Dolph Ziggler reveals backstage reason why he often lost his WWE matches
Nic Nemeth, formerly known as Dolph Ziggler in WWE, recently disclosed details about the high number of defeats he suffered throughout his career.
In September 2023, Nemeth was granted his release from WWE after 19 years with the company. The 43-year-old held several titles during that time, including the World Heavyweight Championship twice. However, many fans believe he could have been presented as a bigger star.
On Eyes Up Here with ECW legend Francine, Nemeth said Vince McMahon's former right-hand man Pat Patterson was one of his biggest fans backstage. As a joke, higher-ups within the company often booked Nemeth to lose because they wanted to witness Patterson's reaction.
"The top of the top, other than Vince, pulled me aside and said, 'Pat pushes for you so much because he says such great things and sees such great things in you that we are now actively ribbing him by having you lose every week.' And he laughed when he said it. I go, 'That's funny, but that's my career that's already I lose 80 percent of the time, now I lose 95 percent of the time,'" Nemeth stated. [4:35 – 5:00]
In 2020, Pat Patterson passed away at the age of 79. He spent six decades in the wrestling business and worked closely on creative ideas with former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
Nic Nemeth is grateful for his success as Dolph Ziggler
Although he lost most of his WWE rivalries, Nic Nemeth created lots of memorable moments performing as the Dolph Ziggler character.
Nemeth added that his inability to remain in the main event picture likely came down to his lack of support behind the scenes:
"There's a million amazing, amazing moments that I got to be a part of, or that were based around me, that the memories will never, ever go away, and the fans have them too. It's just that I think there's that extra part of there's no follow-up because there's no one in a meeting going, 'Okay, now we're going with this guy, right?' They're like, 'Hmm, nah, we're good.'" [5:24 – 5:45]
In the same interview, Nemeth revealed what he said to Vince McMahon in a lengthy email shortly before his release.
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Please credit Eyes Up Here and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.