Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 27, 1980. He has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was five years old, when he attended a wrestling event at the Richfield Coliseum, and he decided to become a professional wrestler at age 12. He later revealed on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling Podcast that he chose his WWE name "Dolph" because that was his great-grandfather's name, and his friend suggested the surname "Ziggler". Nemeth attended St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, where he was an amateur wrestler and holds the school record for most pins in a career with 82. At St. Edward, he was teammates with Gray Maynard and Andy Hrovat.

During his time at St. Edward, the wrestling team won the National Championships on two occasions. He was a collegiate wrestler at Kent State University, eventually setting what was then the record for most career wins in the team's history. He majored in political science with a pre-law minor. Prior to his WWE tryout, he had been accepted to the law school at Arizona State University, where he was due to start his first semester. He was a three-time All-Mid-American Conference champion, winning the 165 lb (75 kg) tournament in 2000, 2002, and 2003.

As a professional, Nemeth's most commonly utilized finishing maneuvers are a jumping reverse bulldog, known as the Zig Zag, as well as a superkick. In the early run of his Dolph Ziggler character, he also used a sleeper hold as a submission finisher. While still in developmental, he also utilized a jumping reverse STO named Blonde Ambition. Due to his athleticism and intense showmanship, Nemeth has been referred to as "The Showstealer" and "The Showoff", while in his earlier career he was referred to as "The Natural". Upon teaming with Vickie Guerrero, he was nicknamed either "Blonde Ambition" or "Blonde Perfection". Consequently, his theme music was named "I Am Perfection" during this period of his career, while later on it was changed to "Here to Show the World." He has held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship twice, the Intercontinental Championship six times, and tag team champion once.

By 2008, Nemeth was repackaged as Dolph Ziggler, a bleached-blonde and self-absorbed narcissist. Debuting as a heel, Ziggler repeatedly declared himself as "perfection" and would display an extremely arrogant attitude, while at the same time using dirty tactics. When he turned face in 2013, his character shifted towards a man out to prove himself and never giving up. In September 2017, Ziggler would begin a new short-lived gimmick where he would come out to the entrance themes and dress as other popular wrestlers and legends to irritate the crowd. After that, his gimmick tweaked towards a whiny heel who believed he was destined for greatness, constantly blaming his bad luck or others for his lack of opportunity and would always come up short.

Nemeth signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2004. He was assigned to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), debuting on November 3, 2004, under the ring name "Nick Nemeth".

Nemeth made his main roster television debut on the September 25, 2005, episode of Sunday Night Heat. He was made the enforcer and sidekick for Chavo Guerrero Jr., who was using a golfer in-ring persona and going by the ring name of "Kerwin White". As such, Nemeth became White's caddie. His wrestling debut came on an episode of Sunday Night Heat, teaming up with White in a tag team match against Shelton Benjamin and Matt Striker. After the death of Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero dropped the "Kerwin White" character, and Nemeth no longer played the role of his caddie and tag partner. After a few months of wrestling in dark matches and at house shows, he was sent back to OVW.

Nemeth became a part of the Spirit Squad faction, a group of five wrestlers who used the in-ring personas of male cheerleaders, and adopted the name Nicky in OVW during late 2005. The Spirit Squad members trained with real cheerleaders and gymnasts to ensure their characters were believable. On January 23, 2006, they had their WWE television debut as a group, appearing on Raw and helping Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry "The King" Lawler by performing cheers for Coachman and distracting Lawler. They later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. The heel McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple handicap matches.

They also wrestled in the tag team division, and on April 3, on Raw, won the World Tag Team Championship when Kenny and Mikey, with outside help from the other three Squad members, defeated Big Show and Kane. After winning the championship, all five members of the Spirit Squad were recognized as the champions, allowing any combination of them to defend the championship under the Freebird Rule.

In May, McMahon signed another Handicap match, with the Spirit Squad facing Michaels. The match never started, however; instead the Spirit Squad attacked Michaels, and, as part of the storyline, shattered his knee with a steel chair. McMahon brought Triple H to the ring to attack Michaels with a sledgehammer; however, after Triple H felt that the Squad had disrespected him, he attacked the group. This led to Triple H and Michaels reforming D-Generation X (DX) and they began a feud with the Spirit Squad. DX played various sophomoric jokes on the Squad and the McMahons, as well as defeating the Spirit Squad in handicap tag team matches at Vengeance and a clean sweep in an elimination handicap match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII.

It was then announced that Flair and a WWE legend, selected by interactive voting, would wrestle the team for the World Tag Team Championship at Cyber Sunday. The fans chose Roddy Piper, and he and Flair defeated Kenny and Mikey to win the championship at the event on November 5.

The group disbanded on the November 27 episode of Raw, when they were defeated in a five-on-three handicap match by DX and Flair. In a backstage segment later that night, DX placed all members into a crate stamped "OVW, Louisville, Kentucky", a reference to the developmental territory from which the Squad had come.

Nemeth returned to OVW on January 17, 2007, at the television tapings, again using his Nick Nemeth ring name, along with Mike Mondo, formerly Mikey in the Spirit Squad, as the "Frat Pack". At the end of August 2007, Nemeth and Mike Mondo were moved to the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental territory and in his debut there, Nemeth gained the nickname "The Natural". At the start of 2008, he tweaked his name to "Nic Nemeth" and began teaming with Brad Allen, with the pair gaining Taryn Terrell as their valet. Nemeth and Allen started a frat boy type ring character with Terrell as a sorority girl.

