Dolph Ziggler was among the bunch of talents released by WWE following the merger with the UFC into TKO Group Holdings.
On a recent edition of his “Grilling JR” podcast, Jim Ross weighed in on Ziggler’s future, noting that he expects The Showoff to return to WWE in some capacity.
Ross said, “I don’t think he’s permanently going to be gone from WWE. I think once the dust settles, you start thinking about the roles he can fulfill — and there are many, not just [in] wrestling. I heard someone talk about Ziggler being in line for a role much like Adam Pearce is on RAW, and if that’s the case, he’ll do a great job.”
“Ziggler’s a star, and you don’t just cast stars to the side.”
Ross also spoke about Triple H’s involvement behind the scenes in WWE. He said,
“The more you can get Triple H involved on a decision-making scenario, the better off you are. He’s just got a great feel for the business. He’s a student of the game, literally, more than just a nickname. I didn’t see a bad thing about it. My situation was just very arduous. It was no secret that Vince wanted to go younger, different look, different sound, and that would eliminate JR. I guess, if you’re a performer or a talent, you gotta expect that this is going to happen [at] some point in time. I have great respect for Triple H. Then, now, forever as the expression goes. We have a lot in common. We both love wrestling. We both love pro wrestling. I don’t remember having too many bad days with Triple H. We communicated well… And I understood too that he was kind of hamstrung on what he could do in my regard because the influencer was Vince, and Vince wanted a change. And he was hell-bent on getting his change at that announce position.”
Finally, Ross discussed how the NXT brand has helped in shaping the next generation of talents. He said,
“I liked the concept a lot, and Hunter and I did talk about it. We both are big proponents of the Performance Center and getting more ring time for these talents and getting them involved, getting them in the ring, getting good teaching and coaching, coach them up, add some discipline, just a whole scenario, a whole feel. I think NXT is one of the best things that WWE has done because where are you going to get talents that are trained?”
“A lot of [coaches] have really contributed well and they’ve helped make the thing better. So I’m a big proponent. Triple H obviously was the brain, was the driving force behind getting the Performance Center up and running and producing talent. That’s the whole bottom line, is that how many stars did you produce? That’s the bottom line of that deal, and they’ve produced a lot of stars.”
