FanSided.com recently did an interview with WWE star Dolph Ziggler to promote WrestleMania 31, and the following are some interview highlights:
FanSided: The WWE Universe has been very vocally supportive of you over the last year, yet the WWE hasn’t given you the push many fans expect for you to get. Does that bother you that you are very over with the audience yet management has yet to move you to that next level?
DZ: “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.
FanSided: At WrestleMania you are participating in the Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title Match. The title has slowly becoming more and more relevant in the WWE over the last year. What does this match and this title mean to you and your career?
DZ: “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.”
FanSided: You and Daniel Bryan were teasing a possible match a few weeks back with a little Twitter banter back in forth. Was that something that would have been just as special if you weren’t included in the ladder match?
DZ: “Absolutely. I was just pissed that I wasn’t in the Royal Rumble for a long time. I was very disappointed in my performance and I know he was. I know he had his sights set on winning that match, I did too. And I went: ‘You know what? Two guys with chips on their shoulders, with the entire crowd behind them… I want to go out there and not steal the show and shake hands and be your buddy. I want to go out there and beat the living hell out of each other and show people what the real main event can mean, without the story, without everyone behind it.’ Just showing you two guys that love it and the fans love them back, will beat the hell out of each other, and someone comes out on top. And I sure as hell wasn’t going out there to lose.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
