In terms of dependability and consistency, Dolph Ziggler may be one of WWE‘s best. However, Ziggler himself resents the limitations of such a label and may be looking for a way out of WWE.
Ziggler joined former WWE Superstars Edge and Christian on their podcast, E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness and did not hesitate to have a candid discussion about his WWE career. To Ziggler, his role in WWE is one of “gatekeeper” where he typically loses to up and coming WWE Superstars in order to validate their rise. But for Ziggler, being WWE’s version of a placemat is not something he wants to continue.
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“I have a very short amount of time left to figure out if I want to do that again or if there’s something to reach for. All I could reach for is fun-ass matches and tearing it down on the weekends because it doesn’t seem to be a specific great prize to be reaching for here that I can attain, so I can be patted on the back and told, ‘you’re our guy – you’re our Shawn Michaels. You’re so good at this – we can’t do this without you!’ and then kind of see a bunch of guys not in that position coast right by,” he explained.
In 2017, Ziggler served as a launching pad for Baron Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Bobby Roode, but also spent a large chunk of the summer off of WWE TV. To say the least, it’s been a challenging year for the Show-Off. Yet, Ziggler seems to have a mature understanding of the situation, one that he’ll apply to his decision to stay or go.
“So there [are] no feelings hurt. It’s a show business thing where I love it and in a very short time, I will have to decide if I need to go away and do my own thing or if I need to find a different role here,” said Ziggler.
Rumors sprung a few months ago that had Dolph leaving WWE in the fall and that was after Shinsuke Nakamura let it slip on Talking Smack that the 2-time WWE Champion was eyeing a move to New Japan.
Perhaps it is time for Ziggler to leave WWE. With the viral success of Cody Rhodes as an independent mercenary, Ziggler could enjoy the freedom (and money) of being a multi-promotion star.
We’ll see what happens.
[H/T Wrestling Inc.]
