Dolph Ziggler's latest persona mirrors how he feels about his role currently.
Speaking to NBC Sports, Ziggler opened up about his latest gimmick, being mad at fans over liking entrances over someone like himself. When asked if there was ever a moment where he thought that a "downturn" period in his career started, Ziggler says that it was more of a gradual process.
“It was very gradual. It went from ‘Wow, we have something special here with Dolph. The crowd is feeding off of him whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy.’ But after a while, a really good match here and there or a special moment here and there is not enough to create a star. So after a big match and then just going back to being Dolph, it’s hard to not be Dolph.
I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve been able to make the most out of those situations. Anytime people see me or the character, you can kind of see how they mesh together and I’m pretty sure there’s nobody who blends that gray area with the character better than me. And that’s a fact.”
One could say that Ziggler's character right now reflects his own viewpoints on where his career is at. He says that it's important to balance between a believability factor in the character and going too overboard with the concept:
We’ve opened the fourth wall a lot with this business and we’ve let reality become a huge part of it, which is awesome. Being able to interact with fans every single day gives them the ability to know what’s going on behind the scenes a little bit and you can actually use that as part of your character.
It would be stupid to let them in on all of these different aspects of the show and then pretend that I win every night because then we’re basically calling them stupid for believing that. But if I go ‘Hey I don’t win all of the time, but I’m really good and you know this and I know this’ and one of the nights could be the time that we go with it and that’s very realistic in this world.
It’s one thing to joke around with fans, but to disregard huge aspects of a career would be a mistake.”
Ziggler right now is embroiled in a feud over the United States championship, which he looks to claim tonight at Clash of Champions as he faces Bobby Roode and champion Baron Corbin in a triple threat match.
