WWE News: Dolph Ziggler talks about how Kurt Angle influenced him, whom he wants to see making a Royal Rumble appearance this year

Ziggler’s in-ring character has undergone a complete attitude change lately

What’s the story?

SmackDown Live superstar Dolph Ziggler recently appeared in an interview with Sky Sports during which he discussed how Kurt Angle influenced his career and revealed which wrestler he wants to see making a surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble match.

In case you didn’t know

Although he has never won the Royal Rumble, ‘The Showoff’ has had a pretty decent track record in the match over the years. His best performance came in the 2013 Royal Rumble match, where he was the first man to enter the ring and lasted for nearly 50 minutes before becoming the 27th man to be eliminated. However, Ziggler’s debut appearance at the Rumble which came in 2009 was a complete disaster as he was eliminated within 21 seconds by Kane.

The heart of the matter

Dolph Ziggler told Sky Sports about how Kurt Angle was excelling in the WWE and learning the business quickly at the time when he was looking to enter the world of professional wrestling. Due to the fact that Angle was doing so well, he and other college wrestlers like him earned tryouts with the WWE.

Ziggler reckoned it would be a dream come true if could get a chance to wrestle him because of the respect that he has for the former WWE superstar. Here’s what he had to say about ‘The Wrestling Machine’:

“When I was looking to get into the business, Kurt was doing so well with WWE, learning so fast and being so great at his job, because of how awesome he was, I got a try-out with WWE.

Guys like him paved the way for guys like me who wrestled in college. If there was a chance to get in the ring with him, it would be a dream come true. I have nothing but all the respect in the world for him.”

When asked about which wrestler he would love to see making an appearance at the 2017 Royal Rumble, the 2-time World Heavyweight Champion named Scott Steiner as the one. According to Dolph, Steiner is his father’s favourite wrestler and he will probably superkick the WCW great to win back his affection. Ziggler was quoted as saying this:

“Scott Steiner. Hearing those sirens go off and him coming out with his headdress – I would love it. He is my dad's favourite wrestler so maybe I would superkick him out to win my dad's affection back!”

What next?

Dolph Ziggler recent ‘heel’ turn, which was fueled by his frustration over being unable to win matches, may find him in good stead at the Royal Rumble match this year and ‘The Showoff’ could even pull off his first ever Rumble victory.

Sportskeeda’s Take

Ziggler has immense potential to catapult himself into the league of WWE’s finest superstars of all time. However, it will depend a lot on the kind of storylines that the WWE will come up with for him going forward.


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