Through just under seven months, Nic Nemeth is having the biggest year of his career in over a decade. The former Dolph Ziggler left WWE in late 2023 and spent the final couple of last year’s months waiting for his no-compete clause to expire. Nemeth wasted no time in making a splash once that timer expired, as he appeared ringside at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4th and invaded TNA Hard to Kill nine days later. Over the next six months, Nemeth would add the IWGP Global Championship, the AAA Mega Championship, and finally the TNA World Championship to his waist.
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Nic Nemeth Speaks on His Goals Moving Forward
The Wanted Man simply wants to prove his worth to himself.
When asked by ComicBook’s Liam Crowley if he has a list of goals akin to Cody Rhodes’s checklist in 2016, new TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth clarified that he is most focused on “being as good” now as he was while in the WWE bubble.
“I didn’t have a list of names,” Nemeth said. “Now, I do watch up and comers all over the place, whether they’re on television or independents or places that I go, but I absolutely do not have a list. I was in this bubble for 19 years, can I recreate being as good as I was perceived and told everyone I was out of that comfort zone? On a different roster? In a business that is 20 years later now? Can I go to Japan, fight Tanahashi and not just hang with him, prove that I could have been there 10 years ago on top? Can I make that happen? Can I go to TNA and fight against Josh Alexander for 90 minutes and go all the way through? I had to prove it to myself.”
As Nemeth alluded to, he spent nearly two decades in the WWE system. He was signed to the sports-entertainment giant shortly after graduating college, meaning all he ever knew within the wrestling world was WWE.
“I’m being pretty modest, but I’ve only had this one roster. It’s only with people that I’ve been in the ring with before. What can I do when I show up now?” Nemeth continued. “I had never been in the ring with Moose. I know he can do a bunch of cool stuff. ‘You got 45 minutes with him and you don’t get live events to make it work.’ You got to go out there and just have it happen. Sometimes you just get the one match and you want to make it the best.
“I genuinely doubted myself because I didn’t know. So far everything, there’s been a couple hiccups here and there, but every step of the way of I had to modify myself,” Nemeth added. “Going to AAA, I had to modify what I’m doing. I had to go to New Japan. I had to change my mindset, but still be able to piece together 101 wrestling in your brain, and then have it stand out as a big deal to them. When I walked into that locker room, I don’t think anyone was like, ‘Yay, it’s so cool you’re here.’ It’s like, ‘Go prove yourself and then we’ll let you know if it’s okay.’ That’s exactly how I would want it, and hopefully I did that.”
Nemeth makes his first appearance as TNA World Champion on TNA iMPACT! this Thursday, July 25th at 8 PM ET on AXS TV.
