Dolph Ziggler Says Wrestlers "Shouldn't Be In The Business" If They Aren't Wanting To Be Better
Dolph Ziggler has had to endure 50/50 booking multiple times throughout his WWE career. The current RAW tag team champion was recently a guest on the In This Corner podcast and discussed frustrations over how he was booked in the past.
A former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Ziggler has enjoyed a mostly successful run in the WWE. But there have been lulls where he was relegated to the midcard and had no real direction or storyline going for himself. Ziggler understands what it's like to make it all the way to the top of the mountain, only to get knocked back down. He said that experience has taught him to never settle and to always strive for more, even when he's involved in the main-event scene.
"No matter what situation you are in, I have given this speech to several younger guys in the locker room on several occasions. Even with so many superstars, so many stories, so many things going on, even when you are in the middle of something huge, something awesome, or you become a monumental champion or you become a world champion, the second it is not all about you, the second you are not making these great gains because of things that are out of your control, the fans turn on you and that is really sad because your whole life is going to be filled with disappointment," he said. "This is show business and entertainment. You want to be the champion, then you want to be the best champion of all time, then you want to be the best talking, walking, living breathing specimen. You don't always get to do that and in 13 years, 12 years combined have been getting punched in the gut physically and verbally, and one of those 13 years it has been for the most part the most positive thing you can get, so even when things are going great you think that you should be deserving and wanting better and you always will otherwise you shouldn't be in this business."
Ziggler was also asked about people in the industry not believing he has what it takes to be "the guy" to lead the company. Ziggler explained that he has heard from detractors all throughout his life and if he had listened to them, he would never have achieved as much success as he has both in and out of the ring.
"I think some people meet you and they make a decision right there and there. Also, hey man, I was told that I would never be world champion and I did. Somehow, someway you take everything that you get and you just keep scratching and crawling and along the way you build this grassroots campaign where sometimes it goes away and sometimes you get it and sometimes you get a chance when someone gets hurt and you wrestle for a world title. That has happened to me on several different occasions and it was awesome," he said. "There are also times when you are doing everything right and you have it all figured out, you can go on Fox Business and speak your mind politically and tell a story. You can be educated and you can be someone that can be Googled for being the all-time winningest wrestler at Kent State University and you can get a political science degree and a pre-law minor and you can go talk at a trade show or you can talk at a comic-con, or you can talk to business people and do everything. You can go do stand-up comedy on your one day off because you are an ultimate renaissance man and you can still come to work and go, tonight is not your night because this is show business. You can either quit or you keep going and decide fate on your own, and at the end of the day if you are doing everything that you possibly can to be your best and you still are not part of that group that is life, but at least you can sleep at night."
If you use any portion of the quotes in this article please credit In This Corner with an H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.
Source: In This Corner
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.