeth signed a developmental contract with WWE in 2004 and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he wrestled under his real name. He was promoted to WWE's Raw brand shortly afterwards in 2005, playing the caddie sidekick to Kerwin White. He was sent back to OVW shortly afterwards, being given the name Nicky and joining the cheerleading-themed Spirit Squad, who debuted on "RAW" in January 2006 and won the World Tag Team Championship once before returning to OVW that November. In September 2007, Nemeth was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice, with Brad Allen and later Gavin Spears.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Upon his return to the main roster in September 2008, Nemeth was repackaged as Dolph Ziggler. Since then, he has held the World Heavyweight Championship twice, the NXT Championship once, the Intercontinental Championship six times, the United States Championship twice, the Raw Tag Team Championship twice, and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship once. Overall in WWE, Nemeth has held 15 total championships, including three world championships. His other accomplishments include becoming the sole survivor of two Survivor Series elimination matches and the 2012 Money in the Bank winner as well as headlining multiple WWE pay-per-view events.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nicholas Theodore Nemeth was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 27, 1980. He has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was five years old, when he attended a wrestling event at the Richfield Coliseum, and he decided to become a professional wrestler at age 12. He later revealed on Colt Cabana's "Art of Wrestling Podcast" that he chose his WWE name "Dolph" because that was his great-grandfather's name, and his friend suggested the surname "Ziggler". Nemeth attended St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, where he was an amateur wrestler and holds the school record for most pins in a career with 82. At St. Edward, he was teammates with Gray Maynard and Andy Hrovat.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: During his time at St. Edward, the wrestling team won the National Championships on two occasions. He was a collegiate wrestler at Kent State University, eventually setting what was then the record for most career wins in the team's history. His record was passed in 2006; as of 2010, he stands second all-time in career victories at Kent State. He had 121 career wins between 2000 and 2003. He majored in political science with a pre-law minor. Prior to his WWE tryout, he had been accepted to the law school at Arizona State University, where he was due to start his first semester. He was a three-time All-Mid-American Conference champion, winning the tournament in 2000, 2002, and 2003; as of 2010, he is the last wrestler from Kent State University to have won three amateur wrestling championships.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2004. He was assigned to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), debuting as "Nick Nemeth". He feuded with Paul Burchill and challenged unsuccessfully for the OVW Television Championship, losing a championship match against then-champion Ken Doane on August 12, 2005.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth was called up to the Raw roster shortly afterwards, making his television debut on the September 19, 2005, episode of "Sunday Night Heat". He was made the enforcer and sidekick for Chavo Guerrero Jr., who was using a golfer in-ring persona and going by the ring name of "Kerwin White". As such, Nemeth became White's caddie. His wrestling debut came on an episode of "Sunday Night Heat", teaming up with White in a tag team match against Shelton Benjamin and Matt Striker. After the death of Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero dropped the "Kerwin White" character, and Nemeth no longer played the role of his caddie and tag partner. After a few months of wrestling in dark matches and at house shows, he was sent back to OVW.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth became a part of The Spirit Squad faction, a group of five wrestlers who used the in-ring personas of male cheerleaders, and adopted the name Nicky in OVW during late 2005. The Spirit Squad members trained with real cheerleaders and gymnasts to ensure their characters were believable. On January 23, 2006, they had their WWE television debut as a group, appearing on "Raw" and helping Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry "The King" Lawler by performing cheers for Coachman and distracting Lawler. They later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. The heel McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple handicap matches.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: They also wrestled in the tag team division, and on April 3, on "Raw", won the World Tag Team Championship when Kenny and Mikey, with outside help from the other three Squad members, defeated Big Show and Kane. After winning the championship, all five members of the Spirit Squad were recognized as the champions, allowing any combination of them to defend the championship under the Freebird Rule.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: In May, McMahon signed another Handicap match, with the Spirit Squad facing Michaels. The match never started, however; instead the Spirit Squad attacked Michaels, and, as part of the storyline, shattered his knee with a steel chair. McMahon brought Triple H to the ring to attack Michaels with a sledgehammer; however, after Triple H felt that the Squad had disrespected him, he attacked the group. This led to Triple H and Michaels reforming D-Generation X (DX) and they began a feud with the Spirit Squad. DX played various sophomoric jokes on the Squad and the McMahons, as well as defeating the Spirit Squad in handicap tag team matches at Vengeance and a clean sweep in an elimination handicap match at "Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII".


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: At the same time as their feud with DX and their alignment with McMahon, the Squad also wrestled other teams in "Raw"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s tag division over their World Tag Team Championship, successfully defending the championship against the teams of Jim Duggan and Eugene, Charlie Haas and Viscera, and Snitsky and Val Venis. They then entered a lengthy feud with The Highlanders, whom they eventually defeated to retain the championship at the Unforgiven pay-per-view on September 17. The Squad as a whole later began a losing streak with separate members losing singles matches to Ric Flair on consecutive episodes of "Raw", until Kenny managed to defeat him on the October 23 episode. It was then announced that Flair and a WWE legend, selected by interactive voting, would wrestle the team for the World Tag Team Championship at Cyber Sunday. The fans chose Roddy Piper, and he and Flair defeated Kenny and Mikey to win the championship at the event on November 5.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: The group disbanded on the November 27 episode of "Raw", when they were defeated in a five-on-three handicap match by DX and Flair. In a backstage segment later that night, DX placed all members into a crate stamped "OVW, Louisville, Kentucky", a reference to the developmental territory from which the Squad had come.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth returned to OVW on January 17, 2007, at the television tapings, again using his Nick Nemeth ring name, along with Mike Mondo, formerly Mikey in the Spirit Squad, as the "Frat Pack". The pair teamed with Mike Kruel in a match against Seth Skyfire, Shawn Spears, and Cody Runnels. The team disbanded in the early parts of 2007. Nemeth then competed in several dark matches before the OVW television tapings, competing against several wrestlers including Chris Cage, Bradley Jay and Jake Hager, before he began teaming with Mondo again in August.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: At the end of August, Nemeth and Mike Mondo were moved to the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental territory and in his debut there, Nemeth gained the nickname "The Natural" and defeated Hade Vansen. In November 2007, Nemeth gained Big Rob as his manager, but their alliance was short-lived. At the start of 2008, he tweaked his name to "Nic Nemeth" and began teaming with Brad Allen, with the pair gaining Taryn Terrell as their valet. Nemeth and Allen started a frat boy type ring character with Terrell as a sorority girl. On March 22, Nemeth and Allen won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship by defeating defending champions Eddie Colón and Eric Pérez, but lost the championship to Colón and Pérez on April 15. Throughout April and May 2008, Nemeth wrestled in several dark matches prior to "Raw", losing to Kofi Kingston and Ron Killings on several occasions. Soon after, he returned to the name "Nic Nemeth", and began teaming with Gavin Spears. The pair defeated Colón and Pérez to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on August 16, but lost it to Heath Miller and Joe Hennig less than a month later.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On September 15, 2008, Nemeth re-debuted on "Raw" (as a heel), introducing himself in a backstage segment under the name "Dolph Ziggler". On October 10, Nemeth was suspended for 30 days for a violation of WWE's Wellness Program policy. He returned to "Raw" on November 17 in a backstage segment with Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels. In his first match on "Raw" under the Ziggler name, he lost to Batista on the December 1, 2008 episode. The following week he got his first victory as Ziggler, by countout, against R-Truth. The next week on "Raw", he picked up his first televised pinfall victory, when he defeated Charlie Haas. Ziggler would compete in the Royal Rumble match at the eponymous event on January 25, 2009, in which he was eliminated by Kane after 21 seconds.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On April 15, 2009, Ziggler was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. He made his debut on the April 17 episode of "SmackDown", defeating United States Champion, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in a non-title match, and, as a result, the following week he demanded a match for the championship. On the May 1 episode of "SmackDown", however, he failed to win the championship, after he was pinned by MVP. Ziggler then started a rivalry with The Great Khali, losing to him by disqualification after attacking Khali with a steel chair. As a result, Khali began coming out to the ring during and after Ziggler's matches, in attempt to gain revenge and to stop Ziggler from cheating. Over the next few weeks, Ziggler would defeat Khali by countout and disqualification after making it look like Khali had struck him with a steel chair. At The Bash pay-per-view on June 28, Ziggler defeated Khali in a No Disqualification match by pinfall, after Kane interfered and attacked Khali.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler then entered an on-screen relationship with WWE Diva Maria and she became his valet. He simultaneously started a scripted rivalry with Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio, who defeated Ziggler at Night of Champions on July 26 and SummerSlam on August 23 to retain the championship. In September, Mysterio lost the Intercontinental Championship to John Morrison, and Ziggler entered a feud with Morrison after defeating him by countout in a non-title match, but lost to him at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 4. On the episode of "SmackDown" following Hell in a Cell, Ziggler ended his on-screen relationship with Maria after she accidentally cost him a match against Morrison for the Intercontinental Championship. At Breaking Point on September 13, Ziggler made an appearance during a promo by Pat Patterson, in which Ziggler attacked Patterson until Morrison made the save. He again failed to win the Intercontinental title from Morrison twice, wrestling him to a double countout on the November 13 episode of "SmackDown" and losing a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. On the February 26, 2010, episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler defeated John Morrison and R-Truth in a triple threat qualifying match to compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, but was ultimately unsuccessful.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: In June 2010, he began a romantic storyline with Vickie Guerrero, who began accompanying him to the ring. On the July 9 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Montel Vontavious Porter in a triple threat match to qualify for the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on July 18, where he once again failed to win the match. On July 28 at the tapings of the August 6 episode of "SmackDown" Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the first time. In his first title defense at SummerSlam on August 15, he retained the championship against Kingston when the match ended in a no contest due to interference from The Nexus. Ziggler was able to make a successful title defense against Kingston at the Night of Champions pay-per-view on September 19, and against Kaval at Survivor Series on November 21. During this time, Ziggler was chosen as a Pro for the fourth season of "NXT", with Jacob Novak as his Rookie. On the January 4, 2011, episode of "NXT", Ziggler won a battle royal to earn the right to choose a new rookie, and chose Byron Saxton. His original rookie, Novak, was the first rookie eliminated later that night. On February 8, 2011, Ziggler's second rookie, Byron Saxton, was also voted off of "NXT".


