WWE News: Dolph Ziggler Planning On Retiring From Wrestling In 2017
Ex-WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Dolph Ziggler, has been one of the most popular, and in most people’s opinions, underutilized stars in WWE over the last several years. During his time in WWE, Ziggler hasn’t been shy about expressing his frustration with his spot in the company, as he has been very vocal about WWE seemingly being unwilling to push him to the level he, and many others believe he should be pushed to.
Ziggler’s expressiveness hasn’t exactly made him popular with the higher-ups in WWE. In fact, earlier this year, Ziggler’s WWE contract was coming to an end, and there were rumors that the “Show Off” would not re-sign with WWE due to being unhappy with his role in the company; however, he ultimately chose to re-sign with the company, as he signed a multi-year extension with WWE.
Since re-signing with the company, Ziggler hasn’t exactly been moved towards the top. He’s been kept near the middle of the card, and at times, he’s been slightly below the middle of the card.
Several WWE Hall of Famers, including ex-WWE play-by-play announcer Jim Ross, have criticized WWE’s use of Ziggler. As for Ross specifically, he said on his podcast recently — The Ross Report— that he’s baffled that WWE hasn’t pushed Ziggler to the top because, “he’s a helluva talent.”
It now looks like WWE may not have a whole lot of time left to push Ziggler to the top, as Ziggler himself revealed on Friday — via Twitter — that he plans to retire from wrestling, and become a full-time stand up comedian in Los Angeles by 2017.
The subject of Ziggler retiring and becoming a full-time comedian came up when one of his followers asked him where he saw himself being in the next three years. Ziggler answered by simply saying, “L.A. full-time.” He was then asked when he’d retire from wrestling, to which he answered “2 years.”
With that said, it appears that Ziggler’s contract extension with WWE was only a two year deal, which would see Ziggler retiring, based on the time he re-signed, in mid-2017.
Ziggler has done stand-up comedy sporadically during his time in WWE. Earlier this year, there were rumors going around that WWE was upset with Ziggler because he decided to do a comedy show while he was touring with WWE. However, Ziggler has come out and denied those rumors, saying that WWE has never had any issues with him doing comedy while he’s on the road with the company.
“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.”
Right now, Ziggler is in the midst of what will likely be a multi-match feud with recent NXT call-up, Tyler Breeze. The two will have their very first match together at this Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. There’s no question about what Ziggler’s role will be in his feud with Tyler Breeze, as Ziggler, the veteran, is likely being used to help elevate the young upstart.
After the Breeze feud, no one really knows what’s next for Ziggler. It’s possible that WWE could throw him in another Intercontinental Championship feud with whoever the champion will be at the time, or, since WWE is light on the heel side, they could very well turn Ziggler.
With Ziggler making it public that he’s planning on leaving wrestling for good after his contract with WWE expires, it’s not likely that WWE will be very willing to push him to the top, which may cause Ziggler to become even more frustrated, and want to leave the company before his contract expires.
[Featured image via WWE]
