Dolph Ziggler On If It Bothers Him That WWE Won’t Push Him To The Next Level

Dolph Ziggler recently spoke with Fansided.com to promote the WWE Intercontinental Title Ladder Match at WrestleMania 31. The full interview can be seen at this link. Below are some highlights:

His experiences with the Spirit Squad:

“It didn’t really progress my career but behind the scenes it really did. For about 12 months straight, being some one who was relatively new, less than a year into learning how to wrestle and the business, I got a chance to be in there with Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair almost on a nightly basis for about six months. That was a dream come true and a crash course in learning how to react and how to listen. At the end of the day, I left that year with zero credibility and back to square one, in the minors.”

Does it bother him that he’s over with fans but officials won’t push him to the next level:

“Of course it bothers me, it pisses me off, but it also drives me to be that much better. Listen, everybody’s favorite can’t always be champion, can’t always be on top, can’t be in the main event, and can’t be in the main story of the show. But if you stick around long enough, killing it with an A+ every single night, there’s a chance you can sneak in through the cracks and break that glass and become the guy.

“A couple of different times I’ve been pretty close and just missed out. The reason I’m in the position I am, it’s not just hard work, it is because the fans know that if there is a tiny chance, he can pull it off and he can be our guy. They live by that every single Monday and every single Thursday and that’s what drives me to keep going. I don’t care about the money, I don’t care about the fame, I love doing this job and having the respect of the fans going ‘this one day could be our guy. One little inch and nudge in the right direction and he could be the man.'”

What the ladder match and the IC Title means to him:

“I was a big fan of that white belt, I grew up loving those matches with Mr. Perfect, Ultimate Warrior, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, all those guys. I loved that title, not only did it stand out, it meant that you were the next guy in next in line to be a huge star. This ladder match coming up has a bunch of hungry guys who are all one step away, one nudge in the right direction away from not only bringing prestige back to the title, making it mean what it used to, but also becoming a force in the WWE. Becoming that next top guy. This is going to define somebody’s career at WrestleMania and damnit, I hope it’s mine.”

His comedy career:

“Every couple of weeks I find a way to get four of five minutes on an open mic or show. Every show I’ve done, so far, has led to other shows and other bookings because not only they are surprised and say ‘oh, you’re good at it.’ I have worked at this for 20 years, I’ve been writing stuff, trying things out, running things by my writing partner, everything you can imagine. I’ve done the homework, just like in the WWE except I haven’t had the TV time comedically.

“Slowly but surely that’s building up. This last year has been building relationships, being able to get on shows and having a nice back and forth to were they go, ‘oh, we can trust this guy with a couple of minutes.’ This year will define where I go with it.”