In an exclusive interview with Card Player, Total Nonstop Action (TNA) star Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) responded to MJF’s recent title challenge, saying it “absolutely could happen” this year. He also addressed what wrestling in Saudi Arabia is really like and predicted that we could see AJ Styles in AEW once he retires from WWE. Additionally, Nic discussed family Poker games and which superstars won the tournaments whilst on the road…
Life After WWE and the State of Wrestling
Card Player: How’s things with you Nic?
Nic Nemeth: I’m doing great, man. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I did almost 20 years at WWE. I’ve been traveling the world in between wrestling for TNA and I’m on ProWrestlingNation 24-7, at least two days a week. I’ve got a bunch of different irons in the fire and it’s a great time to be a wrestling fan or a wrestler, having so many different places to go, independent wise or the televised stuff. It’s just a good time to be in the business that I’m in. So, I’m happy to be here.
Poker, Casino Games, and Family Tournaments
Card Player: Do you play poker or any other Casino Games like that?
Nic Nemeth: See a lot of the times when I go to Vegas, we used to go to the Hooters Casino. And I’d stand behind my friend as she played blackjack, and I squeezed her shoulders every time the card got turned over and crushed $2 seltzers. But when it comes to playing myself, we play poker on Thanksgiving at my house, we have a big party. And then two or three other times a year, we’ll all get together whether I’m in Arizona or in Ohio and we’ll play a couple of games. I’m very bad at it. But a friend of the family/Uncle, he’s an ace. He’s constantly in tournaments. He’s moving around and gives us some strategies…after he’s taken our money of course. He gives us some strategies on how to play better and read people, and it’s very interesting.
Locker Room Card Games and Road Stories
Card Player: Did you ever get involved with the card games played in the locker room before and after shows?
Nic Nemeth: Me, not so much, but I had 20 years in WWE where I missed out on all the old timers playing cards all the time. And when I first started, we had cell phones, but you didn’t really use them overseas. So, you’re on a tour, you’re either reading a book or talking with people, and most of the time there would be a third of the bus that would all go play cards and they would play a tournament over like two weeks. They would play Gin Rummy over the two weeks overseas tour and rack up all the points and see who wins at the end.
I would be an observer, and these guys were serious too. It’s a serious deal and it’s a big tournament to get into. And there’s old timers like Undertaker and those kinds of guys that played for 50 years. So, I would watch them play, but usually we would hang out and I would be in the seats nearby, but usually watch them play and just try to figure out what’s going on.
Card Player: Who was the one that would be winning the most and taking everyone’s money?
Nic Nemeth: You know who wins a lot, man? John Cena won a lot. Tony Chimel too. I’m trying to think here. Lumpy, the merch guy. He was always winning. I think Undertaker won a couple of pots as well. But watching these big two weeklong tournaments is pretty wild, in between doing all our wrestling, it’s pretty funny stuff.
Royal Rumble Memories and Career Highlights
Card Player: With it being Royal Rumble week, what would be your greatest Royal Rumble memory of all time?
Nic Nemeth: I’m really bad at remembering which Rumble and which dates. But I got to start several Rumbles. I think I did one where Evan Bourne and I were told to just go tear it up for two minutes and we had Evan do the craziest stuff in the world and have an absolute blast. And then we’ll get into it. So, we started the Rumble together. Chris Jericho and I started a Rumble together. I might have started more but I can’t remember. But I’ve been in a lot of them.
And there’s been times when I was brand new and just shaking hands, I got in there and shook Kane’s hand and he just tossed me right out and that was the end of it. But I think after being in a couple, you start figuring out like, “okay, I’m someone who could be a player here” and I think I ended up being in 17 or 18 Rumbles which is a crazy amount. And even being in there is one thing, but being out there for 30, 40, 45 minutes is a feat because you have to know what’s going on.
You have to be able to read the room and hit all the different pieces. Then I think that there was a couple where I got down to maybe four or five of us at the end. I think Triple H eliminated me one time and I was very lucky to have a mentor of mine, Adam Copeland (Edge) at the time. We rode together, I learned from him. And then we fought each other at a Royal Rumble for the World heavyweight title. And it was incredible, because he’s so good. I was able to hang in there with him and have the match be great. And then I went into the Rumble afterwards. So, it was double duty that day.
I was someone who for a little while tended to be doing double duty with the WWE PLE’s. Wrestling on TV or whatever, and I just love it. I have a reputation in a world where everybody works hard at being a hard-ass working guy who will never be tired, and I stand by that or injured. So, I’ve got a couple records mentally up in my head that you know you can rely on me even if you need me twice a night, and if you need me an hour each time, I can do it.
Wrestling Saudi Arabia and Adapting to Different Crowds
Card Player: Well, are you heading out there as a fan at the weekend?
Nic Nemeth: Am I heading out there? I’ve got a job, brother! When there’s big WWE events going on, especially outside of the country, we usually try and find a different way in the US to bring a bunch of people in or just like WrestleMania next year and all the different pieces we try and I love going to work, but I won’t be traveling over there.