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler successfully retained the Intercontinental Championship at on December 19 in a three-way ladder match against Kingston and Jack Swagger, but lost the title to Kingston at "SmackDown" on January 4, 2011, ending his reign at 160 days. That same night, Ziggler won a four-way match against Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre and Big Show to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. At the Royal Rumble on January 30, Ziggler was unsuccessful in his title match against Edge. On January 28, he teamed up with WWE Champion The Miz in a losing effort against Edge and Randy Orton. On February 4, Ziggler's storyline girlfriend Vickie Guerrero, who was the acting General Manager of SmackDown, banned the spear – Edge's finishing move – and decided that if Edge used it, Ziggler would be awarded the championship. Ziggler was again defeated by Edge in a rematch on the February 11 episode of "SmackDown", but because Edge used the spear, Guerrero declared Ziggler the new champion on the February 14 episode of "Raw". Prior to Ziggler's official coronation ceremony on "SmackDown" on February 18, Guerrero also fired Edge, claiming that he had attacked SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long several weeks prior. However, Long interrupted Ziggler's ceremony and accused Guerrero of orchestrating the attack, prompting Guerrero to reveal Ziggler as the attacker and Long to rehire Edge. Long also gave Edge a rematch against Ziggler, who lost the championship back to Edge and was then fired by Long.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the March 7 episode of "Raw", Ziggler was introduced as the newest member of the Raw roster, and defeated John Morrison in a singles match; Ziggler was accompanied by Guerrero, who had also been fired from "SmackDown", but she was forced to earn her spot on the Raw roster. Ziggler, along with Guerrero, and LayCool then feuded with Morrison, Trish Stratus, and "Jersey Shore" guest star Snooki, culminating in a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, which Ziggler and his team lost. On the April 18 episode of "Raw", Vickie introduced the "new and improved" Ziggler, who came out with his hair cut short and brown and went on to defeat Evan Bourne in a singles match. Ziggler had re-bleached his hair by the May 23 episode of "Raw".


