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Dolph Ziggler Welcomes All Challengers To His Intercontinental Title

Dolph Ziggler Welcomes All Challengers To His Intercontinental Title

A reinvigorated Ziggler speaks to theSPORTbible about his Intercontinental title, Smackdown, his career and more.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

One of the biggest beneficiaries from WWE's brand split in July has been Dolph Ziggler.

For years, 'The Show-Off' has been regarded as one of the most gifted wrestlers in the company but with no real substance. Too often he has been stealing the show but not getting the results and has been unable to hit the heights he reached before - his two stand-out moments in WWE being his memorable Money in the Bank cash-in the night after Wrestlemania 29 and when he briefly took down the authority with the help of Sting when he was the sole survivor in 2014.

Ziggler is someone who has been around for a while but for over a year he has been the same performer, churning out the same matches where he excites and entertains, but ultimately loses.

That all changed though at No Mercy when Ziggler put his career on the line when in a match for the Miz's coveted Intercontinental Championship and the two served up an absolute classic, with Ziggler emerging with a monumental victory; the sort of performance and win that has breathed new life into him as a performer.

He believes the storyline worked so well and got the fans so emotionally invested in the story because it was a lengthy build-up and accumulation of Ziggler's 11 years in the company. He has never had the opportunity of a big return to freshen up his character but feels revitalised after his big win against the Miz.

Speaking on a conference call to promote WWE's imminent UK tour, he said:

"In 11 years I was out five weeks to shoot a movie and two other times I've had two weeks. That almost hurts me because I'm never left to get an exciting return, or something special or to change something. The fact all those years have built up, which I think was kind of going against me, went into letting everyone know 'by the way this guy, after 11 years he still loses all the time when it comes down to the big matches'. So we addressed that on TV and everyone brought it up and Miz brought up all my failures.

"At this moment it all tied into the last couple of months, trying to fight through it and say 'man, I'm at a crossroads, where I need to win something and change this all around, or go away for good'. It forced me to put my career on the line and step up and be something more than someone who is good at wrestling and tries to steal the show, I had to go out there to win."

Dolph and Miz have been long-time rivals and have wrestled each other a number of times, but their recent storyline on Smackdown is undoubtedly bringing the best out of one another. Ziggler feels that the matches and feud on the whole is coming off so well partially because there has been time dedicated to their promos and matches on Tuesday nights, which wasn't always the case in the past.

Speaking to theSPORTbible, he said:

"In the past it's usually Miz telling me that he's great and talking loudly for five minutes and then you see me and I either say I'm going to show up or steal the show and then we go and have a match. That's cool but it evolved into something much more special where it really mattered that not only every week were we told how great that was, we were told that we were getting more time and going above and beyond and that's what makes it special, that's what gives you the time when you earn it.

"You can do well and not earn the time but for years you can do pretty well and not get the chance, but when you get your chance, you're doing well and you knock it out of the park that's when you get a shot like that to keep getting the time. Miz is a great bad guy to be feeding off because I hate his guts and the anything he says, half the time it's true but he says it so loud and obnoxiously that he doesn't stop and it makes you just want to punch him in the face. If you can somehow find a way to put a punch in the face and bring it out of your mouth, that's what makes for great TV."

Had Ziggler lost that all-important match with the Miz, the stipulation would have been that he would have had to leave the company, often these scenarios see the wrestler return weeks late. However the 36-year old revealed that he has been considering leaving for a while.

"I'd been genuinely thinking about it for two years now. While I was prepared to go, I sure as hell never wanted to go. WWE is a business but Vince [McMahon] is still a human being and if I went to him and said I need to leave because I can't be here anymore because I can't go any higher on this card, I believe he would understand that and let me go. I could go and do other things, too - I've been very fortunate that I have a small stand-up set, and also in the last six months or so, going on Fox News to talk politics, something I study, write about and have lots of ideas about and know like the back of my hand.

"It was those things that scared Daniel Bryan too, knowing I have these things in my back pockets and a way out if I did indeed lose that match at No Mercy.

"But I am still prepared to be the best WWE Superstar I can be and I want to keep doing this. If I can't be the best WWE Superstar I can be then I have to go away. One more loss would have broken me and I couldn't let that happen. So although all my bases were covered and I had prepared myself for the worst, my sole focus was on winning the match."

The Miz is still entitled to his one-on-one rematch but Ziggler has other plans for the Intercontinental Title. He introduced an open challenge on Tuesday's Smackdown where he saw off Curt Hawkins and has issued an open challenge to any of the Raw roster to compete for his IC belt at the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view. He says he welcomes all challengers to his belt.

"I'm easy man. Anything that's there that make sense for someone to challenge, I'm here. Once I put my career on the line, from here on out it's about winning and it's about being the best and if I can't do that I've got to go away. Since I won, it gave me a whole new rebirth and a new way to go. If anybody wants to come challenge me, great but it has to make sense. It can't just be someone who's been sitting on the bench and all of a sudden they're getting a title shot but if you earn it, you deserve it. I'm welcome to all comers who try and take this away from me."

Ziggler's focus at the moment is elevating the Intercontinental Championship, but admits that he would jump at the chance to be world champion at some point down the line. His last shot at Summerslam didn't work out so well but he wants to win the big one again.

"I'd love to be World Champion again, yeah! The important part is that there's got to be a great story, I've been very fortunate that I got to bring all of my losses forward for the last eleven years but it made a great television story for me fighting for the Intercontinental Championship and if there's a great enough story that I can continue and make that title great so much so that it transfers to the world title, that's fantastic. I don't think anyone as a WWE superstar wouldn't want to be World Champion, if you don't want to be World Champion you shouldn't be in our business. As you said earlier, I am focusing on the Intercontinental championship, but if a chance came tomorrow to fight for the world title and become Intercontinental Champion and World Champion, I would do it in a heartbeat just to make both titles that much more special."

You can catch Dolph Ziggler when WWE LIVE returns to the U.K. this November 4th to 10th. For tickets, please visit http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/
• 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

Words by Josh Lawless

Featured Image Credit: WWE

Topics: Smackdown, Wrestling, WWE