Whatever you do, take pride in it and be great at it.
Dolph Ziggler
You never know the opportunity you're going to get, and you're never going to know how good anyone can be without the best opportunities, just as it goes with time.
My goal when I first started in the WWE was to stand out.
Theoretically, the road to WrestleMania is like an election year. The Royal Rumble usually has 30 people in it, which narrows down to 4 and then finally two. Only one of them can go on to the main event.
When I was 5 years old, I wanted to be a WWE superstar.
I was the World Champ, but I should be better.
It's the WWE; it's Vince McMahon's show. He lays out what he wants from you. It's not always going to be what I want.
I would love to make my entire career as the guy who did not get cheered. Of course, I'm still going to get cheered by people who think they're smart, and that's fine - they're acknowledging how good I am at my job - but I don't want cheers; I want the boos. I love it.
I live to leave somebody with a positive experience when they've met me, and make someone smile for the day.
When every new football season starts, we get all excited about the Browns. But no matter how bad they do, no matter how much they say they're rebuilding, they always have the support of that town behind them. No matter what, Cleveland is always behind the Browns, and we always root for them. One of these days, it's going to pay off!
Some advice I would give myself from the Spirit Squad years - try and get taller.
I make sure to write every day, even if it's a little bit.
You don't just go to your bosses and say, 'This sucks. I'm supposed to be winning everything.' If you have an awesome idea or a story, or something great, you go, 'Hey, how about we do this,' but when the story is not you, you have to find a way to make it work.
If I have 30 seconds to make everyone remember what I do, I better make the most of it.
I do circuit training - different workouts without stopping. I like having that stamina, where I've never been too tired to put on a match or go above and beyond.
On a good day, I'm a bitter, angry, chip-on-my-shoulder type of guy.
There is a glass ceiling for everybody until you find a way to get that connection that Cena has.
Of course, legends can call out whoever they want and do as they please, but they can't just show up and get handed matches.
I'm a huge fan of comedy. I write material whenever I can.
I am not trying to be the next anyone - I am going to be the first Dolph Ziggler!
Though I'm not a huge fan of The Rock, I admit that I am a fan of the fact that he does his own thing. He gets excited on the mic. He yells. He didn't listen to what people told him to do, and people responded to that.
When people are funny, I like to let them know that they're funny. There's so much negativity, it's cool to get some positivity out there.
Nobody works harder than me in the ring; no one steals the show more often, and no one gets better reactions for a guy who's not even part of huge storylines.
I have always gone above and beyond, whether I've been given 30 seconds or 30 minutes, but at some point, you have to deliver and go to the next level.
My first time actually appearing in a match at SummerSlam was 2010, and I was wrestling against Rey Mysterio in the opening match of the show. I was pretty brand new as Dolph Ziggler, and obviously Rey Mysterio was a well known superstar.
Little kids who get picked on and bullied can relate to the Lucha Dragons, who are smaller, but they're quick and exciting and never give up.
I do what I do best - and that's take it away from every one else.
You have to do something different, or you are just the guy who goes out there and has a great match, but nobody cares. You have to have different layers to your character.
I was a huge fan of Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, obviously Phil Hartman, and a very young Adam Sandler.
When I was 8 years old, I watched 'Saturday Night Live,' and I always wanted to be on there and be an entertainer.
You know what, I'm out there to give 100%, and I do what I think is best. I really don't care what other people think.
I wouldn't advocate anything to anybody - everybody's different. Some people can put on those toe shoes and think they're having a better work out than those in tennis shoes. Everybody can advocate their own way of doing something.
I hit an exercise - arms and legs, a set of curls, a set of tricep pushdowns, and then grab the bar and squat 40-20-30 and do it over again. I hit that a couple times through, then go in the sauna. I'll do a couple calf raises, then hop on a treadmill at 15 - the highest incline it can have while maintaining a fast-paced walk.
The Cavaliers used to play at the Richfield Coliseum, and I actually went to see them when I was a little kid. Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, all those guys.
I don't eat anything before, but I can still go kill it at the gym and be in and out in 45 minutes or an hour, even doing workouts in the sauna to get the blood and sweat flowing.
I go out there to steal the show every night.
Some people are fighting much, much more important battles and much bigger battles, and if we get the chance to put a smile on their face for ten seconds, it's so worth it.
I get cheered more and more for one simple reason: When I step in the ring, I steal the show! I will not accept anything less from myself.
When I finally get the chance to say what I want, to talk about where we're going from here on out, when my voice, my words, become the measuring stick for WWE, I think that's the moment that's going to reinvent our entire business.
I've always wanted to be the best at every aspect of the business. Not just someone who does great moves or high flying moves but every aspect and can take control of every match in case something goes wrong.
I study entertainment and apply it to myself to one day become the greatest WWE superstar we have, and it's a lot of work. So I write jokes and material every day... you have to keep people's attention, one way or another.
I do have a personal life. I spend half of the week at home. One of those nights, I'll go out with some friends and have a good time. I have a day and a half at home, and love to just sit on my backyard by my pool, read a book, or do some writing. That's my vacation.
I'm very adamant on social media about recommending comedians to people if they don't know them. I think it's so important to go see them.
I'm a huge Jon Lovitz fan.
The thing is, in the WWE, we have the WWE title, the World title, the United States title, the Intercontinental title, the Divas title, the Tag Team titles. And I feel like, in this business, when Mr. Perfect had that Intercontinental title, that was the belt we saw as the stepping stone to becoming 'the man.' The franchise of the WWE.
Always a big fan of the Browns, of course. No wonder how bad they lost or how much we froze to death out there, we still went to the games to watch them lose.
All of those Shield guys, who came in protected, have done nothing but deliver, in my opinion, and I am a harsh critic of everyone.
Go to work every day, be the first one in and the last one to leave, and you'll know that you've done everything in your power to make your life better.
That's always the goal. If you don't want to be the best or have the company on your back with everyone relying on you, then you shouldn't be here.
It's not always about wins and losses, but winning two Survivor Series matches is something I will never forget.
