Nic Nemeth Joins TNA: The Former Dolph Ziggler Opens Up About Shock Debut

Nic Nemeth has been unleashed. The wrestler formerly known as Dolph Ziggler was released from WWE this past September, having his contract axed during the company-wide layoffs in the midst of its merger with UFC. Nemeth spent the remainder of 2023 on the sidelines, waiting out his 90-day no-compete clause. Come the new year, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion wasted no time in getting back into the game, showing up at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 to take in the action from ringside. He was eventually confronted by new NJPW Global Champion David Finlay, setting up a match between the two that is set to go down later this month.

Stateside, Nemeth is making a name for himself in Total Nonstop Action. At the conclusion of TNA Hard to Kill, Nemeth's music hit, and he stood toe-to-toe with new TNA World Champion Moose.

Nic Nemeth Opens Up About TNA Debut

The Wanted Man wants to make a name for himself.

"I had a lot of time to think in the last three, four, five, six months, to where I'm asking, 'What can I do to extend my legacy?'" Nic Nemeth said in an interview on TNA's Instagram. "But also have an entirely different chapter, a different mindset, a different person?"

Nemeth has made his intentions in both TNA and NJPW clear: capture gold. While he is not signed to either company on a full-time contract, his appearances indicate that he has extended plans in both of those places.

"I really feel like I'm a wanted man because the day I left my last job, I had so many [people reach out]," Nemeth added. "I'm so lucky that I had so many people reach out, not to say thank you or whatever, none of that stuff, but rather, 'We want you here.' It is great to feel that. I'm very fortunate and lucky that people [said], 'How can we get you? What can we do?' I was like, I'm kind of a wanted man, it got me more excited. I'm back in."

The timing with TNA lined up perfectly. For a long time, TNA was the second-biggest wrestling company in North America, boasting a weekly television series called TNA Impact Wrestling that regularly brought in seven-figure viewership. Around the mid-2010s, the TNA monicker became a bit of a hindrance, and in an effort to reestablish its reputation, the company rebranded to Impact Wrestling. At the end of 2023, the sentiment around those TNA letters had drastically improved, as fans and talent alike had a nostalgic lens of what Total Nonstop Action meant. President Scott D'Amore embraced this and rebranded Impact Wrestling back to TNA earlier this month.

"I watched TNA go to Impact and become TNA again in this special moment at Hard To Kill, where this is a coming-out party for TNA again," Nemeth noted. "I go, 'That could be a perfect fit.' Hopefully, I can back it up in the ring, other than just talking about it and showing up."