10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (March 9)

6. Dolph Ziggler Wanted Six Months To A Year Away From WWE

It's pretty common knowledge that Dolph Ziggler almost left WWE late last year. When he relinquished the United States Title on SmackDown and walked away, that was a work, but Dolph was really burned out by the WWE schedule and fancied taking a chunk of time to think his future through.

He was back just over one month later.

In an interview with the All Things Wrestling podcast, Ziggler said he actually requested between six months to a year off. Backstage, he told WWE officials that it didn't make sense for him to stick around if he was booked to lose every night, and he felt it was best that his character took a break from TV.

WWE agreed, for a shorter period than Dolph originally fancied. That six months to a year idea was thrown out the window in favour of a brief break that'd let Ziggler rest up until the Rumble. Now, he's right back in the title mix on SmackDown and it's almost like his departure never happened.