Since 2004, Dolph Ziggler has been a big part of World Wrestling Entertainment. When you look back at all of the accolades he’s achieved, it’s easy to forget about the time he’s faced adversity on the main roster, such as the time he suffered a succession of losses to mid-carders like Damien Sandow and Fandango. This is a guy with such athleticism and charisma – someone that has faced the likes of Randy Orton and John Cena in his career, been a two-time World Heavyweight Champion and six-time Intercontinental Champion, but for some reason his road to the top has been harboured by issues.
The guy can wrestle, and there’s no question he was born to entertain. Finally, it seems as though 2018 has blessed us with the best version of Dolph Ziggler, and that is down to his recent partnership with Drew McIntyre. Drew is another guy who’s had it tough in the WWE, becoming a glorified jobber in his initial tenure. He disappeared and built up his name on the indie circuit, coming back to WWE through NXT. Now, both Ziggler and McIntyre are RAW Tag Team Champions, and their appeal as WWE Superstars is at an all-time high.
On a recent media call, we had the pleasure of chatting with Dolph Ziggler. Both Drew and himself have faced similar challenges within WWE, and pairing them together was such a smart move. Despite travelling down such a rocky road, they’d not really spent much time together up until recently. “We hung out a bit in the old days, but it’s been a few years. When it comes to it, great gravitates towards great. We weren’t the best of friends when he was first here, but I also saw the hard work and everything that he did, so I gravitated towards routing for that guy, or being on his side, or certain circles together.
One day we saw that we were working with each other, and we said at exactly the same time what each other’s goals were. The goals were identical, except I’d been trying to do it for 10 years, and he’d gone away for a little to re-figure out everything and what he’d wanted to do, but we both wanted the same thing – to be the best, to set an example for all the superstars in WWE. But I just happened to be doing it for the last 10 years.”
In his early career, Ziggler was part of the Spirit Squad, and also part of a faction with AJ Lee and Big E, but it’s been some time since he’s shared the spotlight with someone else. Whilst it seems like a very natural partnership, was it tough to join forces with someone else after such a long time being a singles competitor? “What I’ve thought about in the past was, I’m usually the person who thinks for everybody in the group, or everybody in the match and the plans for every obstacle, and doesn’t have anyone else to help me out. In this case we are two people who are very like-minded who want to do the same thing, who want the match to be the best. We want to have all possible options we think of every single night. Sometimes instead of going to sleep we think of what we’ve got to rely on when we get to RAW the next day.
We’ve both been in a similar case where we both wanted the best, we both want to put on the best show, and also dominate. It’s weird because you never know when someone’s got your back, and 99 times out of 100 we’re on exactly the same page. Here’s how we make this match great – here’s how this show is better because of us, and we’ll just look at each other and know. It’s been pretty great to do this so far.”
The Dogs of War aka Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and Braun Strowman might just be the guys to defeat The Shield, and with Dean Amrose’s insecurities bubbling to the surface, we may finally see The Dogs become the strongest force in WWE. Dominance is something Doplh believes he’s achieved, and despite facing pretty much the entire WWE roster, there’s still a lot of guys in NXT that’d pose a tough challenge, like Adam Cole, Pete Dunne, and Ricochet. Finally, we asked if there was anyone in NXT that he’d like to face.
“Nope.”
This was a resounding no, and after a laugh, our time with “The Showoff” was over. It’s easy to see just how confident he is stood on top of the highest stage in the world. He’s currently a part of RAW’s Tag Team Champions, is a member of one of the strongest stables in WWE’s history, and doesn’t think there’s anyone out there he can’t defeat.