Unfortunately, part of the professional wrestling business is releasing members of the roster, and one of the most surprising releases in recent memory was Dolph Ziggler, also known as Nic Nemeth, in 2023.
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Assumed by many to be a WWE lifer, Nemeth had been with the promotion for nearly 20 years, taking home countless championships during his tenure. This includes the World Heavyweight Championship, the NXT Championship, the Intercontinental Championship six times, the United States Championship twice, and countless tag team titles.
Needless to say, fans were shocked to see a wrestler of his caliber leave WWE. However, it appears that it could have happened even sooner.
During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Nemeth revealed that he had almost left WWE well before he was released by the company, specifically before his match with Goldberg at SummerSlam 2019.
“I said ‘Vince, why am I in this match when anybody could take a Spear and a Jackhammer?’ What’s the point of Ding, ding, ding, Spear, Jackhammer? I go, a local could do it, anybody could do it,” Nemeth said. “And he was like, ‘Well, I don’t know what he can do with you.’
“I go, ‘If I can’t be in this match doing something, then I have to leave this company right now.’ And I’m not kidding, if this is purely for someone a scarecrow, to take a spear and a jackhammer, I don’t want to work here.
“Goldberg on Sunday, and that Monday, I wrestle Miz with my career on the line, and he beats me… And I lost on Sunday to Goldberg, I’ll lose there to Mike, and then I was out of the company and on a handshake deal, I was out. And that day I was told that I would not be allowed to be out.”
After WWE, Nemeth has found incredible success in other promotions. He won the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and is currently a member of the TNA roster, having won the TNA World Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship with his real-life brother, Ryan Nemeth.
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