Back in 2011, Edge was the man to introduce Dolph Ziggler to the main event Championship picture with a world title match at the Royal Rumble event.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Dolph Ziggler opened up about how much that experience meant to him and how happy he is to see Edge return in such great shape, adding that he hopes to have one more match with him.
“Edge, that Royal Rumble match [from 2011] we had was so cool. I was a guy that lost 99% of the time. I didn’t talk—Vickie [Guerrero] talked for me,” Ziggler recalled. “When we got to the match, I was so fortunate to have traveled with and be friends with Adam and Jay [Edge and Christian], Tommy Dreamer and [Chris] Jericho. They’re so good, they’re so smart, and me being around them, I became almost as smart. We had this match, a guy that loses every week in a world title match against Edge, and there was no cool backstory. I didn’t cut a 10-minute promo with my life story, nothing like that. But we built this up for a couple weeks and maybe, maybe, I had a 1% chance of winning, which I’ve made a career out of over the past 15 years. I learned so much from Adam on the road during the live events we did together. I mentioned earlier that I wish I could have done a bunch of live events with Mandy, Sonya and Otis because I could have helped them even more. Getting that time with Adam meant so much to me.”
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He continued, “I almost forget how having fans sounds, but we opened the show that night at the Rumble with a world title match and the crowd was hot. Everyone knew I was losing that match for the first 10 minutes, but the rest of the match was back-and-forth. People weren’t sure what was going to happen, and no one sat down during those last 10 minutes. As much as I try to take credit for everything I do, that was just me trying to hang with Adam. Back then I thought I was great, but I go back and watch that now and there are a million little things that piss me off. But the reaction from that crowd, going from thinking I couldn’t win that match to not knowing if I was going to become world champion, that’s a credit to how good Adam is.
“I can’t speak highly enough about Adam, and that is one of my absolute favorite matches, which also has to do with our history outside of the ring. If there is a chance where him and I get to go toe-to-toe in the ring again, I would love it. Adam might be in the best shape of his life, which again, like Randy, is starting to piss me off. They’re out there doing 45-minute matches, crushing it, and looking like a million bucks. I need to step up my game.”
Next up for Dolph Ziggler is a WWE Championship match against Drew McIntyre at WWE Extreme Rules: The Horror Show.
Dolph Ziggler
What Has WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler Been Up to Outside the Ring?
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SummerSlam Kickoff Party
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SummerSlam Kickoff Party
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Ziggler and Wade Barrett
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Superstars for Sandy Relief
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Superstars for Hope
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SummerSlam VIP Party
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Wizard World Chicago Comic Con
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2014 NHL Stanley Cup Finals
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