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler beat United States Champion Kofi Kingston in a non-title match on the May 30 episode of "Raw", leading to a championship match at Capitol Punishment on June 19, which Ziggler won via a sleeper hold submission to earn his first United States Championship. The next night on "Raw", Kingston invoked his rematch clause in a two out of three falls match and won via disqualification, allowing Ziggler to retain. After Jack Swagger suggested to Vickie Guerrero that she should manage him in addition to Ziggler, a jealous Ziggler teased tension with Swagger. This, coupled with Ziggler's concurrent feud with Alex Riley, led Ziggler to defend and retain his United States Championship in a fatal four-way match against Swagger, Riley, and John Morrison at Night of Champions on September 18. On the following episode of "Raw", Ziggler lost a non-title match to Zack Ryder when guest star Hugh Jackman helped Ryder by punching Ziggler in the face. Although Ziggler later claimed to have a broken jaw due to Jackman's punch, it was reported that the supposed injury was fake. Later that night, Guerrero officially began managing Swagger, and Swagger began interfering in Ziggler's matches to help him win. Ziggler and Swagger unsuccessfully challenged Air Boom for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Hell in a Cell on October 2 and at Vengeance on October 23, where Ziggler also successfully defended the United States Championship against Ryder. He went on to successfully defend the championship against Morrison at Survivor Series on November 20. At on December 18, Ziggler lost the United States Championship to Ryder, ending his reign at 182 days.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the December 26 episode of "Raw", Ziggler defeated WWE Champion CM Punk in a gauntlet match for a championship opportunity following interference from John Laurinaitis. The following "Raw", Ziggler defeated Punk by countout after Laurinaitis interfered again; as a result, Ziggler did not win the championship. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2012, Ziggler failed to capture the WWE Championship from CM Punk. At the Elimination Chamber on February 19, Ziggler failed again to capture the WWE Championship after being eliminated second by Chris Jericho. Nemeth noted to Arda Ocal in an interview for The Score Television Network that the Elimination Chamber left him with multiple minor injuries and it is a match he least looked forward to working.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the February 27 "Raw", Ziggler and Swagger unsuccessfully challenged Primo & Epico for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a Triple Threat tag team match, also involving Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. On the March 19 "Raw", Ziggler and Swagger were announced as the newest members of Team Johnny for the 12-man tag team match at WrestleMania XXVIII and on the April 2 "Raw", Ziggler and Swagger unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella for the United States Championship in a triple threat match. After the match, Ziggler began a feud with Brodus Clay, who attacked Ziggler with a headbutt after he and Swagger tried to attack Marella. On the following episode of "Raw", Ziggler and Swagger were defeated by Clay and Marella in a tag team match. In the following weeks, Ziggler and Swagger lost to Clay and Hornswoggle in singles and tag matches. At Extreme Rules on April 29, Ziggler was again defeated by Clay. Ziggler and Swagger unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston and R-Truth for WWE Tag Team Championship, first at Over the Limit on May 20 and second on the May 28 episode of "Raw", resulting in Ziggler showing signs of wanting to break away from Guerrero and Swagger.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the June 11 episode of "Raw", Ziggler defeated The Great Khali, Swagger and Christian in a fatal four-way elimination match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, but at No Way Out on June 17, Ziggler lost the title match to champion Sheamus. On the following "Raw", Guerrero, finally tired of the bickering between Ziggler and Swagger, arranged for a match between them; Ziggler won the match and Guerrero's affections, ending their partnership. Ziggler received another shot at the World title on the June 29 "SmackDown", but was again defeated by Sheamus in a triple threat match, also involving Alberto Del Rio.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the July 3 "SmackDown", Ziggler defeated Alex Riley to qualify for a spot in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match. On July 13, Ziggler, Zack Ryder and Justin Roberts were involved in a car accident in San Diego while driving from Comic-Con; none of them suffered severe injuries. Two days later at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Ziggler won the Money in the Bank ladder match to guarantee him the opportunity to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at a time of his choosing within the next year. Later that night, Ziggler attempted to cash in the briefcase on Sheamus after Alberto Del Rio attacked him after their match, but Del Rio stopped Ziggler from cashing in. On the following episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler again attempted to cash in the briefcase on Sheamus following a tag team match with Del Rio, but was laid out by Rey Mysterio and Sheamus before he could do so. During this time, Ziggler began a feud with Chris Jericho after claiming he had lost his touch, which resulted in Jericho attacking him on two occasions, and defeating him in a singles match at SummerSlam on August 19. The night after SummerSlam, Ziggler defeated Jericho in a rematch; as a result Ziggler retained his Money in the Bank contract and Jericho's WWE contract was terminated. Following this, Ziggler began feuding with Randy Orton on "SmackDown" four days later, after Orton hit him with an "RKO" when Ziggler tried to cash his Money in the Bank contract on a vulnerable Sheamus. The following week on "SmackDown", Ziggler faced Orton in a match that was won by Orton, Ziggler defeated him in a rematch on "Raw" by pinning him while holding his tights. Ziggler faced Orton again at Night of Champions on September 16 where he lost again, ending the feud. On November 18 at Survivor Series, Ziggler captained the traditional 5-on-5 elimination tag team match opposite Mick Foley and won the match by last pinning Orton, making him the sole survivor of the match.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler then began feuding with John Cena after he sided with Vickie Guerrero to help defame Cena and AJ Lee by alleging they had a romantic relationship. On December 16 at , Ziggler retained his Money in the Bank briefcase in a ladder match after AJ interfered and turned on Cena. The following night on "Raw", while trying to diffuse an argument between Vickie and AJ, AJ unexpectedly kissed Ziggler, leaving him confused. Ziggler then attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Big Show after Show was assaulted by Sheamus, but he was attacked by Cena before the match could start. Later, Ziggler teamed with AJ to face Cena and Vickie Guerrero, however, the match ended in a disqualification after the debuting Big E Langston attacked Cena, also starting an on-screen relationship between Dolph and AJ. Ziggler ended 2012 having wrestled the second most TV/PPV matches that year with 90; however, he had the most TV/PPV losses with 57. Ziggler ended his feud with Cena after losing to him on the January 7, 2013, episode of "Raw", in a singles match and in steel cage match the following week, despite outside interference from AJ and Langston in both matches. On the January 21 episode of "Raw", Ziggler won a Beat the Clock Challenge to earn the right to choose what number he can enter in the Royal Rumble match, first or second. Six days later at the Royal Rumble, Ziggler entered at number one, eliminating Chris Jericho and The Godfather and lasted nearly fifty minutes before being eliminated by Sheamus. During the match, Ziggler resumed his feud with the returning Jericho. The following night on "Raw", Ziggler and Jericho were placed in a "Strange Bedfellows" match against WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane), but they lost when Kane hit a chokeslam on Ziggler and pinned him after Jericho framed him for pushing Kane. On the February 18 episode of "Raw", Ziggler was defeated by World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio by submission in a non-title match, and afterwards Langston attacked Del Rio and then Ziggler made a failed attempt to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase after Del Rio's ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez ran off with it. After defeating WWE Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Kane in singles matches due to interference from Langston, Ziggler and Langston were given a shot at their titles. The title match took place on April 7 at WrestleMania 29, where Ziggler and Langston unsuccessfully challenged Bryan and Kane for the WWE Tag Team Championship.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: The following night on "Raw", Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on an injured Alberto Del Rio to win his second World Heavyweight Championship. After gaining the World Heavyweight Championship, Ziggler began feuding with Del Rio and Jack Swagger over the title. Ziggler was originally booked to face Del Rio and Swagger in a three-way ladder match at Extreme Rules on May 19; however, Ziggler suffered a legitimate concussion at a "SmackDown" taping, thus removing their match from the pay-per-view and resulting in Ziggler being absent from television for a month. On June 16 at Payback, Ziggler faced Del Rio in his first title defense of the World Heavyweight Championship and during the match, a double turn took place; Ziggler turned face by displaying a never-say-die attitude while Del Rio turned heel by repeatedly and ruthlessly targeting his head to take advantage of his concussion, win the match, and end Ziggler's reign at 69 days. On July 14 at Money in the Bank, AJ cost Ziggler his title rematch against Alberto Del Rio, after she prematurely snuck into the ring and hit Del Rio with her own title, prompting a disqualification.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the following "Raw", Ziggler ended his relationship with AJ due to her actions the previous night and AJ exacted revenge by costing Ziggler a non-title match against Del Rio, then she attacked Ziggler and unleashed Langston on him. On the July 29, 2013, episode of "Raw", Ziggler defeated Big E Langston via disqualification after AJ Lee attacked Ziggler. In a rematch on the following week, Ziggler was defeated by Langston after a distraction by AJ and Kaitlyn. This led to the host of SummerSlam, The Miz creating a mixed tag team match at SummerSlam on August 18, where Ziggler and Kaitlyn defeated Big E and AJ.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler was later unsuccessful in capturing the United States Championship, when he lost to Dean Ambrose at Night of Champions on September 15 and on the October 16 episode of "Main Event", ending their feud. After that rivalry was over, Ziggler lost several matches during the late-2013 calendar year when he also failed to win the Intercontinental Championship from Curtis Axel on the November 11 episode of "Raw". In December, Ziggler lost two number one contender matches for the Intercontinental Championship, first to Damien Sandow and later to Fandango.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, Ziggler entered the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Roman Reigns. On April 6 at WrestleMania XXX, Ziggler competed in the 31-man Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Alberto Del Rio. On June 29 at Money in the Bank, Ziggler competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship contract, but the match was won by Seth Rollins. Ziggler later competed in a Battle Royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship on July 20 at Battleground; however, he was abruptly eliminated from behind by The Miz. After Ziggler defeated Miz in a non-title match the following night on "Raw", he received a rematch at SummerSlam on August 17, where he defeated Miz to win the championship for a second time. The next night on "Raw", Ziggler successfully retained his title against Miz, after he was counted out. At Night of Champions on September 21, Ziggler dropped the title to Miz, only for Ziggler to win it back the following night on "Raw". Ziggler then retained the championship against Cesaro on September 26 episode of "SmackDown", in a triple threat match against Cesaro and Miz the next week on "Raw" and at Hell in a Cell on October 26 against Cesaro in a 2-out-of-3 falls match.