WWE star Dolph Ziggler reveals his Britney Spears guilty pleasure and admits Tyson Fury’s kick is almost as good as his
DOLPH ZIGGLER revealed Britney Spears gets him in the zone to be WWE’s “Showoff” as he admitted Tyson Fury’s big boot is almost as good as his own kicks.
The SmackDown superstar told SunSport how he has been keeping an eye on the Gypsy King as he hailed UK fans as the “best in the world” after tearing up Brighton, Manchester and Minehead.
The American pro wrestler and part time stand-up comedian has also fully embraced British culture while touring these shores.
Not only was he pictured with Coleen Rooney at the Manchester Arena last Friday following her WAG war with Rebekah Vardy.
But confessed to drinking English breakfast tea all throughout his eight-hour flight from the States to prepare himself for the UK shows.
Ziggler – real name Nicholas Nemeth said: “Without having to suck up or anything Brits are our strongest fan base than anywhere around the world.
“They’re constantly asking for more matches, stars, events and they deserve it because they’re such a rabid fan base we have to give them as much as we possibly can whenever we can.
“Whether we come once in a while or ten times a year they will be there to support us and that’s pretty amazing – you don’t get that everywhere.
“We’re constantly in the States and we’re so used to the cheers but over here a football chant will randomly break out and you’re like ‘woahh ok right that’s cool’ which makes it so fun.”
Ziggler and his fellow blue brand stars travel to Vienna tonight for the next leg of their European tour.
He was defeated at the Brighton Centre alongside Cesaro, Bo Dallas and Robert Roode by Apollo Crews, Shorty G and Heavy Machinery.
But made his comeback up north after helping King Corbin defeat crowd favourite and wrestling Roman Reigns before appearing in Minehead and Dublin.
And it was while chatting to Sun Sport on the south coast that the Cleveland, Ohio-born ace admitted how impressed he had been by Fury before his UK Smackdown appearance.
The Gypsy King beat 27st Strowman in his first wrestling match in Riyadh just over a week ago after landing one of his famous right hands.
But the two monsters joined forces on Friday to fend off Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas on the boxer’s home turf.
The 39-year-old said: “I finally got to see Fury in the ring having a fight with Braun Strowman at the Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia and I was very impressed with his big boot - which is a big leg kick.
“You know he can almost kick as high as I can and it was exciting to see him, he was one of the few that I was very focused on to see where he was in his training and what he was doing.
“He looked very comfortable in the ring it was pretty fun to see him kick Braun in the face a couple times.”
Ziggler signed for WWE in 2004 and has revealed the unique ways he gets himself in the zone before a show.
He said: “I’m a big Britney fan, I like to listen to Britney to get pumped for a workout or show who doesn’t love her?
“I like 80s and 90s hair metal stuff, like Twisted Sister, Motley Crew, Guns and Roses, but I have a nice rotation of Britney in the mix the whole way."
And added: “About an hour before the show starts I lock into a zone and think of every possible scenario in my head.
“It comes with experience but like the crowd I’m excited too, I’m a wrestling fan and I’m living my dream so when I hear them I think this is going to be awesome.
“When the lights first go down you listen and the crowd will be like ‘yeaaaaaaa’ and we know we can have some fun with these guys it’s a hot crowd.
“I don’t want to give the stuff away that’s hurt my feeling for real from fans where I am crying inside but I love interacting with them.
“There’s usually something funny that goes on, a zinger, or ripping someone’s sign in half after they said something, or going for a high five and then saying ‘nah, I don’t think so.’
“It’s really special that interaction, you can’t do that when we are doing our Smackdown show on television.
“This tour is purely to give back to these fans and give them a match that they couldn’t have seen on their screens.”
The Showoff has been juggling wrestling with stand-up comedy since 2013.
And he insists performing in front of millions worldwide in WWE is far less terrifying than getting on stage to crack jokes in front of a live audience.
“Wrestling used to scare because I’d be so nervous not to mess up but I’ve been around for so long now that it’s very comfortable.
“But when it comes to doing stand-up I walk out there shaking going ‘don’t mess this up’ - it’s terrifying.
“A lot of times people in the audience come to see me and they know me as this great wrestler but I am not a great stand-up comedian so I have to deliver to them.”
Ziggler has been in the wrestling business for 14 years now and has witnessed first-hand the evolution of female wrestling.
He said: “I’ve been around several different generations where women were just valets and they accompanied men to the ring.
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“But as the years progressed it’s become half and half with strong powerful women having their matches and men having their matches, we’re all just WWE superstars.
“We’re interchangeable and women can be the main event, in a steel cage match it doesn’t matter.
“A lot of fans didn’t know what the female fighters were capable of until now so it’s awesome we’re all fighting to have the best match.”