On September 15, 2008, Nemeth re-debuted on Raw (as a heel), introducing himself in a backstage segment under the name "Dolph Ziggler". On October 10, Nemeth was suspended for 30 days for a violation of WWE's Wellness Program policy. He returned to Raw on November 17 in a backstage segment with Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels. In his first match on Raw under the Ziggler name, he lost to Batista on the December 1, 2008, episode. The following week he got his first victory as Ziggler, by countout, against R-Truth. The next week on Raw, he picked up his first televised pinfall victory, when he defeated Charlie Haas.

In June 2010, he began a romantic storyline with Vickie Guerrero, who began accompanying him to the ring. Ziggler won the WWE Intercontinental Championship from Kofi Kingston on July 28 (aired August 6) at SmackDown. He lost the title to Kingston at SmackDown on January 4, 2011, ending his reign at 160 days.

At the Royal Rumble on January 30, Ziggler was unsuccessful in his title match against Edge. On February 4, Ziggler's storyline girlfriend Vickie Guerrero, who was the acting General Manager of SmackDown, banned the spear – Edge's finishing move – and decided that if Edge used it, Ziggler would be awarded the championship. Ziggler was again defeated by Edge in a rematch on the February 11 episode of SmackDown, but because Edge used the spear, Guerrero declared Ziggler the new World Heavyweight Champion on the February 14 episode of Raw. That same night, Ziggler lost the title to Edge.

April 8, 2013 on Raw, Ziggler cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on an injured Alberto Del Rio to win his second World Heavyweight Championship. Alberto Del Rio would later end Ziggler's reign at 69 days.

Ziggler later competed in a Battle Royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship on July 20 at Battleground; however, he was abruptly eliminated from behind by The Miz. After Ziggler defeated Miz in a non-title match the following night on Raw, he received a rematch at SummerSlam on August 17, where he defeated Miz to win the championship for a second time. The next night on Raw, Ziggler successfully retained his title against Miz, after he was counted out. At Night of Champions on September 21, Ziggler dropped the title to Miz, only for Ziggler to win it back the following night on Raw.

On the November 10 episode of Raw, Ziggler was brutally attacked by the returning Luke Harper. The following week, Harper was awarded a title match against Ziggler, which Harper won with assistance from The Authority, ending Ziggler's reign at 56 days.

At TLC on December 14, Ziggler defeated Harper in a ladder match to win his fourth Intercontinental Championship.

On the first Raw of 2015 (dated January 5), the recently reinstated Authority forced Ziggler to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett and he initially won. After Barrett then attacked and injured Ziggler's shoulder, Kane declared the match as two-out-of-three falls, Barrett proceeded to defeat Ziggler for the title after Kane distracted him. Later that night, Ziggler alongside Ryback and Erick Rowan were fired by the Authority. On the January 19 episode of Raw, Sting provided another assist, as John Cena won Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan's jobs back.

Ziggler would defeat The Miz at No Mercy on October 9 to win the title in a match where he would have to retire if he lost. However, he lost the title 37 days later against The Miz on the 900th episode of SmackDown.

On the June 18 episode of Raw, Ziggler answered Seth Rollins' open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship and defeated Rollins to capture the title for a sixth time. At SummerSlam on August 19, Ziggler lost the championship to Rollins, who had Ambrose in his corner.

On the May 29 episode of Raw, Ziggler wrestled JD McDonagh, which ended in a double countout. McDonagh would once again attack Ziggler after the match. This would end up being Ziggler’s final appearance for the company. He was released on September 21, 2023, ending his 19-year tenure with the company.

Sports Illustrated described Nemeth as "phenomenal in the ring, with the ability to carry an entertaining match with practically anyone on the WWE roster" and added that his "mic work is top-notch... and there is a genuine believability in his work". He is also noted for his "elite" ability to sell for his opponents. Jim Cornette praised Nemeth and stated, "I knew he was a good athlete, [​but] I never dreamed he was going to be the second coming of Curt Hennig."

Dolph Ziggler, the 2011 winner... has been the victim of as many stop-and-start pushes of anyone in history. The crowds always get behind him for the start, no matter how many false teases there are, and then a few weeks later, the company always takes him back down.  - Dave Meltzer

They've 50/50ed the roster to death to the point where no one is over. Dolph Ziggler's character is dead. He used to get a great pop coming out, but now the fans are conditioned to know that he's gone as far as he'll ever go, so they sit on their hands when his music hits now.  - Mike Tedesco

Nemeth decided to start performing comedy around the year 2010. He performed stand-up comedy for the first time in a small Los Angeles venue in 2013, and began getting offers to perform at various comedy clubs nearby WWE events. At this point, he had been studying comedy almost a decade in preparation for a comedy career.

In 2018, Nemeth started seriously moonlighting as a stand-up comedian while still wrestling for WWE. This led to him headlining shows close to the arenas for the 2018 SummerSlam and Survivor Series pay-per-views; he used the big WWE events to piggyback on for his first major shows, due to there being a lot of wrestling fans in the area. Following the 2019 Royal Rumble event, he embarked on his first headlining tour from the end of January to the end of March. He took a break from WWE television to focus on the tour.

This skin was made for me by Toosty.