For years many have considered Dolph Ziggler one of the unsung superstars of the WWE Roster. Despite winning many championships in his more than ten years with the company, in the past few months many believe his stock has risen drastically. With rave reviews for his recent match with the Miz at No Mercy and the Intercontinental Championship around his waist, Ziggler is certainly riding high and thankfully for UK fans, he'll be arriving in person to entertain us in under a fortnight. We were lucky enough to grab some time with Dolph in as in advance of the tour and asked him about a future UK Pay-Per-View event and more. Read what he had to say below and then get yourself a ticket to see the man in person. A list of tour dates which run from 4-10 November including Raw and Smackdown tapings in Glasgow, follows the interview.
Every year, WWE Superstars tease us with their support for a future Pay-Per-View event, like Wrestlemania, taking place in the UK. Do you think with the brand split, we're any closer to realising that possibility?
I think you can tell just by having the Raw and Smackdown tapings in Scotland and the expansion we have and how great the fans are. You always think the more loyal they are, the better the chance they'll get something. I'd always heard, years and years ago, that Cleveland where I'm from - that there were such great responses and such great turnouts that they earned a Pay-Per-View. Now I'm sure there is a huge amount of money that would go into doing a Pay-Per-View overseas but I feel like we're getting closer and closer. The fans are just so huge and so great and so loyal that of course we as the performers think that they've gone above and beyond to deserve it and hopefully at some point, if Vince doesn't lose too much money just making the Pay-Per-View happen, I'm sure at some point it will be in the works and it will be one of the greatest crowd responses we've ever had.
You beat the Miz in your career vs title match but had you lost, what is the one thing that would have brought you out of retirement?
The first thing that popped into my head when you asked that was having a singles match, for a reason, at Wrestlemania. But I'm also a businessman and a team player and I don't focus my career on thinking "yeah, that was a great year that I just had, I just won the intercontinental championship and put my career on the line but you know what, I really haven't had a singles match at Wrestlemania. Wah Wah!" It's about good business and giving it back to the business and I feel like I've done everything I possibly can in every aspect. Would it be cool to have something like that career vs title match against Miz at Wrestlemania? Absolutely. But when it happens organically it's just that much more special anyway and you can't guarantee when the timelines would be exactly right for that. So it would be cool if I retired, to come back and be in there with someone like a Miz or a Tyler Breeze or a Zack Ryder, someone whose been a buddy of mine from day one here, or someone who thinks they want to challenge me and give it a go. If I could come out of retirement then maybe Shawn Michaels could too, who knows!
It's not only sports entertainment but you've also made a name with your one-man comedy shows. Have you played any practical jokes on your fellow superstars?
Practical jokes are so hacky, bro! We did a show on the WWE Network, Swerved, where once everyone saw me as being associated with that, no-one trusted me for five years backstage! So it's tricky for me to get somebody to do something real, let alone set up a trick. I'm not really a trick guy and for about six months, everyone thought I was tricking them every single day! I'm still winning back everyone's trust and respect! When it comes to the comedy scene it's about writing and trying things out, over and over, hundreds and thousands of times until you find a cool way to do it and that's what I love about it, being a student of it.
Was there really a chance of you leaving the company had you lost to the Miz?
There genuinely was. I wasn't excited for it but I was prepared. I'd been in talks with an agent for about a year and I told him after the date of the pay-per-view to have a couple of things ready and so we did have a couple of different things ready to go and I had prepared some appearances on Fox News following the United States Presidential election. I had all my bases covered but most importantly I didn't want to lose. Just because I'd prepared for it sure as hell didn't mean that I wanted to go away but if I couldn't win that match, I needed to leave. So I focused so much on attempting to win, not to steal the show, not to be a great entertainer but to be a winner and luckily I came out on top.
We're delighted Dolph Ziggler is still here to keep us entertained! You can see him when WWE LIVE returns to the U.K. from 4th to 10th November. Tickets are available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk. The full tour dates are as follows:
• Friday, 4 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: The SSE Wembley Arena, London, England
• Saturday, 5 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: Butlins, Minehead, England
• Saturday, 5 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
• Sunday, 6 Nov., 5 p.m.: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
• Sunday, 6 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: First Direct Arena, Leeds, England
• Monday, 7 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: Monday Night Raw at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
• Monday, 7 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: GE Oil & Gas Arena, Aberdeen, England
• Tuesday, 8 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: SmackDown Live at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
• Wednesday, 9 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: Genting Arena, Birmingham, England
• Thursday, 10 Nov., 7:30 p.m.: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales