Dolph Ziggler Talks Backstage Jealously, His Promo Style, What He Would Do As WWE Champion

News, Top Story

WWE’s website has published an excerpt from a Q&A with Dolph Ziggler from the new issue of WWE Magazine. Here are a few highlights:

Do you have a timetable for your success, and if so, are you ahead of schedule or behind?

I used to, but now I take it night by night. I gauge my success by whether or not I’ve stolen every single show, be it with a 20-second segment backstage or a 30-minute match on Raw. There have been a handful of times when I admitted to myself I failed at that, and I couldn’t sleep at all those nights until I went back out there and proved again to myself, proved to WWE, to the members of the WWE Universe that I am the best. And it’s because of that attitude that I finally have opportunities, a legitimate shot at the WWE Championship. You can’t put a timetable on that because in this business, things constantly change, and there are so many factors that are out of your control. So my timetable is to ask myself, “Am I doing my job better than everyone else?” Check. And if I’m not, I fix it the next week.

What will be the first thing you do when you win the WWE Championship? Take a picture of it in a random place like CM Punk?

I won’t be taking pictures of it like that, no. Honestly, I probably won’t even be able to sleep. When I do win the WWE Title, I would have come so far, having wanted a WWE Championship since I was five years old, when I saw Hulk Hogan face off against Harley Race. I wanted to be the top guy, and I would take the responsibility proudly. I wouldn’t have time to think of crazy things to do with the title, because I’d know from that point on, I’d have to work so much harder because the show, the company, is riding on my coattails, and if I weren’t trying to outdo myself every week, I wouldn’t deserve my spot as champion.

Where did your new, off-the-cuff, stream-of-consciousness promos come from?

I always kind of did my own thing, but it got me into trouble a lot, so I started listening to what people were telling me to do to show I was a team player. I got a lot of different advice in the meantime, to be monotonous on the mic and conversational, normal, but I don’t want to do what everybody else does. So when I got on the mic, I’d talk fast, talk slow, make people think. And after a few weeks of following the rules, I was given a chance on the mic and told to sneak a couple of things in there that are really me. I’m finally coming into my own now, and if people don’t like it, yell at me. But there’s a reason I keep getting more and more time, and that’s because I’m good at talking, at showing off. It’s kind of my thing.

Despite your recent rivalry with Zack Ryder, you were an early supporter of the Ryder Revolution. What did you see in him?

Zack’s a good kid, and I am a huge supporter because he thinks outside of the box, because I see that little bit of that in myself. He didn’t just do something different to get noticed, he went above and beyond. All just to get 30 seconds on TV! He was one of the first to go out there and use multimedia venues to make everybody root for this guy they didn’t know, and I thought that was really cool. And I appreciate that he gave me the chance to be on his show and talk the way I wanted to, to put people on notice, to show what I can do. He was the one who let me be me, and I’ll always appreciate that.

Honestly and legitimately, what is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from Vickie Guerrero?

I mean this as genuinely as possible, but Vickie…is…awesome. She’s been hated for so long and that’s been extremely beneficial to me in being a great bad guy, because when they boo her, as a result, they boo me, too. I love having Vickie involved in my matches, sneaking stuff behind the ref’s back. She’s great at cheating—she’s a Guerrero. I want to be awesome at what I do, yet still be hated because I like to cheat. And nobody does that better than we do.

With Superstars like The Rock, Triple H and Chris Jericho returning to action, there’s a lot less time for some of the younger Superstars. How do you make yourself stand out with the time you get?

JR once told me, “Maximize your minute,” and I live by that motto. If I have 30 seconds to make everyone remember what I do, I better make the most of it. With whatever time I’m given, I need to do something to stand out, to become a draw, so that the fans say, “Yeah, we came here to see John Cena, but damn, Dolph Ziggler’s match was a clinic and it was awesome, and I was on the edge of my seat. So I’m coming back next time to see him.” Now that I’m getting title matches and getting to step into the ring with some of the best competition there is, now I’m going to work hard to get my time in and show just how damn good I am.

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