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the October 28, 2014, episode of "Raw", Ziggler and John Cena shook hands together backstage, which The Authority interpreted as a deal to plot against them. As a result, Ziggler was put in a match against Kane, which Ziggler won. Ziggler then joined Team Cena at Survivor Series. On the November 10 episode of "Raw", Ziggler was brutally attacked by the returning Luke Harper. The following week, Harper was awarded a title match against Ziggler, which Harper won with assistance from The Authority, ending Ziggler's reign at 56 days. At Survivor Series on November 23, Ziggler emerged as the sole survivor for a second time. Ziggler contributed to Rusev being counted out, then after all his teammates were eliminated, he pinned Kane and Luke Harper. Triple H twice prevented Ziggler from pinning final opponent Seth Rollins, but the debuting Sting provided an assist to help Ziggler win the match, thus ousting the Authority from power. At on December 14, Ziggler defeated Harper in a ladder match to win his fourth Intercontinental Championship. On the December 16 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler finally defeated Seth Rollins in a singles match after failing numerous times before. Three days later, "Rolling Stone" named Ziggler as the 2014 WWE Wrestler of the Year. On the first "Raw" of 2015 (dated January 5), the recently reinstated Authority forced Ziggler to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett and he initially won. After Barrett then attacked and injured Ziggler's shoulder, Kane declared the match as two-out-of-three falls, Barrett proceeded to defeat Ziggler for the title after Kane distracted him. Later that night, Ziggler alongside Ryback and Erick Rowan were fired by the Authority.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the January 19 episode of "Raw", Sting provided another assist, as John Cena won Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan's jobs back. Ziggler returned to television on the next "SmackDown" and qualified for the Royal Rumble match by beating Barrett in a non-title match. In the Royal Rumble match on January 25, Ziggler entered as the last entrant, eliminating Bad News Barrett and Cesaro but was quickly eliminated by Big Show and Kane. At Fastlane on February 22, Ziggler competed together with Rowan and Ryback in a six-man tag team match against Rollins, Big Show and Kane, which they lost. On the March 5 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler was announced as a participant in the 7-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31 on March 29, which was won by Daniel Bryan.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: After losing an Intercontinental Championship match against Daniel Bryan on the "Raw" following WrestleMania 31, Ziggler was attacked and Brogue kicked by the returning Sheamus. Claiming that "the era of underdogs (like Ziggler) is over", Sheamus and Ziggler started a feud, with Sheamus challenging Ziggler in a Kiss Me Arse match at Extreme Rules on April 26, which Ziggler won. However, Sheamus refused to follow the stipulation, and instead made Ziggler kiss his buttocks. Ziggler lost the rematch against Sheamus at Payback on May 17. Ziggler participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the vacated Intercontinental Championship; other participants were winner Ryback, King Barrett, R-Truth, Sheamus who eliminated Ziggler, and Mark Henry at Elimination Chamber on May 31. At Money in the Bank on June 14, Ziggler competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Sheamus. On July 4 at The Beast in the East live event in Japan, Ziggler and John Cena defeated King Barrett and Kane in the main event.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler became involved in an on-screen love affair with Lana, the former manager of Rusev, when she kissed him at "Raw" on May 25, with Lana serving as Ziggler's valet during his matches. During this time, Ziggler started incorporating elements of 80's glam rock fashion into his entrance and ring attire; typical of 80's bands like Mötley Crüe and Poison. In June, after Ziggler and Lana confirmed their storyline relationship, Summer Rae allied with Rusev to even the odds. After an attack by Rusev, Ziggler suffered a bruised trachea in storyline, which was to give him some time off to film a new WWE Studios movie, titled "6:42". Ziggler returned on the August 17 episode of "Raw", aiding Lana during a confrontation against Rusev and Summer Rae. This altercation prompted a match between Ziggler and Rusev at SummerSlam on August 23, which ended in a double countout due to interference from Lana and Rae. In a rematch on September 20 at Night of Champions, Ziggler emerged victorious. On October 11, when "TMZ" reported the real–life engagement of Rusev and Lana, this officially ended their feud. The following night on "Raw", Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged John Cena for the United States Championship.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the October 22 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler started a feud with the debuting Tyler Breeze, who aligned with Summer Rae and attacked Ziggler. Ziggler entered a tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, defeating The Miz in the first round match before being eliminated by Dean Ambrose. Ziggler and Breeze continued their feud, which culminated in a match between the two at Survivor Series on November 22, which Ziggler lost. Ziggler would then enter a feud with Kevin Owens with the pair trading victories throughout the rest of December and beginning of 2016. Ziggler entered the Royal Rumble on January 24 as the 28th entrant, lasting 7 minutes, but was eliminated by the eventual winner, Triple H. The next night on "Raw", Ziggler faced Kevin Owens in a losing effort, but defeated him the following two weeks in a row. On the February 15 "Raw", Ziggler was involved in a fatal five-way match for the Intercontinental Championship, where Owens regained the title after pinning Tyler Breeze. At Fastlane on February 21, Ziggler challenged Owens to a match for the Intercontinental Championship, which he lost. In the following weeks, Ziggler began to re-ignite his feud with The Authority, and on the March 14 episode of "Raw", he confronted Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. This resulted in Ziggler being granted a match against Triple H where if he won, he could pick his match at WrestleMania (excluding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match); however, Ziggler lost. At WrestleMania 32 on on April 3, Ziggler competed against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, The Miz, Stardust, Sin Cara and Zack Ryder in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, which Ryder won.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: After WrestleMania 32, Ziggler went to a double countout with Baron Corbin on the April 4 episode of "Raw", leading to Corbin hitting an "End of Days" outside of the ring to Ziggler, igniting a feud in the process. At the Payback pre-show on May 1, Ziggler faced Baron Corbin in a winning effort. The two then had a no disqualification match at Extreme Rules on May 22 where Corbin won after hitting a low blow on Ziggler. Following Extreme Rules, on the May 23 episode of "Raw", Ziggler had a confrontation backstage with Corbin and challenged him to a technical wrestling match the next week. In that match, Ziggler intentionally got himself disqualified when he kicked Corbin in the groin immediately after the match began. This led to a rubber match at Money in the Bank on June 19, which Corbin won to end their feud.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Ziggler was drafted to "SmackDown". On the July 26 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler won a six-pack challenge against AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, and John Cena to become the number one contender for the WWE World Championship. On the August 2 edition of "SmackDown", Ziggler defended his contendership against Bray Wyatt. Ziggler won the match, but was attacked afterwards by Wyatt and Erick Rowan, who also laid out Dean Ambrose when he attempted to save Ziggler. On August 21 at SummerSlam, Ziggler was defeated by Ambrose. Next, Ziggler started a feud over The Miz's Intercontinental Championship, failing to capture the title at Backlash on September 11 after Maryse sprayed something at Ziggler whilst Miz distracted the referee. After failing to win the Intercontinental title in the following weeks, Ziggler would defeat The Miz at No Mercy on October 9 to win the title in a match where he would have to retire if he lost. However, he lost the title 37 days later against The Miz on the 900th episode of "SmackDown". The feud culminated in a Ladder match at the even on December 4 for the championship in what was advertised as their final match, where Ziggler was defeated.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the December 13 edition of "SmackDown", Ziggler pinned Dean Ambrose in a fatal four-way elimination match also involving The Miz and Luke Harper, to become the number one contender to AJ Styles' WWE Championship. The following week, Baron Corbin confronted Ziggler, and the two had a match with Ziggler's number one contender's spot on the line. The match ended in a double count-out and Daniel Bryan made the December 27 episode's WWE Championship match a triple-threat between Styles, Ziggler, and Corbin. In that match, Styles retained the WWE Championship after pinning Ziggler.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the January 3, 2017, episode of "SmackDown", after he lost to Baron Corbin, Kalisto came to the save of Ziggler during a post match assault by Corbin, he superkicked Kalisto, turning heel for the first time since 2013. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, Ziggler lost to Apollo Crews and Kalisto in two-on-one handicap match. Following the match, Ziggler attacked the victors, stomping on Crews' ankle after placing it in a chair. This led to a chairs match on the February 28 "SmackDown", where Ziggler was victorious. On April 2 on the WrestleMania 33 kickoff show, Ziggler was part of the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, managing to eliminate R-Truth, Rhyno and Tian Bing, from which he was eliminated by the eventual winner Mojo Rawley. He lost to Shinsuke Nakamura at Backlash on May 21.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: After some time away from TV, Ziggler returned on the August 22 edition of "SmackDown Live" to declare that he would undergo a gimmick change on the following week's edition. He later started mocking, week after week, the entrances of current and former wrestlers such as John Cena, Naomi, Shawn Michaels and Randy Savage. Ziggler believed that fans only cared about elaborated entrances, and not about the in-ring performances, where he claimed he was the best. This led to a feud with Bobby Roode, being defeated by him at Hell in a Cell on October 8, but at Clash of Champions on December 17, he defeated Baron Corbin and Roode in a triple threat match to win his second United States Championship. On the following episode of "SmackDown" on December 19, Ziggler held a celebration that was a retrospective of his WWE career; he said that the fans did not deserve him and placed the title belt in the ring before leaving. A week later, general manager Daniel Bryan vacated the title.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler returned at the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, as the surprise #30 entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match. After eliminating Goldust, however, Ziggler was eliminated by Finn Bálor. He would be involved at Fastlane on March 11 in a six pack challenge for the WWE Championship, where the champion AJ Styles retained. Next month, Ziggler took part in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34 on April 8, but did not win the trophy.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On April 16, Ziggler was moved to Raw as part of the Superstar Shake-up, and that night, he allied himself with the returning Drew McIntyre to attack Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil and Apollo Crews), whom they defeated the following week. On the June 18 episode of "Raw", Ziggler answered Seth Rollins' open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship and defeated Rollins to capture the title for a sixth time. After weeks of McIntyre assisting Ziggler in all situations, including Extreme Rules on July 15 where Ziggler defeated Rollins 5–4 in sudden death overtime of a 30-Minute Iron Man match, Dean Ambrose returned on the August 13 episode of "Raw" to even the odds for Rollins. At SummerSlam on August 19, Ziggler lost the championship to Rollins, who had Ambrose in his corner.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the September 3 episode of "Raw", Ziggler and McIntyre temporarily formed a stable with Braun Strowman known as "The Dogs of War" to combat the newly reunited The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose). Later that night, they won the Raw Tag Team Championship by defeating The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel). They then successfully defended their titles at Hell in a Cell on September 16 against Rollins and Ambrose. At the Super Show-Down event on October 6, Ziggler teamed with McIntyre and Strowman in a losing effort to The Shield in a six-man tag team match. Over the next two weeks, the respective groups faced each other again on "Raw", with The Dogs of War winning the first match, but losing the latter after Ziggler got pinned by Ambrose. During both matches, tensions arose between Ziggler, McIntyre and Strowman, who felt he was carrying the group. After losing the last match, Strowman turned on Ziggler and attacked him, before being attacked by McIntyre.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler and McIntyre lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to Rollins and Ambrose on the October 22 episode of "Raw" after interference from Braun Strowman. On the December 3 episode of "Raw", the alliance between Ziggler and McIntyre ended when McIntyre claimed that Ziggler was "a means to an end to get him into a prominent position" and ended their association. The two later faced each other in a match which Ziggler won after interference from Finn Bálor. After the three men had traded wins among each other and interfered in each other's matches over the next few weeks, McIntyre defeated Ziggler in a cage match on the December 31 episode of "Raw".


