It's really funny to me that I get called a workhorse or somebody who's really good at making other people better in the ring. I feel like I'm good at every aspect of this. I feel like I'm a great talker; I feel like I'm a great representative of the company. I broke records in college. I have an amateur background with fighting skills.
— Dolph Ziggler
There is a glass ceiling for everybody until you find a way to get that connection that Cena has.
I have no desire to switch companies or go to UFC or anything like that.
After a while, you reach a certain point to where you know what your talent is, you know what you're capable of, and you have to not care.
On a good day, I'm a bitter, angry, chip-on-my-shoulder type of guy.
Though I'm not a huge fan of The Rock, I admit that I am a fan of the fact that he does his own thing. He gets excited on the mic. He yells. He didn't listen to what people told him to do, and people responded to that.
Even though I only get a few days off, I do not stop, whether it's getting some stage time at an open mic or flying to L.A. to watch a ton of stand-up shows.
It's not always about wins and losses, but winning two Survivor Series matches is something I will never forget.
I get cheered more and more for one simple reason: When I step in the ring, I steal the show! I will not accept anything less from myself.
I've never been in the ring with The Undertaker.
Winning the Intercontinental Title for the first time, in 2010, was a real milestone, as I grew up living off some of those Intercontinental Title matches.
I wouldn't advocate anything to anybody - everybody's different. Some people can put on those toe shoes and think they're having a better work out than those in tennis shoes. Everybody can advocate their own way of doing something.
When I was 5 years old, Hulk Hogan was the world to a lot of little kids.
I, being the ham that I am, always want people looking at me.
I'm a huge Jon Lovitz fan.
When I was 5 years old, I wanted to be a WWE superstar.
I would love to make my entire career as the guy who did not get cheered. Of course, I'm still going to get cheered by people who think they're smart, and that's fine - they're acknowledging how good I am at my job - but I don't want cheers; I want the boos. I love it.
People can pick and choose what they want out of it, but I feel like I'm a modern day Renaissance man of anything you could want me to do... except be six inches taller.
I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. And I'll tell you a real quick thing: we didn't have a pro hockey team when I was growing up, so I adopted the Red Wings as my hockey team just so I could, you know, be amused and enjoy playoff hockey every single year. I really get into it. Detroit is my team.
Growing up in Cleveland, the first time I went to a WWE event, Cleveland didn't even have an arena. The Cavaliers were playing at the Richfield Coliseum. I would go out there.
I'm constantly unsatisfied with any situation, which is both good and bad, because never being fully happy drives me to better every day... but I don't enjoy the things that I do even when I do them great.
When I finally get the chance to say what I want, to talk about where we're going from here on out, when my voice, my words, become the measuring stick for WWE, I think that's the moment that's going to reinvent our entire business.
Of course, legends can call out whoever they want and do as they please, but they can't just show up and get handed matches.
WWE has no issues with my stand-up. I do not miss work for any reason and will continue to work around my schedule because I'm a professional and do not allow complacency or laziness.
Any comparison to a WWE legend or someone I've looked up to is really cool, but make no mistake about it, my ego is too big to want to be a really good replica of someone else!
Some advice I would give myself from the Spirit Squad years - try and get taller.
I started wrestling when I was five. I lost my first match and cried in front of my dad, and I never wanted to do that again.
Miz and I grew up a couple of minutes apart in the Cleveland area and both had dreams of being WWE Superstars and being the best.
I hit an exercise - arms and legs, a set of curls, a set of tricep pushdowns, and then grab the bar and squat 40-20-30 and do it over again. I hit that a couple times through, then go in the sauna. I'll do a couple calf raises, then hop on a treadmill at 15 - the highest incline it can have while maintaining a fast-paced walk.
I have more respect for amateur wrestlers, especially collegiate ones, than anyone else. It's a gutsy sport with no real payoff except for knowing that you were better than someone else. It doesn't have big crowds, it doesn't have big money, but it is fun going one on one.
I always kind of did my own thing, but it got me into trouble a lot, so I started listening to what people were telling me to do to show I was a team player.
It's the WWE; it's Vince McMahon's show. He lays out what he wants from you. It's not always going to be what I want.
Whatever you do, take pride in it and be great at it.
I've always wanted to be the best at every aspect of the business. Not just someone who does great moves or high flying moves but every aspect and can take control of every match in case something goes wrong.
Nobody works harder than me in the ring; no one steals the show more often, and no one gets better reactions for a guy who's not even part of huge storylines.
I'm always trying to make myself a better sports entertainer.
For the longest time, I was in random cold matches for 30 minutes and tore the house down for no reason, and everyone complained, 'Why isn't he in some kind of a story?'
I was the World Champ, but I should be better.
I appreciate someone who stands out and stands up for what he believes in, because that's what I'm trying to do.
Sting can call out whoever he wants; he's a legend in this business.
I have a lot of downtime in airports and on flights.
I am not trying to be the next anyone - I am going to be the first Dolph Ziggler!
They love you when you're doing well and hate you when you're the bad guy.
I have always gone above and beyond, whether I've been given 30 seconds or 30 minutes, but at some point, you have to deliver and go to the next level.
I don't eat anything before, but I can still go kill it at the gym and be in and out in 45 minutes or an hour, even doing workouts in the sauna to get the blood and sweat flowing.
I do circuit training - different workouts without stopping. I like having that stamina, where I've never been too tired to put on a match or go above and beyond.
I was a big fan of amateur wrestling, and I loved it and dedicated my whole life to it for 20-something years, and it's not really a glory-getting sport.
If I have 30 seconds to make everyone remember what I do, I better make the most of it.
When I was 8 years old, I watched 'Saturday Night Live,' and I always wanted to be on there and be an entertainer.
I study entertainment and apply it to myself to one day become the greatest WWE superstar we have, and it's a lot of work. So I write jokes and material every day... you have to keep people's attention, one way or another.
