Nic Nemeth opens up about working with NJPW.
WWE released Nemeth, formerly known as Dolph Ziggler, in a wave of cuts on September 21. The former world champion appeared at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 and got into a confrontation with David Finlay.
During an interview with Busted Open Radio, Nic Nemeth discussed going to NJPW and noted that going to different places had been on his mind for a long time. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription)
“I was thinking about that for a long time, going different places for the last few years, especially focusing on ‘what do I want to do for the next move?'” Nic Nemeth said. “That’s been for a few years, working out a plan. I heard so many different things from Ambrose [Jon Moxley] and different guys saying, ‘You need to see what this locker room feels like.
“You need to see, being here.’ I was like, ‘Man, I wonder if…can I adapt to this?’ I feel like I can adapt to anything. Can I? You do a little homework and bounce around and you go, ‘This would be something really special.'”
Nic Nemeth On Starting Over In NJPW And Elsewhere
Nic Nemeth then noted that he felt like he could be part of something special. He described how going to different places allowed him to start over.
“I’ve made a career out of famously saying, ‘I don’t watch wrestling. I hate it. It was usually a joke. I just hated what I was doing and you couldn’t really critique it at home,” Nic Nemeth said. “So I go, ‘I hate wrestling.’ But you get a moment of, one, I can be part of something special. Two, seeing it in a completely different environment. Not just go to a different state and wrestle, not go to a different company in the United States, but to expand and go, ‘I feel like I can do everything here. Now, I’m going to start over at other places.’
“Can I start from the bottom or middle and re-create it? Almost like a Twilight Zone where the guy wants to go back in time and go, ‘Can I remake my fortune?’ Can I remake my career on a different level and 2.0 scale?”
Nic Nemeth On NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18
Nic Nemeth then detailed his trip to NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18. He stated that once he watched the card and saw himself working there, he believed it could be something special.
“After going, ‘I don’t watch wrestling I’m retired.’ After going above and beyond and secretly getting to Japan and putting this all in place, just getting there and walking into the locker room, and knowing two or three faces, which really helped,” he said. “I was going somewhere, I brought my brother with me, and I didn’t know people. I didn’t know if I was welcome. Am I scumbag to these guys? Am I okay? Can I earn my way into this locker room, what’s the situation? It was so weird, but fun, because you see a couple of faces and feel, ‘I’m kind of at home, I’m not accepted yet, how can I get accepted, what can I do to prove I want to be here, not for myself but to help, to make the show better, the company better, to make more eyes.’
“You really start to think you can. I got to watch closely the entire card. Watching it in person I go, ‘Okay, this is different, this is special. I can do something with this guy. I can see this aspect of me going here and making this happen.’ Since I was a surprise, I didn’t get a chance to walk around the arena. When my brother and I walked out, I went, ‘Oh my God, this is not just another level, this is big, this is huge,’ and I got little shivers down the back of my neck and I went, ‘this can be something so special. I’m going to do what I can to make that happen.'”
Nemeth will face David Finlay at NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo on February 23.