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: After this, Ziggler was off television until his appearance at the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 27, 2019, as participant number 28, eliminating McIntyre and lasting until the final three, before being eliminated by Braun Strowman. He would then disappear again from WWE television without notice due to a stand-up comedy tour that started following the Royal Rumble.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: After a four-month hiatus, Ziggler returned on the May 21 episode of "SmackDown Live", attacking WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. Ziggler failed to win the title from Kingston at Super ShowDown on June 7 and Stomping Grounds on June 23 in a steel cage match, ending their long-time feud. At Extreme Rules on July 14, he lost to Kevin Owens in only 17 seconds and failed to win the WWE Championship from Kingston in a triple threat match also including Samoa Joe at Smackville on July 27. On the July 23 episode of "SmackDown Live", Ziggler interrupted "Miz TV" featuring Shawn Michaels and attacked Michaels and The Miz. This led to a match against Goldberg at SummerSlam on August 11, being defeated in a short match.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the August 26 episode of "Raw", Ziggler teamed with Robert Roode to win a tag-team turmoil match, earning a Raw Tag Team Championship match at Clash of Champions. At the event on September 15, Ziggler and Roode won the titles from Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman. On the October 14 episode of "Raw", Ziggler and Roode lost the titles to The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar), ending their reign at 29 days. and they were drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2019 WWE Draft. At Survivor Series on November 24, Ziggler and Roode won a 10-team Interbrand Tag Team Battle Royal. In the following weeks, they aligned themselves with King Corbin during his feud against Roman Reigns. On January 26, 2020, at the Royal Rumble, Ziggler entered the Royal Rumble match at number 19, but was eliminated by Reigns. At Super ShowDown on February 27, Ziggler lost to Mansoor. At Elimination Chamber on March 8, Ziggler and Roode competed in the namesake match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, where the champions The Miz and John Morrison retained. In March, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Roode was forced to stay in his native Canada, putting the team on hiatus.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: At the same time, Ziggler entered a feud with Otis over the affections of Mandy Rose, using underhanded tactics to secure a Valentine's Day date and short-term relationship, but was soon exposed. On the second night of WrestleMania 36 on April 5, Ziggler lost to Otis. After a few more assaults and promos, the feud ended when Otis defeated Ziggler in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. On the June 22 episode of "Raw", it was announced that Ziggler and Roode were traded to the Raw brand for A.J. Styles. On that night, Ziggler issued a challenge to WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, which McIntyre accepted for The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. At the event on July 19, Ziggler failed to win the title.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Ziggler and Roode were drafted back to the SmackDown brand. On the January 8, 2021 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler and Roode defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship; with this win, Ziggler became the sixth wrestler (along with Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy and John Morrison) to hold the original World Tag Team, Raw Tag Team and SmackDown Tag Team Championships. At the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2021, Ziggler entered the Royal Rumble match at #6, eliminating Jeff Hardy but was eliminated by Kane. At "WrestleMania SmackDown" on April 9, Roode and Ziggler defeated Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis), Rey & Dominik Mysterio and The Street Profits in a fatal four-way match to retain the titles. On the April 16 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler and Roode retained the titles against The Street Profits. At WrestleMania Backlash on May 16, Ziggler and Roode lost the titles to Rey and Dominik Mysterio ending their reign at 128 days. They were drafted to the Raw brand in the 2021 Draft. On the October 25 episode of "Raw", Ziggler and Roode defeated The Street Profits and Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) in a #1 contender’s match for the Raw Tag Team Championship, facing the champions, RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) for the titles later that night in a losing effort. At Survivor Series on November 21, Ziggler participated in a 25-man dual-branded battle royal to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Rock's debut at the 1996 Survivor Series, eliminating Mansoor before he was eliminated by AJ Styles. Ziggler competed in the Royal Rumble on January 29, 2022, entering at #16 but was eliminated by Bad Bunny and Rey Mysterio.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the February 8 episode of NXT 2.0, Ziggler made a surprise appearance during a segment with Bron Breakker and Santos Escobar. At NXT Roadblock on March 8, Ziggler defeated Tommaso Ciampa and defending champion Breakker in a triple threat match to win the NXT Championship, capturing his first world championship in nearly nine years, while becoming the first NXT Champion to not be a part of NXT. The following week, he successfully defended his title against L. A. Knight. At Stand & Deliver on April 2, he retained the title against Breakker due to interference from Roode. However, on the April 4 episode of "Raw", Ziggler lost his title to Breakker, ending his reign at 27 days.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On the June 27 episode of "Raw", Ziggler competed in a Money in the Bank qualifying battle royal, which was won by Riddle. On the July 11 episode of "Raw", Ziggler helped Bobby Lashley and Riddle against Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Theory's underhanded tactics during a tag team match, and after the match, Ziggler superkicked Theory, turning face for the first time since 2017. After weeks of Ziggler interrupting Theory’s matches, on the August 15 episode of "Raw", Theory defeated Ziggler, ending their feud.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: "Sports Illustrated" described Ziggler as "phenomenal in the ring, with the ability to carry an entertaining match with practically anyone on the WWE roster" and added that his "mic work is top-notch... and there is a genuine believability in his work". He is also noted for his "elite" ability to sell for his opponents. Jim Cornette praised Ziggler and stated, "I knew he was a good athlete, [but] I never dreamed he was going to be the second coming of Curt Hennig."


