WWE star Dolph Ziggler was recently interviewed on a media call to promote tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW. During the call, Ziggler talked about leaving SmackDown Live last year and relinquishing the United States Title. Here’s what he had to say:
When you were the champion late last year, you relinquished the title to make a statement and took some time off. What are your thoughts on needing to build on the momentum you had at that time?
“Hang on a second, all the time I took off… you know I was gone for three Mondays, right? Just three weeks. You know that’s not a lot of time off, right?
“So, when I begged to go away for a long time, I wanted something special to happen. I wanted to go away, work on myself, make myself stronger, make my character better. Using that entire process. And when I was inserted into the United States title match, I said, ‘What can I do, to make this match be more prestigious? How can I steal this title away from those two other Superstars?’ And when I found a way, the reaction was there, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted.
“I thought to myself as I got close to the ring, ‘Walk away and don’t say a word. That will get everybody talking. That will be similar to going away for three months, going away for six months. Going away for a year or two. As much as I can, without giving up and breaching my contract.’
“So I did what I could, and I slammed that title down and I walked out. And that was the most anyone talked about me in seven years, and I really wanted to capitalize on it. I felt special about it. We went in a different direction, but sometimes you do everything you can within your power, and I without a doubt have always done everything in my power to make the titles mean something, make those memorable moments mean something, and have my career be the best it can be. So, some things are out of my hand. I don’t own the company. But I wanted that to be special, and it was. It just could have been hell of a lot more special.”
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions
