WWE Star Encouraged Nic Nemeth to Join TNA
Nemeth and Bobby Roode spoke in detail ahead of Nemeth's TNA debut.
Nic Nemeth has landed in TNA. The former Dolph Ziggler has made himself a journeyman since leaving WWE in late 2023, competing for independents and major promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling over the course of 2024, but his most consistent home has been TNA. Nemeth arrived in Total Nonstop Action at TNA Hard to Kill in January, closing the show by confronting TNA World Champion Moose and celebrating with the fans in the crowd, donning a TNA shirt throughout. While Nemeth is not on a long-term contract with TNA, he has committed his immediate future to the company.
Nic Nemeth Spoke With Bobby Roode Before Joining TNA
Getting to this point was not easy for The Wanted Man.
Speaking to ComicBook ahead of TNA Slammiversary, Nic Nemeth admitted that he was hesistant to commit to any company so soon after ending his near two decades straight of residency in one place.
"Day one, when I left WWE, day one, Scott D'Amore was like, 'Let's get you here. What can I do?'" Nemeth recalled. "I go, 'I'm not signing a long-term deal. I'm just getting out of a long-term relationship. I don't want to go get engaged.' He had people on the roster texting me, 'This is the place. Look at what they do behind the scenes. It's all set up. The blueprint is there.' They have the backing, they have the brains, they have all these pieces and they might just be missing one or two special pieces to make it extra special.
"Man, I love that, but I can't commit. Legit 19 straight years in one company. I can't just leave and then I'm right back locked in. I said that if I were to go anywhere, maybe we could do some dates or a couple of months or a year or something. I just don't want to get locked down just in case I don't like it, or maybe you don't like me."
People outside of the TNA roster also encouraged Nemeth to make the leap. Nemeth's former WWE tag team partner Bobby Roode, who spent 12 years in TNA and was oftentimes the face of the company, chatted with him during his career crossroads.
"First and foremost, [I spoke with] Bobby, of course," Nemeth said. "I'm in a group chat with him that we probably send about 600 texts throughout the day. It was back and forth like, 'Hey, is this the way to go?' I'm running it by everybody. Kaz (Frankie Kazarian), Roode, people on the independents, and several other people that don't need to be named. They're just like, 'I'm telling you, just give it a shot. Check out their roster, check out what they're doing behind the scenes, long-term, booking the storytelling, everything is there. This is a place where you can really make something extra special happen by you walking in that door.'"
Nemeth's hesitations were alleviated almost immediately.
"When I got there, I can't even pretend that I wasn't extra blown away," Nemeth added. "Getting to lock in and watch the shows and watch the performers and watch the people on Xplosion that are getting ready to come to the roster, all these different pieces. I go, 'Man, there is hungry, young talent already locked in with main event talent and everything's coming together and long-term storylines are coming together.' This is beautiful. I hope I can help somehow."
Nemeth challenges for the TNA World Championship this Saturday, July 20th at TNA Slammiversary.
