Dolph Ziggler On Attitude Era Stars Having Vince McMahon's Ear, Young Wrestlers Scared Of Vince
RAW tag team champion Dolph Ziggler was recently a guest on the In This Corner podcast. The veteran WWE superstar discussed how younger wrestlers might not feel comfortable pitching ideas to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
As one of the longer-tenured superstars on the roster, Ziggler doesn't feel any insecurities when it comes to his working relationship with McMahon. He said it's actually the holdovers from the Attitude Era that make the most requests to McMahon. He learned early on that most wrestlers aren't afforded the same leniency as those superstars.
"The sad part is the veteran guys, who have known Vince McMahon since the Attitude Era and have been there when it was crazy hot, have his ear more even if it is not always in the best interest. It is not that they don't do that, it is that they do it and there is nowhere else to go," Ziggler explained. "You go and mention that this isn't your thing [as far as storyline], the response is that you could go sit in catering or you can quit and you are like, oh, okay, I don't know how other people's interaction go nor do I want to know, I like mine where I tell him that here is how I can make this better, do you like it?"
Ziggler went on to explain that an idea that might be good for an individual might not be good for the brand as a whole, which is something young superstars don't really understand. He said the superstars are all on the same team with the same goal of elevating their brand, so there isn't much room for going against the grain.
"Sometimes he says that it is a great idea and sometimes he says that that is not what we are going for, but the fact that people are constantly trying to make things better, a lot of times this is show business so they are trying to make themselves look better, which I understand," he said. "But a lot of times I feel like those Attitude Era guys that say, 'Hey, why don't you do this?' That is really not how this business works anymore because once you do make some crazy decisions on the fly and you go, oh, it is in your hand and you go and do it in yourself you are now possibly jeopardizing a story for some other people; a television show that is now a team and you never know where that can lead to. You no longer have the option to tell them to go to hell and I am going to do what I want, maybe it works and maybe it doesn't."
Ziggler admitted that he has disobeyed orders in the past at times because he felt strongly about an idea. He said that it didn't matter whether the outcome was successful or not, he was reprimanded regardless.
"Sometimes in the past I had done things where I said that it was the right thing to do and was told no and then I did it," he said. "Three out of four times it blew the roof times it was the right decision and four out of four times I was told don't ever do that again, it doesn't matter if it was better, this is a team and not about you."
If you use any portion of the quotes in this article please credit In This Corner with an H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.
Source: In This Corner
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.