Quickly turning into one of the greatest heels of his time, Dolph Ziggler, is ready to leave his mark in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on anyone in the way of his championship aspirations.
Real Name : Nicholas Theodore Nemeth
Alias(es) : Dolph Ziggler & Nicky (from the Spirit Squad)
Date Of Birth : July 27, 1980 Height : 6′0 Weight : Approx. 215lbs
Pro Debut : November 2004
Wrestling Organization : World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
Trainer(s) : Lance Storm & Mike Bucci
Finisher(s) : A Jumping Russian Leg-Sweep
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) & Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW)
Nick Nemeth began his professional wrestling career in 2004 working for nearly a year in OVW before being called to the main roster. In 2005, he appeared as a caddy for Kerwin White for a short time and was sent back to OVW for further development. At the beginning of 2006, Nemeth appeared again on RAW as “Nicky” of the Spirit Squad and feuded with D-Generation X for almost a year before the group dissolved and he was sent back to development. He then spent approximately one year and nine months competing in FCW before being brought to RAW a third time as the man you see now, Dolph Ziggler. While in FCW, Nemeth held the FCW World Tag Team belts twice; once with Brad Allen and once with Gavin Spears.
Nick The SideKick
When Nick was first brought up to the WWE main roster, he posed as a caddy for Chavo Guerrero who had assumed the persona of Kerwin White, a rich golfer/wrestler. Nemeth debuted on television September 25th, 2005 as he a White lost a tag team match to Shelton Benjamin and Matt Striker on Sunday Night Heat. Unfortunately, Eddie Guerrero’s untimely demise caused Chavo to scrap the whole Kerwin White persona and Nemeth returned to OVW.
Nicky & The Spirit Squad
Upon returning to OVW, Nemeth joined a group called “the Spirit Squad” consisting of five young wrestlers. Nemeth became known as Nicky and joined fellow male cheerleaders Johnny, Mikey, Kenny, and Mitch. The Squad appeared on January 23rd, 2006 on RAW to help Jonathon Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry Lawler. The group continually sucked up to Vince McMahon who used them to try and get Shawn Michaels to retire. On April 3rd, Kenny and Mikey, with outside help, defeated Kane and Big Show to become the World Tag Team Champions. It was then announced that the titles could be defended by any two members of the squad without warning as to whom until the match began (The Freebird Rule). Meanwhile, McMahon was still trying to retire Michaels and so on April 24th, he scheduled Michaels in a handicapped match against all five Spirit Squad members. Undaunted, Michaels held his own until Triple H joined the fray to help the Spirit Squad retire Michaels. Without regard to the repercussions Kenny disrespected Triple H and the entire Spirit Squad was beaten down by a newly re-formed D-Generation X as Michaels and Triple H fought side by side once again.
Throughout the rest of 2006, D-Generation X (DX) and the Spirit Squad fought throughout the country at big events such as Vengence, Unforgiven, and Saturday Night’s Main Event. While feuding with DX, the group defensed the titles against Jim Duggan and Eugene, Val Venis and Snitsky, Charlie Haas and Vicera, and the Highlanders. The group finally lost the World Tag Team Championships on November 5th, at Cyber Sunday to the team of Ric Flair and Roddy Piper. The Spirit Squad disbanded three weeks later after they were defeated in a five on three match against DX and Ric Flair. They were all sent packing in crate stamped “OVW, Louisville, Kentucky”.
Hi! I’m Dolph Ziggler!
Which is about all Nemeth said when he appeared on RAW September 15th, 2008. By the time he actually set foot in the ring on December 1rst, we were all slighty annoyed with this fellow introducing himself over and over again. The match went well for him considering he lost to Batista but scored some nice moves in the process. The following week, he scored his first victory by count-out against R Truth and on December 15th, he beat Chalie Haas in singles competition. Dolph Ziggler started to become under used and was drafted to Smackdown via the 2009 WWE Supplemental Draft. Debuting in mid-April he defeated the United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in a non-title match and was granted a title chance the following week, but fell short. Ziggler was then scheduled in a match against the Great Khali. Ziggler looked panicked and grabbed a chair getting himself disqualified. In the following weeks, however, he redeemed himself by legitimately out thinking Khali and winning a few matches against the giant. At the Bash, Dolph Ziggler defeated the Great Khali by pin-fall. Shortly afterward, Dolph began dating Maria Kanellis and decided to go after Rey Mysterio’s Intercontinental Championship. At Night Of Champions, the two had a spectacular match that caused many people to notice his wrestling talents if not the belt that was missing around his waist.