Ever since he returned from his hiatus, Dolph Ziggler has not hesitated to speak his mind. And after his multiple attempts to win the WWE Championship during a bitter feud with Kofi Kingston turned out to be fruitless, the former World Heavyweight Champion turned his attention elsewhere — WWE’s legends.
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On the July 23 episode of SmackDown Live Ziggler interrupted a Miz TV segment with Shawn Michaels, chastising the Hall of Famer for popping up on television over and over again after his in-ring career was over. Ziggler went so far as to call Michaels’ return match at Crown Jewel an embarrassment (something Michaels surprisingly agreed with), then nailed him with a Superkick.
Since then Ziggler has cut numerous promos on both Michaels and Goldberg, who also recently returned at Super ShowDown in June for a match with The Undertaker. In an interview with ComicBook.com on Friday, Ziggler explained why he keeps calling out the two Hall of Famers.
“I remember when I first came to WWE, I was in Ohio Valley Wrestling,” Ziggler said. “It was my first day. And they were asking me like, ‘who are some of your favorites?’ I said, ‘Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Goldberg,’ and everyone made fun of me. Because, ‘You know those guys, they’re not that good of wrestlers.’ And I go, ‘I don’t know that and I don’t care. Those guys are awesome at their jobs. They’re draws. I can’t wait to see what they do next. I live for it.’ And then you come to become a student of the game and a fan, and you realize that both are correct. Not everyone’s the best wrestler, but if you’re awesome at your job, that you’re always there, you’re an amazing superstar. And I really respect that. But lately, I test the water to see what I could be without getting yelled at by the boss. And usually I can sneak some zingers in. It’s hard to do them on some active guys who are still backstage who have their finger on the button, so you got to take it when you can.
“But I watched that last Super ShowDown, and I watched Shawn Michaels [Crown Jewel], someone I’ve looked up to for a long time, not giving his best effort,” he added. “And I said, ‘If that ever happened to me I’d quit.’ And when I got a chance to tell him that to his face in a ring with everybody watching and then kick the smirk off of his face, which is a pretty awesome thing in this day and age when sometimes reality isn’t our show, based on what I live for and love. And the fact that I get to throw zingers out at people that I think are part-timers and don’t live up to what their hype bubbles are supposed to be. I get to do that now because I don’t really care about the repercussions.”
Ziggler said he’ll continue to call out wrestlers “who do not give 100 percent or do not live up to my standards.” He’s currently booked to face The Miz at SummerSlam on Sunday in Toronto, though reports started popping up last week that his opponent may change.
As part of SummerSlam weekend, Ziggler will take part in WWE’s Meet & Greet sessions with fans from Aug. 9-11. He’ll also be hosting the DZ and Friends comedy show at The Rec Room in Toronto on Saturday night.
