Dolph Ziggler On Heath Slater’s Return
Dolph Ziggler appeared on this week’s episode of WWE’s The Bump. He discussed his upcoming WWE Championship match with Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater’s return to WWE RAW and more. Here are some highlights:
On whether bringing Slater back backfired on him:
Ziggler: “No, not at all. I got to beat up Heath, Drew got to beat up Heath, but for some reason, this is show business, not show friendship. If he wants to embrace Heath and be friends with him, that’s fantastic, and I think that’s great that they have that bond. I really think that’s cool. I’m in the wrestling business to not have feelings, to be the best, go let everyone know I’m the best, and I’ll not have extra targets on my back like being sad about a friend. So Heath coming back, I thought I was blessing everyone bringing back this morale boost to our entire locker room, Heath, who everybody loves, and just had a few things to say. And I mean this in all seriousness, when Heath was let go, and I am a heartless S.O.B., but anyone is fired, it sucks. When someone who is such a huge morale boost for the locker room and a lovable guy, it sucks even more, someone like myself who looks out only for me in the ring was definitely calling Heath, texting Heath. I got him on cameo trying, talking about getting Mandy back for me at the time because I thought I was trying to help the guy get a job because he was out. Because that’s the kind of beloved WWE superstar that I am because I give back to the community.”
“And Drew, who I really liked having in my corner a long time ago, as this straight psychopath looking to take over the world, was someone who comes out every night on Monday Night RAW and says, ‘Hi, WWE Universe, I’m the same guy,’ or whatever the hell he says, and it’s so sad because it’s cheesy, and he probably doesn’t even want to do it, but he just thinks he’s doing what is supposed to be done, which is sad enough. But also, here’s the great guy, Drew says,, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to be WWE Champion, I will wear this on my shoulder, I will show the locker room what to do,’ this is real. Did he call Heath? Did he text Heath? Those were brothers. No. He was busy showing up at RAW and saying, ‘Look, I’m here, which is kind of a slap in the face to anyone who’s ever been fired by this company, and this is show business so it happens a lot. So I get that Heath has some things to say, and I felt like he needed to get them off his chest because this is a pattern.”
On not revealing the stipulation for the WWE Championship match:
Ziggler: “I keep my chess pieces on the board, and I’m smart enough to know that if someone is so cocky and so full of himself that he says, ‘Pick any stipulation that you want, do whatever you want,’ you think I’m just gonna show up and be like, ‘Chairs match, duh,’ and I’m gonna give Cyborg a chair to throw at me and rip me in half? Or I’m gonna say, ‘Table match,’ and just have him break a table over me and then it’s over? I’m too smart for this, and he’s too cocky and full of himself that I need to make this something extra special. It would be like Mike Ditka giving the opposing team, ‘Here’s all the plays I’m going to run on Sunday.'”
Jeff Hardy Wants To Face AJ Styles
Jeff Hardy also appeared on WWE’s The Bump this week. He discussed his rivalry with Sheamus. Here are some highlights:
On Sheamus using his personal life in their rivalry:
“It’s definitely a huge motivator, man because we’ve been doing a documentary, too, my [WWE] Chronicle I think will be out soon, and it’s real deep and honest, and you know, open, so yeah, it’s been an asset, I think, because over the years, since my early 20’s, you know, I’ve been in and out of addiction and alcoholism, whatever, the roller coaster ride of good and bad and man, sadly, and in the same sense, creatively, it’s been a power for me because even back in the days of feuding with [CM] Punk, it kind of reminds of that, this deal with Sheamus, and it can be extremely uncomfortable at times, but that’s when I gotta stay strong in my beliefs in where I am right now and what I am right now and not let anything under my skin to the point of like, ‘I can’t do that, I can’t do that.’ I think it’s gonna help a lot of people that I never meet in this lifetime, you know, just by watching me on TV and hearing what I say and sharing my experience, so yeah, it’s a huge motivator.”
On who he wants to face on SmackDown:
Hardy: “It’d be a dream of mine, the first time I went to this other wrestling world in my life, I wrestled this dude, this young up-and-coming star named AJ Styles, like that was my first match back, and I was so nervous because I knew he was so good and definitely, we’re the same age and we’re just like complete opposites, you know, outside the ring, but yeah, AJ Styles for sure, Roman Reigns for sure, Bray Wyatt for sure, as long as The Fiend is around, I know there’s something special between me and him but yeah me and AJ one on one, the 42-year-olds, maybe 43 next year, matching it up would be great.”
The full episode is available here:
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