That persistent approach paid dividends for Nemeth, obviously, but he admits that it isn't always easy, especially when you're saddled with a character that most everyone looks at as a joke. "This was my dream, and they made it a joke. How do I fix it?" he remembers thinking. "[How you fix it is] you show the boss that if he tells you, 'Hey, you're a cheerleader now,' you are [a f*****] cheerleader ... when the time comes for you to pick your battles [and choose your own way to go] character-wise, that's when you step in and do it."

That step, too, is easier said than done, but keeping an eye on even the slimmest of chances to become the success you set out to be is the key, according to Nemeth. "[It's] hard to do because you have to sit there and go, 'Man, my career is a joke right now,'" he recalled. "But you know what? If you fight through it, it's not guaranteed, but there's a chance. You got a 1% chance of becoming WWE Champion. Do you go all the way with it? Damn right you do."

Digging into his role as Nicky in The Spirit Squad, though it did lead to a World Tag Team Championship run, might not have been the proudest moment of Nemeth's career, but it did set him up for future glory. And after being packed up and sent off in a crate marked "OVW Louisville, Kentucky" by D-Generation X, his return as Ziggler sent his career on an upward trajectory that will likely culminate with induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. For now, post-WWE, he's just getting started as TNA World Champion, but even that may have never been possible without his time as a cheerleader.