Dolph Ziggler
I was the World Champ, but I should be better.
After a while, you reach a certain point to where you know what your talent is, you know what you're capable of, and you have to not care.
For the longest time, I was in random cold matches for 30 minutes and tore the house down for no reason, and everyone complained, 'Why isn't he in some kind of a story?'
Growing up in Cleveland, the first time I went to a WWE event, Cleveland didn't even have an arena. The Cavaliers were playing at the Richfield Coliseum. I would go out there.
I have no desire to switch companies or go to UFC or anything like that.
I'm always trying to make myself a better sports entertainer.
I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. And I'll tell you a real quick thing: we didn't have a pro hockey team when I was growing up, so I adopted the Red Wings as my hockey team just so I could, you know, be amused and enjoy playoff hockey every single year. I really get into it. Detroit is my team.
There is a glass ceiling for everybody until you find a way to get that connection that Cena has.
Nobody works harder than me in the ring; no one steals the show more often, and no one gets better reactions for a guy who's not even part of huge storylines.
People can pick and choose what they want out of it, but I feel like I'm a modern day Renaissance man of anything you could want me to do... except be six inches taller.
It's really funny to me that I get called a workhorse or somebody who's really good at making other people better in the ring. I feel like I'm good at every aspect of this. I feel like I'm a great talker; I feel like I'm a great representative of the company. I broke records in college. I have an amateur background with fighting skills.
When something special happens in wrestling, it's that much more special to me and for me to go, 'That was awesome,' because I'm as bitter as there is, so if you can get me to go, 'Woah, that was cool,' a couple of times, it's a special show.
The Cavaliers used to play at the Richfield Coliseum, and I actually went to see them when I was a little kid. Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, all those guys.
You have to do something different, or you are just the guy who goes out there and has a great match, but nobody cares. You have to have different layers to your character.
WWE has given me an out where, any days off that I have, they allow me to work on outside projects.
You want to be an NXT fan.
I feel that I am better than Roman Reigns, but you know what? He hasn't wrestled as long as I have.
All of those Shield guys, who came in protected, have done nothing but deliver, in my opinion, and I am a harsh critic of everyone.
You don't just go to your bosses and say, 'This sucks. I'm supposed to be winning everything.' If you have an awesome idea or a story, or something great, you go, 'Hey, how about we do this,' but when the story is not you, you have to find a way to make it work.
I make sure to write every day, even if it's a little bit.
Little kids who get picked on and bullied can relate to the Lucha Dragons, who are smaller, but they're quick and exciting and never give up.
For the longest time, Cena would be, and still is, filibustered by half the WWE universe.
Theoretically, the road to WrestleMania is like an election year. The Royal Rumble usually has 30 people in it, which narrows down to 4 and then finally two. Only one of them can go on to the main event.
I dare you to put me in a back alley with Randy Orton or someone like that. I guarantee I'm not afraid of someone taller.
I've made it clear - I'm not patient at all - several times.
If I cannot be the best or operate at the best highest level, then I need to go away.
I'm not going to be one of those guys who changes, and all of a sudden I'm shaking hands and kissing babies.
The thing is, in the WWE, we have the WWE title, the World title, the United States title, the Intercontinental title, the Divas title, the Tag Team titles. And I feel like, in this business, when Mr. Perfect had that Intercontinental title, that was the belt we saw as the stepping stone to becoming 'the man.' The franchise of the WWE.
I want to know why people are getting laughs. Why this joke works and why that one didn't work. It all comes back to helping me be a better WWE Superstar. So I love it.
My first time actually appearing in a match at SummerSlam was 2010, and I was wrestling against Rey Mysterio in the opening match of the show. I was pretty brand new as Dolph Ziggler, and obviously Rey Mysterio was a well known superstar.
You want to be the best, and you hear a lot of good things about yourself, and then you find out that you're going to debut as a caddy - it's a little gut-wrenching, and it hurt.
I do have a personal life. I spend half of the week at home. One of those nights, I'll go out with some friends and have a good time. I have a day and a half at home, and love to just sit on my backyard by my pool, read a book, or do some writing. That's my vacation.
We are on the road 250-280 days a year at least, and it's something that, if I have a wife and kids at home, I don't know if I could do it.
My dad used to work a night shift when I was five years old, so I would get up when he went to work and watch Johnny Carson. I remember not knowing what was going on, but loving it.
I was a huge fan of Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, obviously Phil Hartman, and a very young Adam Sandler.
I'm very adamant on social media about recommending comedians to people if they don't know them. I think it's so important to go see them.
When people are funny, I like to let them know that they're funny. There's so much negativity, it's cool to get some positivity out there.
For the most part, and even with Miz, the WWE superstars are so good to the fans and everything they do.
I'm someone who loses 80 to 90 percent of the time. Even when I lost, I put my body on the line and I told the best story. If I stood out, if my attitude towards fighting was different, I found a way to stay around and keep revamping myself and my character.
Some people debut and beat John Cena. Some people debut and lose to R-Truth. That happened to me by count out. So, everything is different.
That's always the goal. If you don't want to be the best or have the company on your back with everyone relying on you, then you shouldn't be here.
I'd love to be in the ring with guys like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker, as, no matter what they've done, I know how good my conditioning is. If those three can say the same thing, I'd love to go and hang with them because I don't think they could hang with me.
Getting the approval of Ric Flair is the wrestling world's version of Johnny Carson calling you over to the desk after you just crushed a standup set on 'The Tonight Show.'
A lot of people are successful in this business because of a catchphrase or athletic ability or charisma or wrestling; Ric Flair is the personification of all of those things, much like his daughter Charlotte, as she is already a multiple-time champion after only a few years in the WWE.
When you live life like The Nature Boy, there are some monumental highs and, sadly, some unbelievable lows. No matter what happens in his life, he always comes back bigger and better than any of us can even imagine.
My goal when I first started in the WWE was to stand out.
Dolph Ziggler is a name you'll remember. It will stand out, and you'll know it before you even meet me.
When every new football season starts, we get all excited about the Browns. But no matter how bad they do, no matter how much they say they're rebuilding, they always have the support of that town behind them. No matter what, Cleveland is always behind the Browns, and we always root for them. One of these days, it's going to pay off!
I know how good I am, and the fans know how good I am.