Why Eric Bischoff Says WWE's Dolph Ziggler Not Upset About Not Being World Champion

Over the years, the likes of Steve Austin and Jim Ross have maintained that a wrestler who doesn't aspire to be a World Champion has no business being in the industry in the first place. On a recent episode of his "83 Weeks" podcast, Eric Bischoff was asked if he shares the same viewpoint as his fellow WWE Hall of Famers, or if a wrestler's ambitions are not a deterrent to their level of success.

"I'm torn," Bischoff responded. "Because I can understand the motivation behind it, and if you're not motivated to be the very best at what you do, then, maybe you're not in the right position — and that applies to any function. But, there are a lot of really successful people that have had an amazing time in the professional wrestling business — for decades or more — that were never World Champion."

He believes that Dolph Ziggler, who held the World Heavyweight Championship twice in WWE, isn't disappointed by his current position in the company, suggesting that "The Showoff" has already made generational wealth over the past two decades. "I don't think Dolph Ziggler is sitting at home lamenting the fact that he's not the World Champion. Because he probably has millions and millions of reasons sitting in a bank account somewhere — to suggest otherwise. And I get the impression that he truly enjoys what he does [being the veteran in the locker room]."

Bischoff stressed that a wrestler's career can't be deemed "meaningless" just because they didn't reach the proverbial mountaintop, pointing out that those performers were "still contributing a lot" to the industry. "I tend to disagree," he added. "I think a healthy perspective would be, 'I want to do everything I can to become the World Champion. I want to improve my game and work on whatever weaknesses ... But I'm not going to be disappointed in myself or my career choice if that never happens.'"