Ready to tear the house down, WWE-style

Singapore

NICK Nemeth was just five years old when his father brought him to a wrestling event in his home state of Ohio.

From the nosebleed seats in the arena, the starry-eyed young boy watched larger-than-life characters like the legendary Hulk Hogan and Harley Race brawl inside a massive steel cage.

Fast forward 30 years later, and Nemeth is now one of the top superstars in the WWE, the American wrestling promotion formerly known as the World Wrestling Entertainment.

Better known by his in-ring name Dolph Ziggler, he is one of about 20 wrestlers coming to Singapore next month for WWE Live, a three-hour show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The WWE brings its famous brand of sports entertainment all over the world throughout the year, and the Republic will be the only stop in South-east Asia in 2015.

Ziggler first stepped into a wrestling ring two months after that Ohio show in 1985, and he enjoyed the experience so much that he went on to be an amateur wrestler for his high school and college.

After graduating from Kent State University with a degree in political science and a minor in pre-law, he was faced with a tough choice: go on to law school at Arizona State University where he had been accepted, or fulfil his childhood dream and join the WWE.

"I wanted to do both, but I knew I could never put in the hours to devote to both my studies and wrestling," he told The Business Times in an interview last Thursday.

"I was aware that only 2 per cent of people who get a try-out at the WWE eventually make it to the big time. Thankfully for me, things worked out in the end."

Ziggler, a two-time world heavyweight champion and a four-time United States champion, was in Singapore for a three-day visit to promote the WWE Live show.

This being his first time in the Lion City, he made sure to try as much local food as possible - chilli and pepper crabs, Tiger Beer and Singapore Slings, among others - in between his many media interviews and other commitments.

Being on the road so often for WWE matches, whether it's criss-crossing the US or getting on a plane and flying 15,000km from New York to Singapore, means he has to train hard and watch his diet at all times. "We're constantly on the go, and there are a million excuses you could make for not exercising, but I always try and find a way to do some training," said Ziggler, who was up at 5am on the day of this interview at his hotel gym for an hour-long workout.

"I like to do some cardio and wake my body up, and I usually do so on an empty stomach too. It just makes me that much hungrier and more determined to fight through the workout, even if it's just for 40 or 45 minutes," he revealed.

"I have to remind myself every once in a while, that five nights a week, I'm walking around in my underwear in front of the entire world, so I want to look as good as I possibly can," he added with a laugh.

Wrestling fans can catch Ziggler in the flesh on July 2 when he battles British star King Barrett in front of a packed crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

This is the WWE's first show in Singapore since 2007, and many of the big stars such as John Cena, the Bella Twins, Paige and Rusev have been advertised as coming.

"Not only are the 'live' shows fun for us, it's huge fun for the fans too. It's all about giving back to our fans and we want to put on a great show in Singapore. We are going to tear the house down," said Ziggler.