Vince McMahon Thought Dolph Ziggler Was Too Small for a World Title — So He Gave Him the Women Instead

Former WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler has peeled back the curtain on one of the more bizarre aspects of his long career under Vince McMahon’s creative direction. In a revealing interview with Chris Van Vliet on INSIGHT, the former World Heavyweight Champion admitted that McMahon “rewarded” him not with championship runs or main-event pushes — but with romantic storylines on WWE television.

According to Ziggler, Vince McMahon genuinely believed that because of his size, he couldn’t be portrayed as a dominant, multi-time world champion. Instead, McMahon gave him what he saw as the next best thing — women, fame, and flashy on-screen romances.

“I got to a point where I’m like, ‘Vince McMahon likes my work but doesn’t think I should be World Champion,’” Ziggler told Van Vliet. “But my reward is to be like, ‘He gets chicks,’ or something. In his mind, I think that was real. He thought, ‘He’s too small to be a world champion, but he gets ladies.’ That was the reward.”

💥 The ‘Reward’ Nobody Asked For

To wrestling fans, Dolph Ziggler is remembered as one of the most consistent and talented performers of his generation — a man capable of stealing the show any night of the week. But despite his athleticism, charisma, and dedication, Ziggler never reached the sustained main-event status that many believed he deserved.

Now, thanks to his comments, fans are getting a clearer understanding of why.

McMahon’s booking philosophy, especially during the 2010s, often revolved around physical size and larger-than-life appearances. For years, Ziggler was labeled as “too small” to be a believable main-event star, even as he delivered some of WWE’s best matches and most crowd-popping moments.

Rather than push him as a serious world title contender, Vince seemed to pigeonhole Ziggler into romantic and comedic angles — pairing him with female talent as a way to “reward” his effort without actually elevating him to the top of the card.

💘 Ziggler’s Romantic Storylines: A Pattern Emerges

Looking back, it’s easy to see the pattern Ziggler is talking about. Throughout his WWE career, he was involved in more on-screen relationships than nearly any other modern performer.

He had high-profile angles with Vickie Guerrero, AJ Lee, Summer Rae, Lana, and even a flirtatious run with Sonya Deville during her managerial stint.

Some of these storylines were successful and entertaining — like his chaotic relationship with AJ Lee during his alliance with Big E, which led to one of the most memorable Money in the Bank cash-ins in history. Others, however, felt forced or directionless, existing primarily to fill TV time.

“When I look back, I realize it was kind of Vince’s way of keeping me on TV,” Ziggler said. “It was like, ‘He’s great in the ring, but let’s make him the guy who always gets the girl.’”

Ziggler’s reflection shines a light on the way McMahon often viewed talent — not always through the lens of athletic ability or storytelling potential, but through entertainment tropes that fit his personal vision of what a WWE Superstar should represent.

🏋️‍♂️ “Too Small to Be World Champion”

Ziggler’s admission that McMahon saw him as “too small” to carry the company echoes similar frustrations shared by other technically gifted but smaller wrestlers. Stars like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio had to fight uphill battles against the same perception — that a world champion needed to look like a superhero, not a world-class wrestler.

Despite those limitations, Ziggler did manage to win the World Heavyweight Championship twice and the Intercontinental Championship six times. Still, he was rarely booked as a long-term top guy. His title reigns were brief, his storylines inconsistent, and his momentum often derailed by sudden creative shifts.

“I think Vince liked me a lot,” Ziggler reflected. “But he just didn’t see me as the guy. And once he had that mindset, it didn’t matter how good I was in the ring.”

🎭 The Showoff’s Legacy of Dedication

No matter how he was booked, Ziggler never stopped performing at a high level. Known as “The Showoff,” he became WWE’s go-to worker for making others look good — a selfless performer who could sell, bump, and tell a story better than almost anyone.

When fans look back at classic moments — like his emotional Money in the Bank cash-in in 2013, where the crowd exploded as he defeated Alberto Del Rio — it’s clear that Ziggler had all the tools to be a perennial main-eventer.

And yet, under Vince’s philosophy, charisma and consistency weren’t enough. Ziggler’s smaller frame and “everyman” look seemed to cap his potential in McMahon’s eyes.

That mindset, Ziggler implied, was not only outdated but deeply frustrating.

“You can work your ass off every night, put on five-star matches, but if you don’t fit Vince’s image, there’s a ceiling,” he said. “Mine just happened to come with a girlfriend angle attached.”

💬 Fans React: Frustration and Understanding

Once Ziggler’s comments hit social media, fans were quick to respond — many expressing both laughter and sympathy.

“So Vince really thought giving Dolph women was a reward? That explains a lot about his booking,” one fan tweeted.
“Ziggler could’ve been one of the greatest world champs of the modern era. Instead, he was booked like a soap opera character,” another wrote.

Some even joked that Ziggler’s charisma made him too believable in romantic storylines, which is why Vince kept returning to that formula. But most fans agreed: the confession proved how misunderstood Ziggler was by WWE management.

⚡ The Vince McMahon Era: Larger Than Life, Smaller in Vision

Ziggler’s story also serves as a commentary on Vince McMahon’s creative tendencies — his obsession with image, spectacle, and archetypes over nuance. McMahon’s WWE was built around heroes and villains, giants and underdogs, but rarely on subtlety.

Ziggler was a throwback to old-school wrestlers who made the in-ring craft look effortless, but in Vince’s world, that often meant being relegated to the mid-card — even when fans were begging for more.

It’s ironic: the same qualities that made Ziggler too small to be Vince’s idea of a champion were the same ones that made him timeless in the eyes of wrestling purists.

🏁 Conclusion: The Reward That Wasn’t

In hindsight, Dolph Ziggler’s comments aren’t just funny — they’re revealing. They pull back the curtain on the mentality that shaped a generation of WWE stars. Vince McMahon saw Ziggler as reliable, charismatic, and talented — but not a top guy. So, in his mind, the “reward” was women, airtime, and side stories instead of gold.

And yet, even with those limitations, Ziggler’s legacy stands tall. He became a workhorse, a storyteller, and a fan favorite — proof that greatness isn’t defined by the belts you hold, but by the impact you make.

“I guess that was Vince’s way of saying thanks,” Ziggler laughed. “I didn’t get the world title, but I got the girls.”

A tongue-in-cheek punchline, but also a tragic truth: in Vince McMahon’s WWE, being great wasn’t always the reward — being entertaining was. And Dolph Ziggler, ever the professional, made sure to be both.