Nic Nemeth Says He Wasn’t Close To Signing With AEW
Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler in WWE) was released by WWE in September 2023, becoming a free agent 90 days later.
Nemeth would quickly appear in NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 18, and then join TNA Wrestling, debuting at TNA Hard to Kill 2024.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Nemeth was asked if he was close to signing with AEW.
“I wasn’t. I love so many people there. I’ve had a couple of conversations with Tony in the past, and I rooted for those guys every step of the way. AEW being a thing helped a bunch of people out, worst-case scenario, with negotiating and setting up their career for years down the line. I go if this ends in two or three years, it helped a bunch of people out and put some other people on TV, and they’re rocking and rolling and doing their thing. I watched every Wednesday, because I have to talk about it on Thursday. And it’s another one where I gotta watch wrestling. It’s like kind of a joke, but I’ve like come to learn all the people on the show and watching what they do. If I could do all the stuff that everyone does, their top circle, the whole show, really, it has so many different moving parts and pieces to it that I don’t know that I could, from my old style. I can adapt to anything, and I have been, and I even watched. The 2025 version of me still applies some different things that I wouldn’t have done a few years ago. But I don’t know if in a 35-45 minute match, if it wasn’t with me and Bryan Danielson or Jon Moxley, those guys where I know what they’ve done, and I can move around and do some things, but it’s like, if it’s remembering a sequence like I’m getting 30 guys in Contra every two minutes, I would be more vacant in the match, instead of like feeling the emotion and just remembering it. I go, I don’t know how they do it, but when it comes to those pay-per-views, they blow the roof off, and it’s incredible.
“I just really thought with TNA, I go, I will never, ever be Kurt Angle. He’s just my hero, but I know that he did something special with going to TNA and I go, maybe, just maybe, this guy that a bunch of people, most people, seem to respect and have been waiting to see what I can do, maybe me showing up here and being involved could be another spark that does something, because they’re already getting talked about and making some moves, and they’ve been a insane brand for years. But I go, maybe, just maybe, me being there makes this a bigger and better place by 1%. Then falling in love with the locker room and everyone behind the scenes, I just go, this is the fit. I wasn’t going to go anywhere. I didn’t want to. A couple dates for somebody and a couple dates at AEW, 100% I would have done that. But I just go I need to travel the world and be able to sleep at night knowing that I can go, because I talked this sh*t for 15 years. No one’s better, no one can follow me. Sorry about the booking, but that’s not my call, and it’s like, now it’s like, back it up or don’t. And I had to, and I would have gone almost anywhere for a few dates just to check it out, but TNA was the fit. I would have watched their progression from the outside if I wasn’t there, but I’m rooting for all those guys and girls.”
Nemeth is a former TNA World Champion.
Elsewhere during the interview, Nemeth reflected on his 2019 WWE SummerSlam bout against Goldberg. You can find his full comments here.