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler's most commonly utilized finishing maneuvers are a jumping reverse bulldog, known as the "Zig Zag", as well as a superkick. In the early run of his Ziggler character, he also used a sleeper hold as a submission finisher. While still in developmental, he also utilized a jumping reverse STO named "Blonde Ambition". Due to his athleticism and intense showmanship, Ziggler has been referred to as "The Showstealer" and "The Showoff", while in his earlier career he was referred to as "The Natural". Upon teaming with Vickie Guerrero, he was nicknamed either "Blonde Ambition" or "Blonde Perfection". Consequently, his theme music was named "I Am Perfection" during this period of his career, while later on it was changed to "Here to Show the World."


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: In the early stages of his career, Ziggler was introduced to the audiences as a sidekick with a caddie gimmick. This, however, lasted only a few weeks because Chavo Guerrero aborted his golfer gimmick after the death of his uncle Eddie Guerrero. While there were initial plannings within the company to give him a new gimmick based on his successful career in amateur wrestling and pair him with Kurt Angle, this idea never surfaced. Instead, his first longer lasting gimmick became that of male cheerleader Nicky, where he was partnered with four other wrestlers as The Spirit Squad. To ensure their characters were believable, they trained with real cheerleaders and gymnasts. With this gimmick, he saw moderate success, winning the World Tag Team Championship once. After the disbanding of the Spirit Squad he was again sent back to developmental, where he and fellow Spirit Squad member Mike Mondo tweaked the gimmick into a jock and fraternity based new gimmick, now going by the name of "Frat Pack". He would continue this gimmick alongside Brad Allen and Gavin Spears, with whom he won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship once each. In a 2020 interview, Ziggler voiced amusement as well as creative frustration towards his early gimmicks, stating that he tried to make them work, knowing they could only fail, just to break through in professional wrestling.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: By 2008, Nemeth was repackaged as Dolph Ziggler, a bleached-blonde and self-absorbed narcissist. Debuting as a heel, Ziggler repeatedly declared himself as "perfection" and would display an extremely arrogant attitude, while at the same time using dirty tactics. When he turned face in 2013, his character shifted towards a man out to prove himself and never giving up. In September 2017, Ziggler would begin a new short-lived gimmick where he would come out to the entrance themes and dress as other popular wrestlers and legends to irritate the crowd. After that, his gimmick tweaked towards a whiny heel who believed he was destined for greatness, constantly blaming his bad luck or others for his lack of opportunity and would always come up short, culminating in his feud with Kofi Kingston in 2019, where he would blame Kingston (and later Drew McIntyre) for stealing his chance to become WWE champion while stating "it should've been me".


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth grew up as a fan of comedians such as Johnny Carson, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Jon Lovitz, Brian Regan, Adam Sandler, and George Wallace. He decided to start performing comedy around the year 2010. He performed stand-up comedy for the first time in a small Los Angeles venue in 2013, and began getting offers to perform at various comedy clubs nearby WWE events. At this point, he had been studying comedy almost a decade in preparation for a comedy career. He also began hosting a monthly improv comedy show called Flying Chuck alongside fellow professional wrestlers John Morrison and his brother Ryan Nemeth. A few years later, he started working as an opening act for his long-time friend Sarah Tiana. In July 2018, he appeared on Comedy Central's "Roast Battle III" to face off against Tiana.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: In 2018, Nemeth started seriously moonlighting as a stand-up comedian while still wrestling for WWE. This led to him headlining shows close to the arenas for the 2018 SummerSlam and Survivor Series pay-per-views; he used the big WWE events to piggyback on for his first major shows, due to there being a lot of wrestling fans in the area. Following the 2019 Royal Rumble event, he embarked on his first headlining tour from the end of January to the end of March. He took a break from WWE television to focus on the tour. He later continued the tour, announcing two shows in Texas taking place in late May.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler appeared on the November 3, 2009 episode of "Deal or No Deal" with Maria Kanellis and Eve Torres. He appeared on "Lopez Tonight" on August 9, 2010. Nemeth appeared in a 2011 episode of "Silent Library" alongside Chris Masters, Trent Baretta, JTG, Caylen Croft, and Curt Hawkins. Nemeth made regular appearances on fellow WWE wrestler Zack Ryder's YouTube web series, "Z! True Long Island Story", via his own segment named 'Ask Z Heel'.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: On February 1, 2012, Nemeth debuted WWEFanNation's "WWE Download" and was the host of the YouTube series. The official "WWE Download" playlist on YouTube described the series as "Dolph Ziggler's sarcastic wit vs. your videos" and each episode consisted of Ziggler reviewing both viral and WWE videos. A new episode of "WWE Download" was uploaded every Monday until the show ended on January 28, 2013, after 53 episodes but returned for one time only on September 30, 2014. In August 2013, Nemeth was cast by Max Landis to appear in the 2015 film "Me Him Her".


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: In 2016, Nemeth would appear in a series of ads advertising KFC. and 2017 In the ads, he dressed as KFC founder Colonel Sanders. The first ad notably had Nemeth cutting a promo on The Miz, who was dressed as a chicken. This led to a dark match where Nemeth, as Colonel Sanders, defeated Miz in a squash match.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth began appearing on the Fox Business Network program "Kennedy" hosted by Lisa Kennedy Montgomery in 2017. As of 2018, he has appeared on the show 6-8 times.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Ziggler is a playable character in the video games "WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010", "WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2011", "WWE '12", "WWE '13", "WWE 2K14", "WWE 2K15", "WWE 2K16", "WWE 2K17", "WWE 2K18", "WWE 2K19", "WWE 2K20", and "WWE 2K22".


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth has two brothers. His younger brother Ryan is also a professional wrestler, currently signed to AEW, who previously worked with WWE in NXT under the ring name Briley Pierce. His other brother, Donald, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, and robbery for his role in a botched robbery attempt that led to the murder of a former Marine in January 2016.


title: Dolph Ziggler

text: Nemeth is good friends with his former Spirit Squad teammates, particularly Michael Brendli, with whom he lived in Florida until 2008. He previously dated comedian Amy Schumer, who split up with him because she considered him "too athletic" in bed.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section Cyanococcus within the genus "Vaccinium". "Vaccinium" also includes cranberries, bilberries, huckleberries and Madeira blueberries. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) and cultivated (highbush)—are all native to North America. The highbush varieties were introduced into Europe during the 1930s.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries are usually prostrate shrubs that can vary in size from to in height. In commercial production of blueberries, the species with small, pea-size berries growing on low-level bushes are known as "lowbush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), while the species with larger berries growing on taller, cultivated bushes are known as "highbush blueberries". Canada is the leading producer of lowbush blueberries, while the United States produces some 40% of the world supply of highbush blueberries.


title: Blueberry

text: The genus "Vaccinium" has a mostly circumpolar distribution, with species mainly present in North America, Europe, and Asia. Many commercially available species with English common names including "blueberry" are from North America, particularly Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States for wild (lowbush) blueberries, and several US states and British Columbia for cultivated (highbush) blueberries. First Nations peoples of Canada consumed wild blueberries for millennia. Highbush blueberries were first cultivated in New Jersey around the beginning of the 20th century.


title: Blueberry

text: North American native species of blueberries are grown commercially in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia, New Zealand and South American nations. The Colombian or Andean blueberry, "Vaccinium meridionale", is wild-harvested and commonly available locally. Several other wild shrubs of the genus "Vaccinium" also produce commonly eaten blue berries, such as the predominantly European "Vaccinium myrtillus" and other bilberries, which in many languages have a name that translates to "blueberry" in English.


title: Blueberry

text: Five species of blueberries grow wild in Canada, including "Vaccinium myrtilloides", "Vaccinium angustifolium" and "Vaccinium corymbosum", which grow on forest floors or near swamps. Wild (lowbush) blueberries are not planted by farmers, but rather are managed on berry fields called "barrens".


title: Blueberry

text: Wild blueberries reproduce by cross pollination, with each seed producing a plant with a different genetic composition, causing within the same species differences in growth, productivity, color, leaf characteristics, disease resistance, flavor, and other fruit characteristics. The mother plant develops underground stems called rhizomes, allowing the plant to form a network of rhizomes creating a large patch (called a "clone") which is genetically distinct. Floral and leaf buds develop intermittently along the stems of the plant, with each floral bud giving rise to 5–6 flowers and the eventual fruit. Wild blueberries prefer an acidic soil between 4.2 and 5.2 pH and only moderate amounts of moisture. They have a hardy cold tolerance in their Canadian range and the U.S. state of Maine. Fruit productivity of lowbush blueberries varies by the degree of pollination, genetics of the clone, soil fertility, water availability, insect infestation, plant diseases and local growing conditions. Wild (lowbush) blueberries have an average mature weight of .


title: Blueberry

text: Highbush (cultivated) blueberries prefer sandy or loam soils, having shallow root systems that benefit from mulch and fertilizer. The leaves of highbush blueberries can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and long and broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged greenish.


