Dolph Ziggler should have replaced 45-year-old in WWE on-screen role, Vince Russo says (Exclusive)
Vince Russo believes WWE made a mistake by releasing Dolph Ziggler after 19 years with the company.
Ziggler joined WWE in 2004 and went on to become one of the longest-tenured superstars on the roster. The 43-year-old won several titles during his time in the company, including the World Heavyweight Championship twice and the Intercontinental Championship on six occasions.
Russo, former WWE head writer, appeared on this week's Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws with Dr. Chris Featherstone and EC3. He said Ziggler should have replaced Adam Pearce, 45, as WWE's on-screen authority figure on RAW and SmackDown:
"If I'm in that meeting [about WWE releases], whoever's in there, [Bruce] Prichard and Vince [McMahon] – I know those two are definitely in that meeting – and they're going through that list, I swear to God, bro, if Dolph Ziggler is on that list and I'm a creative guy and I'm in that meeting, I'm gonna say, 'You mean to tell me that Dolph Ziggler would not make a better Adam Pearce?' Seriously, bro?" Russo stated. [31:30 – 32:02]
Watch the video above to hear the panel's thoughts on the latest WWE releases, from Elias and Top Dolla to Mansoor and Mustafa Ali.
Vince Russo's WWE idea for Dolph Ziggler
As part of the storyline, Vince Russo would have booked Dolph Ziggler to wrestle sporadically whenever someone questioned his decision-making.
Russo would also like to have seen the 2012 Money in the Bank winner transition into a producing role behind the scenes:
"I would have put him in that role. Let him be an agent, let him also be in that role, because now you could do the angle where if somebody gets out of hand, he puts the tights back on. That would have been cool. Let him take over the authority. I just would have looked into those types of situations before I just cut the guy loose after, what, 15 years?" [32:02 – 32:28]
It has been widely speculated that Ziggler, real name Nick Nemeth, could join AEW following his WWE release. The Showoff's brother, Ryan Nemeth, has worked for Tony Khan's promotion since 2021.
Do you think Ziggler would have succeeded as an authority figure? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.