Dolph Ziggler Tells Crazy Story About How His Royal Rumble Entry Happened

Dolph Ziggler's entry this year into the WWE Royal Rumble was evidently a very last minute affair.

During an interview published this week with Chris Van Vliet, Jericho spoke about how his Rumble appearance came about and caused some shuffling to his comedy bookings.

Ziggler is currently on a hiatus from WWE, as he put it, and his status was much the same back in January. Just prior to the Rumble in Phoenix, Ziggler gave an interview to Van Vliet where he even claimed he would not be a participant in the 30-man Rumble.

Ziggler and Van Vliet have done several interviews together in the past and have a good working relationship, so the Rumble appearance got many people wondering why Dolph would have lied to Van Vliet just days before the PPV. However, as Ziggler put it, he wasn't lying and he had no intention of being in the match and had no idea WWE would call him into action.

"When I talked to you, I was not booked for the Royal Rumble and I have no reason to lie to anybody or be like 'Hey listen, I don't know what the deal is'," Ziggler explained. "I was just on hiatus and I got a call to be there. And if I wasn't in town for a booking for a comedy show that night I would not have even been in Phoenix. I got a call the night before saying 'Hey, you gotta get here.'"

The appearance in the Rumble even caused him to be late for a comedy gig later on the same night.

"I was one of the last people in the ring that night and my comedy show three blocks away had to start an hour late because I was running over with sweat and my bags. I almost went in my gear but I was like I'm going to have to shower."

So why was he booked for one of the biggest shows of the year on such late notice?

"I think it was more just I was in town and I'm one of their guys and it happened to work out so I got a double booking, double pay day, WWE and the comedy show," Ziggler said.

Check out the full interview with Chris Van Vliet in the video below.

[H/T SE Scoops for the transcript.]

-----

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com, yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we break down the trailers for Dark Phoenix and Child's Play, talk Halo casting, and so much more! Make sure to subscribe now and never miss an episode!