title: Blueberry

text: The fruit is a berry in diameter with a flared crown at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally uniformly blue when ripe. They are covered in a protective coating of powdery epicuticular wax, colloquially known as the "bloom". They generally have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity. Blueberry bushes typically bear fruit in the middle of the growing season: fruiting times are affected by local conditions such as climate, altitude and latitude, so the time of harvest in the northern hemisphere can vary from May to August.


title: Blueberry

text: Note: habitat and range summaries are from the "Flora of New Brunswick", published in 1986 by Harold R. Hinds, and "Plants of the Pacific Northwest coast", published in 1994 by Pojar and MacKinnon.


title: Blueberry

text: The lowbush varieties are "V. angustifolium", "V. boreale", "V. mytilloides", "V. pallidum", and "V. angustifolium" × "V. corymbosum". They are still grown in a similar manner to pre-Columbian semi-wild cultivation, i.e. slash and burn. The highbush varieties are darrowii and corymbosum. Rabbiteye ("V. ashei"/"V. virgatum") is considered different from both high- and lowbush.


title: Blueberry

text: Commercially offered blueberries are usually from species that naturally occur only in eastern and north-central North America. Other sections in the genus are native to other parts of the world, including the Pacific Northwest and southern United States, South America, Europe and Asia. Other wild shrubs in many of these regions produce similar-looking edible berries, such as huckleberries and whortleberries (North America) and bilberries (Europe). These species are sometimes called "blueberries" and are sold as blueberry jam or other products.


title: Blueberry

text: The names of blueberries in languages other than English often translate as "blueberry", e.g. Scots "blaeberry" and Norwegian "blåbær". "Blaeberry", "blåbær" and French "myrtilles" usually refer to the European native bilberry ("V. myrtillus"), while "bleuets" refers to the North American blueberry. Russian "голубика" ("blue berry") does not refer to blueberries, which are non-native and nearly unknown in Russia, but rather to their close relatives, bog bilberries ("V. uliginosum").


title: Blueberry

text: "Cyanococcus" blueberries can be distinguished from the nearly identical-looking bilberries by their flesh color when cut in half. Ripe blueberries have light green flesh, while bilberries, whortleberries and huckleberries are red or purple throughout.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries are sold fresh or are processed as individually quick frozen (IQF) fruit, purée, juice, or dried or infused berries. These may then be used in a variety of consumer goods, such as jellies, jams, pies, muffins, snack foods, pancakes, or as an additive to breakfast cereals.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberry jam is made from blueberries, sugar, water, and fruit pectin. Blueberry sauce is a sweet sauce prepared using blueberries as a primary ingredient.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberry wine is made from the flesh and skin of the berries, which is fermented and then matured; usually the lowbush variety is used.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries consist of 14% carbohydrates, 0.7% protein, 0.3% fat and 84% water (table). They contain only negligible amounts of micronutrients, with moderate levels (relative to respective Daily Values) (DV) of the essential dietary mineral manganese, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber (table). Generally, nutrient contents of blueberries are a low percentage of the DV (table). A 100 gram serving provides a relatively low caloric value of 57 kcal with a glycemic load of6.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries contain anthocyanins, other polyphenols and various phytochemicals under preliminary research for their potential biological effects. Most polyphenol studies have been conducted using the highbush cultivar of blueberries ("V. corymbosum"), while content of polyphenols and anthocyanins in lowbush (wild) blueberries ("V. angustifolium") exceeds values found in highbush cultivars.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries may be cultivated, or they may be picked from semiwild or wild bushes. In North America, the most common cultivated species is "V. corymbosum", the northern highbush blueberry. Hybrids of this with other "Vaccinium" species adapted to southern U.S. climates are known collectively as southern highbush blueberries.


title: Blueberry

text: So-called "wild" (lowbush) blueberries, smaller than cultivated highbush ones, have intense color. The lowbush blueberry, "V. angustifolium", is found from the Atlantic provinces westward to Quebec and southward to Michigan and West Virginia. In some areas, it produces natural "blueberry barrens", where it is the dominant species covering large areas. Several First Nations communities in Ontario are involved in harvesting wild blueberries.


title: Blueberry

text: "Wild" has been adopted as a marketing term for harvests of managed native stands of lowbush blueberries. The bushes are not planted or selectively bred, but they are pruned or burned over every two years, and pests are "managed".


title: Blueberry

text: Numerous highbush cultivars of blueberries are available, with diversity among them, each having individual qualities. A blueberry breeding program has been established by the USDA-ARS breeding program at Beltsville, Maryland, and Chatsworth, New Jersey. This program began when Frederick Vernon Coville of the USDA-ARS collaborated with Elizabeth Coleman White of New Jersey. In the early part of the 20th century, White offered pineland residents cash for wild blueberry plants with unusually large fruit. After 1910 Coville began to work on blueberry, and was the first to discover the importance of soil acidity (blueberries need highly acidic soil), that blueberries do not self-pollinate, and the effects of cold on blueberries and other plants. In 1911, he began a program of research in conjunction with White, daughter of the owner of the extensive cranberry bogs at Whitesbog in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. His work doubled the size of some strains' fruit, and by 1916, he had succeeded in cultivating blueberries, making them a valuable crop in the Northeastern United States. For this work he received the George Roberts White Medal of Honor from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.


title: Blueberry

text: The rabbiteye blueberry ("Vaccinium virgatum" syn. "V. ashei") is a southern type of blueberry produced from the Carolinas to the Gulf Coast states. Production of rabbiteye blueberries was a focus in Texas in the early 21st century. Other important species in North America include "V. pallidum", the hillside or dryland blueberry. It is native to the eastern U.S., and common in the Appalachians and the Piedmont of the Southeast. Sparkleberry, "V. arboreum", is a common wild species on sandy soils in the Southeast.


title: Blueberry

text: Successful blueberry cultivation requires attention to soil pH (acidity) measurements in the acidic range.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberry bushes often require supplemental fertilization, but over-fertilization with nitrogen can damage plant health, as evidenced by nitrogen-burn visible on the leaves.


title: Blueberry

text: Significant production of highbush blueberries occurs in British Columbia, Maryland, Western Oregon, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Washington. The production of southern highbush varieties occurs in California, as varieties originating from University of Florida, Connecticut, New Hampshire, North Carolina State University and Maine have been introduced. Peru, Spain, and Mexico also have significant production, as of 2018 (see Production).


title: Blueberry

text: In 2018, Oregon produced the most cultivated blueberries, recording , an amount slightly exceeding the production by Washington. In descending order of production volume for 2017, other major producers were Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, California, and North Carolina.


title: Blueberry

text: Hammonton, New Jersey, claims to be the "Blueberry Capital of the World", with over 80% of New Jersey's cultivated blueberries coming from this town. Every year the town hosts a large festival which draws thousands of people to celebrate the fruit.


title: Blueberry

text: Maine is known for its wild blueberries, but the state's lowbush (wild) and highbush blueberries combined account for 10% of all blueberries grown in North America. Some are farmed, but only half this acreage is harvested each year due to variations in pruning practices. The wild blueberry is the official fruit of Maine.


title: Blueberry

text: Canadian production of wild and cultivated blueberries in 2015 was 166,000 tonnes valued at $262 million, the largest fruit crop produced nationally accounting for 29% of all fruit value.


title: Blueberry

text: British Columbia was the largest Canadian producer of cultivated blueberries, yielding 70,000 tonnes in 2015, the world's largest production of blueberries by region.


title: Blueberry

text: Atlantic Canada contributes approximately half of the total North American wild/lowbush annual production with New Brunswick having the largest in 2015, an amount expanding in 2016. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Québec are also major producers. Nova Scotia recognizes the wild blueberry as its official provincial berry, with the town of Oxford, Nova Scotia known as the Wild Blueberry Capital of Canada.


title: Blueberry

text: Québec is a major producer of wild blueberries, especially in the regions of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (where a popular name for inhabitants of the regions is "bleuets", or "blueberries") and Côte-Nord, which together provide 40% of Québec's total provincial production. This wild blueberry commerce benefits from vertical integration of growing, processing, frozen storage, marketing and transportation within relatively small regions of the province. On average, 80% of Québec wild blueberries are harvested on farms (), the remaining 20% being harvested from public forests (). Some 95% of the wild blueberry crop in Québec is frozen for export out of the province.


