It became very imminent following the Summerslam PPV that Dolph Ziggler’s push was not only slowing down, but it has since become completely nonexistent. All sources at the time suggested that it was something Ziggler said in a media interview that cost him his big push, but it was unclear when, where, or what he said. It’s now being reported that an interview Dolph did on MLive.com back on Setptember the 4th is what got him in hot water. Ziggler made comments about “taller stars”, and specifically mentioned Randy Orton. This apparently didn’t go over well with Orton or WWE officials.
“I’ve made it clear; I’m not patient at all – several times. I’ve been very vocal about my position on the card and in the company. I’m not trying to say ‘Hey, everybody sucks and I’m great!’ But I love doing this, and at some point you go ‘OK, It’s not my time right now and I got to figure something out’ And when it’s time, that’s when I must go out there and make as huge of an impact as I can and let everyone know ‘I dare you to follow that, I dare you try something better.’ And when they don’t (counter or match what I’m doing in the ring) I’m very outspoken about it and it can get me into very hot water (with the company). Then you never know where we’re going. Everybody can be just so outspoken about taller guys, and guys like Randy Orton being the face of the WWE, the WWE Championship. I dare you to put me in a back alley with Randy Orton or someone like that. I guarantee I’m not afraid of someone taller.”
In my opinion, while Ziggler should learn to control some of his comments at times, WWE has gotten out of control with burying people based on them expressing their thoughts. It’s killed careers and hurt their own product.