I always kind of did my own thing, but it got me into trouble a lot, so I started listening to what people were telling me to do to show I was a team player.

I, being the ham that I am, always want people looking at me.

I was a big fan of amateur wrestling, and I loved it and dedicated my whole life to it for 20-something years, and it's not really a glory-getting sport.

I have more respect for amateur wrestlers, especially collegiate ones, than anyone else. It's a gutsy sport with no real payoff except for knowing that you were better than someone else. It doesn't have big crowds, it doesn't have big money, but it is fun going one on one.

When I was 5 years old, Hulk Hogan was the world to a lot of little kids.

I wouldn't advocate anything to anybody - everybody's different. Some people can put on those toe shoes and think they're having a better work out than those in tennis shoes. Everybody can advocate their own way of doing something.

I don't eat anything before, but I can still go kill it at the gym and be in and out in 45 minutes or an hour, even doing workouts in the sauna to get the blood and sweat flowing.

Miz and I grew up a couple of minutes apart in the Cleveland area and both had dreams of being WWE Superstars and being the best.

Winning the Intercontinental Title for the first time, in 2010, was a real milestone, as I grew up living off some of those Intercontinental Title matches.

I have always gone above and beyond, whether I've been given 30 seconds or 30 minutes, but at some point, you have to deliver and go to the next level.

I started wrestling when I was five. I lost my first match and cried in front of my dad, and I never wanted to do that again.

I've never been in the ring with The Undertaker.

They love you when you're doing well and hate you when you're the bad guy.

Some advice I would give myself from the Spirit Squad years - try and get taller.

I get cheered more and more for one simple reason: When I step in the ring, I steal the show! I will not accept anything less from myself.

I am not trying to be the next anyone - I am going to be the first Dolph Ziggler!

Any comparison to a WWE legend or someone I've looked up to is really cool, but make no mistake about it, my ego is too big to want to be a really good replica of someone else!

It's not always about wins and losses, but winning two Survivor Series matches is something I will never forget.

I have a lot of downtime in airports and on flights.

WWE has no issues with my stand-up. I do not miss work for any reason and will continue to work around my schedule because I'm a professional and do not allow complacency or laziness.

Even though I only get a few days off, I do not stop, whether it's getting some stage time at an open mic or flying to L.A. to watch a ton of stand-up shows.

Sting can call out whoever he wants; he's a legend in this business.

Of course, legends can call out whoever they want and do as they please, but they can't just show up and get handed matches.

Though I'm not a huge fan of The Rock, I admit that I am a fan of the fact that he does his own thing. He gets excited on the mic. He yells. He didn't listen to what people told him to do, and people responded to that.

I appreciate someone who stands out and stands up for what he believes in, because that's what I'm trying to do.

When I finally get the chance to say what I want, to talk about where we're going from here on out, when my voice, my words, become the measuring stick for WWE, I think that's the moment that's going to reinvent our entire business.

On a good day, I'm a bitter, angry, chip-on-my-shoulder type of guy.

I was the World Champ, but I should be better.

After a while, you reach a certain point to where you know what your talent is, you know what you're capable of, and you have to not care.

For the longest time, I was in random cold matches for 30 minutes and tore the house down for no reason, and everyone complained, 'Why isn't he in some kind of a story?'

Growing up in Cleveland, the first time I went to a WWE event, Cleveland didn't even have an arena. The Cavaliers were playing at the Richfield Coliseum. I would go out there.

I have no desire to switch companies or go to UFC or anything like that.

I'm always trying to make myself a better sports entertainer.

I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. And I'll tell you a real quick thing: we didn't have a pro hockey team when I was growing up, so I adopted the Red Wings as my hockey team just so I could, you know, be amused and enjoy playoff hockey every single year. I really get into it. Detroit is my team.

There is a glass ceiling for everybody until you find a way to get that connection that Cena has.

People can pick and choose what they want out of it, but I feel like I'm a modern day Renaissance man of anything you could want me to do... except be six inches taller.

It's really funny to me that I get called a workhorse or somebody who's really good at making other people better in the ring. I feel like I'm good at every aspect of this. I feel like I'm a great talker; I feel like I'm a great representative of the company. I broke records in college. I have an amateur background with fighting skills.

When something special happens in wrestling, it's that much more special to me and for me to go, 'That was awesome,' because I'm as bitter as there is, so if you can get me to go, 'Woah, that was cool,' a couple of times, it's a special show.

Always a big fan of the Browns, of course. No wonder how bad they lost or how much we froze to death out there, we still went to the games to watch them lose.

You know what, I'm out there to give 100%, and I do what I think is best. I really don't care what other people think.

I do what I do best - and that's take it away from every one else.

If I was always doing my own thing, I would be bored out of my mind.

You have to do something different, or you are just the guy who goes out there and has a great match, but nobody cares. You have to have different layers to your character.

WWE has given me an out where, any days off that I have, they allow me to work on outside projects.

You want to be an NXT fan.

I feel that I am better than Roman Reigns, but you know what? He hasn't wrestled as long as I have.

All of those Shield guys, who came in protected, have done nothing but deliver, in my opinion, and I am a harsh critic of everyone.

You don't just go to your bosses and say, 'This sucks. I'm supposed to be winning everything.' If you have an awesome idea or a story, or something great, you go, 'Hey, how about we do this,' but when the story is not you, you have to find a way to make it work.

I make sure to write every day, even if it's a little bit.

Little kids who get picked on and bullied can relate to the Lucha Dragons, who are smaller, but they're quick and exciting and never give up.