title: Blueberry

text: Highbush blueberries were first introduced to Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands in the 1930s, and have since been spread to numerous other countries of Europe. "V. corymbosum" only began to be cultivated in Romania in a few years leading up to 2018 and rapidly increased in production and sales in that time (as with berries in general). it remains relatively unmolested by pests and diseases (see Diseases below).


title: Blueberry

text: In the Southern Hemisphere, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe grow blueberries commercially.


title: Blueberry

text: In Brazil, blueberries are produced in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo and Minas Gerais.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries were first introduced to Australia in the 1950s, but the effort was unsuccessful. In the early 1970s, the Victorian Department of Agriculture imported seed from the U.S. and a selection trial was started. This work was continued into the mid-1970s when the Australian Blueberry Growers' Association was formed.


title: Blueberry

text: In the 21st century, the industry grew in Argentina: "Argentine blueberry production has increased over the last three years with planted area up to 400 percent," according to a 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Argentine blueberry production has thrived in four different regions: the province of Entre Rios in northeastern Argentina, the province of Tucuman, the province of Buenos Aires and the southern Patagonian valleys", according to the report. In the Bureau of International Labor Affairs report of 2014 on child labor and forced labor, blueberries were listed among the goods produced in such working conditions in Argentina.


title: Blueberry

text: "V. corymbosum" remains relatively unmolested by pests and diseases in Romania, with "Phytophthora cinnamomi", "Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi", "Botryosphaeria corticis", "Godronia cassandrae", "Phomopsis" sp., "Botrytis cinerea", "Naohidemyces vaccinii", "Microsphaera penicillata" var. "vaccinii", and various viruses being the most common.


title: Blueberry

text: DDT began to be used in blueberry soon after its discovery in 1939, and a few years later in the mid-1940s research began into its use in North America.


title: Blueberry

text: Because "wild" is a marketing term generally used for all low-bush blueberries, it is not an indication that such blueberries are free from pesticides.


title: Blueberry

text: Insecticide modes of action must be varied to avoid encouraging resistance in the invasive pest "Drosophila suzukii".


title: Blueberry

text: Some insecticides can be counterproductive, harming natural enemies of pests as well. For example, treatment for "Illinoia pepperi" can reduce populations of its predators. Kaolin clay for "Rhagoletis mendax" also reduced effectiveness of "Diachasma alloeum", its parasitoid. The pest predator "Harpalus erraticus" maintains greater abundance with selective insecticides rather than broad-spectrum MoAs.


title: Blueberry

text: Blueberries are naturally relatively unmolested by arthropod pests. Nonetheless, there are 24 insect taxa known to be pest (organism)s in North America, the worst in New Jersey, Michigan, Maine, and Eastern Canada being "Rhagoletis mendax". Secondary but still important are "Acrobasis vaccinii", "Grapholita packardi", and "Conotrachelus nenuphar". These four are the most common targets for development of IPM practices. Recently () IPM research has also taken an interest in "Drosophila suzukii" and arthropods like aphids (that vector diseases such as scorch virus and shoestring virus) and cicadellids (vectoring the phytoplasma that causes blueberry stunt). Managing pests down to the cosmetic level is necessary in this fruit because they are a premium type product.


title: Blueberry

text: Changes in locale and environment – to new geographies, and into greenhouses – has required new pest management regimes, including innovative IPM. Conversely, importing foreign potential enemies into North America may yield good results: "Operophtera brumata" is a pest of blueberries and birches which is successfully parasitized by "Cyzenis albicans" despite the lack of historical, natural contact between the two. The same results were obtained with "Scirtothrips citri" and "Beauveria bassiana". Results are available for "Choristoneura rosaceana" and overwhelming numbers of "Trichogramma minutum", and "Cyclocephala longula" overwhelmed by "Steinernema scarabaei". This has also been attempted with flower thrips and potential predators but with inconclusive results.


title: Blueberry

text: "Rhagoletis mendax" is a quarantine pest in phytosanitary regimes of some countries around the world.


title: Blueberry

text: Insect resistance was not a priority in breeding programs until about the year 2000, and is still not a high priority. However it may become more common as it becomes easier, especially using marker-assisted breeding. "V. ashei" is naturally more resistant than "V. corymbosum" to "Scaphytopius magdalensis". On the other hand "V. ashei" is less resistant than "V. darrowii" to "Prodiplosis vaccinia". There is variation between cultivars of "V. ashei" in resistance to "Oberea myops". There is variation in resistance among cultivars of "V. corymbosum" to "Acrobasis vaccinii" and "Popillia japonica". Wild "V." spp. have greater resistance than highbush cultivars to "I. pepperi". There is significant variation between highbush cultivars in abundance of various Tephritidae, thrips, and "Homalodisca vitripennis".


title: Blueberry

text: In 2020, world production of blueberries (lowbush and highbush combined) was 850,886 tonnes, led by the United States with 35% of global production and Peru with 21%.


title: Blueberry

text: In 2019, Canada was the largest producer of wild blueberries, mainly in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, but Canadian production of wild blueberries decreased since 2017 by transitioning to the more profitable cultivated highbush blueberries. British Columbia produced 93% of the Canadian highbush blueberry crop in 2019.


title: Blueberry

text: Canada No. 1 blueberries are all similar in size, shape, weight, and color—the total product can be no more than ten percent off-color and three percent otherwise defective.


title: Hoda Kotb

text: Hoda Kotb ( ; , "Hudā Quṭb"; ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show "Today" and co-host of its entertainment-focused fourth hour. Kotb formerly served as a correspondent for the television news magazine program "Dateline NBC".


title: Hoda Kotb

text: Kotb was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia, and Alexandria, Virginia. She lived in New Orleans throughout the 1990s. Kotb's parents are from Egypt. Kotb and her family lived in Egypt for a year, as well as in Nigeria. She has a brother, Adel, and a sister, Hala. Her mother, Sameha ("Sami"), worked at the Library of Congress. Her father, Abdel Kader Kotb, was a fossil energy specialist and was listed in the "Who's Who of Technology". He died at the age of 51 in 1986.


title: Hoda Kotb

text: During a 92nd Street Y interview, Kotb hinted at her Muslim roots when she recounted her memories of annual summer vacations in Egypt and her veiled cousins and how her parents' migration to the United States had spared her from having to do the same:


title: Hoda Kotb

text: We met our cousins who looked just like us. Some of them had the head cover on. I still remember going, 'Oh, my God. Like that could have been me.' You don't realize the gift your parents give you when you leave.


title: Hoda Kotb

text: Kotb similarly indirectly spoke about her family's Muslim background in her autobiography when she described attempts at match-making by her relatives in Egypt:


title: Hoda Kotb

text: During my visit, I'd be sitting on the couch and there'd come a knock-knock at the door. 'Hoda, someone's at the door for yooooouuuu ... ' Oh, Lord. 'This is Mohamed. He's from Cairo. He's studying engineering ... and he has a Mercedes.' Really? He also has on a long white man dress. Okay, call it a dishdash.


title: Hoda Kotb

text: She graduated from Fort Hunt High School in 1982. She was elected homecoming queen and selected to speak at her graduating class's baccalaureate service. In her college years at Virginia Tech, Kotb was a member of Delta Delta Delta women's sorority, Beta Nu Chapter. In 1986, Kotb graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism. Kotb was the keynote speaker at her alma mater for the 2008 Virginia Tech graduation and in her speech, played Metallica's "Enter Sandman" over her iPod. In 2010, Kotb was elected to a three-year term to the Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors.


title: Hoda Kotb

text: Kotb's first on-air job after college was at then-CBS affiliate WXVT in Greenville, Mississippi. Kotb then moved to ABC affiliate WQAD in Moline, Illinois as a reporter from 1988 to 1989. She became a weekend anchor and reporter at CBS affiliate WINK in Fort Myers, Florida from 1989 to 1991. From 1992 to 1998, Kotb was an anchor and reporter for CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans, Louisiana.