• Dolph Ziggler Reveals How He Played A Role In Getting Himself Fired From WWE
WWE was officially acquired by TKO in 2023. Shortly after the sale, the company released several wrestlers, including long-time employee Dolph Ziggler (now known outside WWE as Nic Nemeth), who had been with the company for nearly 20 years.
Speaking about his departure on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, the former World Heavyweight Champion revealed that he had emailed higher-ups, explaining that he was being paid like a main eventer while being used sparingly. That email became one of the factors in WWE’s decision to let him go.
“I wrote a really, really long email to Vince, Hunter, Bruce, Ed, and maybe one other person, and it was a compliment sandwich. ‘This is the greatest thing ever. I’m the luckiest guy in the world… you’re using me in a role that a local would be in, but you’re paying me as the WrestleMania main eventer. This is bad for you, and this is bad for me.’
Nobody wrote me back, except for Vince. And he said, ‘Wow, this is incredible. This is a lot to read. I’m not sure what to do.’ And I said, ‘Vince, I will fly to Stamford tomorrow morning and we will finish this.’ He goes, ‘Give me a week to think about it.’
I said, ‘I really want to figure this out right now.’ He goes, ‘Give me one week. It’s a lot to process.’ I said, ‘Okay,’ and the next week I was on the list of people who were released. So, it worked.”
• TNA Hall Of Famer Went To Therapy Because He Couldn’t Become WWF Champion
On The Ariel Helwani Show, Raven revealed that he once sought therapy after feeling unfulfilled in his wrestling career – specifically because he never became the WWF (now WWE) Champion.
During the early 2000s, Raven admitted he viewed his career as a failure, despite success across ECW, WCW, WWF, and TNA. He believed not winning WWE’s top title meant he hadn’t truly “made it.” It was only through therapy that he learned how unrealistic and self-destructive that mindset was.
Raven recalled his therapist telling him that the standards he held himself to were impossible, and that he was punishing himself emotionally for not meeting them. Over time, this helped him realize that his worth wasn’t defined by championships, but by the impact he left on the industry and the fans who connected with him.
The session also made him confront deeper emotional wounds – particularly his relationship with his father. Raven described his father as a man with a sharp “insult humor” style, comparing him to “Don Rickles roasting his own son.” Growing up constantly mocked damaged his self-esteem, and he regrets not getting therapy earlier in life to process that trauma.
He acknowledged that he repeated those same behaviors in adulthood, using sarcasm and cutting humor with friends without realizing how hurtful it could be. Looking back, he considers not addressing that pattern sooner as one of his biggest regrets.
Today, Raven says he has reached a point of acceptance. Though he still carries regrets, he’s proud of who he became – someone self-aware enough to confront his past instead of hiding from it.
Raven was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2022.