Card Player: What was it like wrestling out in Saudi Arabia when you participated in the Greatest Royal Rumble back in 2018?
Nic Nemeth: For sure it’s absolutely different and there’s some people who think it’s just fashionable to be in the front and they’re just on their phones and they’re almost acting like influencers. And meanwhile, the craziest and awesome wrestling is happening behind them.
But then there’s also different chants and you get different motivations and this is the best part of being a pro wrestler. You go all over the world. You go to Newark, New Jersey. Or you go to Riyadh, you’re going to get a totally different crowd and something that worked in one might not work in the other. And you have to find a way to work and see what they like and see what they like on that day. And that’s really the exciting part of our business. We know some certain truths like 101 psychology or things that could work. But when you go to different cities, states, and countries, sometimes the things that worked the last time you were there don’t.
And that’s a really cool part of the business. Because then you have to adapt on the fly and that’s when it gets really exciting and fun.
Card Player: What would you say was the hardest crowd you’ve had to perform in front of?
Nic Nemeth: It really depends because they can be a big crowd, but they’re not really interested. Or I’m coming three hours in and they’re a little tired and they’re waiting to see John Cena or Stone Cold Save Austin or something. Or you could just go to a place and it could have 300 people and it’s the hottest crowd in the world, and you have the best time and you feed off of them.
But it can really depend not just where you are but what stage of the card you’re coming on at. If they just saw Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker for the first time at WrestleMania go to town, and then I’m coming out, it’s going to be a hard crowd to get on your side. Because there’s that nostalgia. There are all the pieces that went into that buildup of their entire careers, and then they tore it down. So, when you’re in situations like that, a lot of times, you have to follow one of the greatest matches of all time, or you follow a World Heavyweight Title match or a Hell in a Cell match.
Nic Nemeth
And your job is to give everybody a reset and let them get back into it and then let them sink their teeth into your match. So, you have to take it down a notch, get people involved, and find a way to connect with someone in that crowd and then slowly start bringing it back. So, someone like me and John Morrison going after a Hell in a Cell match and just trying to go out there to steal the show.
People are watching us do tackles and headlock takeovers, and they just saw people getting thrown off cages and tombstone’d down stairs, and we just had to do something different. You have to find a way to tell a story that everyone can sink their teeth into, and then by the end of it, they’re on the edge of their seats.
Calling Out MJF and a Potential AEW Match
Card Player: Last week we saw Maxwell Jacob Friedman offer you a shot at his AEW title. Is there a chance we could possibly see that this year?
Nic Nemeth: The really funny thing is, yeah, we can do it. I don’t know any inside dealings with AEW, but it seems like MJF can do what he likes. He’s now hitting like independent shows. He’s going to CMLL, he’s all over the world. And I’m allowed to do basically whatever the hell I want with TNA. So, it absolutely can be real. I’m sure he was just talking out his ass because he thinks I probably won’t do it or it probably can’t happen.
But I appreciate it because he’s got all the potential in the world to be one of the greatest of all time and so far from what I’ve watched and I’m a fan of his, but he couldn’t possibly hang in the ring with me. He’s hung around a broken-down Daniel Bryan. Okay, that was probably just Daniel Bryan kind of leading the way, so the kids got a hell of a future. He’s going to be a fantastic multi-time champion, and I really think he’ll be solidified as a legend, but at the moment he couldn’t hold my jockstrap.
But if we ever get a chance to prove it, I would be humbled and honored to do it. Look at this match from two people who work in two different companies. And if we find a way to make it happen, whether it’s money or people or a city, I’ll do it and donate to charity. I don’t care. Have this match that no one thinks could possibly happen this year and make it go down and have everyone saying, “holy shit, this stuff can really happen.”
Fans can make things happen. So not just MJF talking on his ass and trying to promote his show that I was going to watch anyway because I have to talk about it on Thursdays on Busted Open. But give him a chance to actually back up the shit he talks.
Why JCW Means So Much
Card Player: I saw you’ve been working at JCW from time-to-time, how fun is it being involved with Juggalo?
Nic Nemeth: Hell yeah, it’s beautiful. I don’t get a lot of time to talk about JCW, but it’s a beautiful thing and not just now that everyone’s talking about in the last couple of months. For the last two years since I’ve been out of WWE, I’ve been trying to get to as many JCW shows as possible because Violent J is an absolute sweetheart. He loves wrestling, just like all the fans that are all psychotic online. He loves wrestling so much and he wants to have awesome wrestling on his show and slowly but surely, they’ve put together a fantastic roster.
It’s an exciting show. They got Vince Russo with them now too. Every day when I hear a little bit more about JCW, I get so excited. He used to ask me to check it out, and I was already checking it out, reposting it and there’s some crazy stuff on those shows. I wouldn’t even show my Mum half of it, but that’s fine. I want everybody to know about it! But at the heart and soul of it is a group of and I don’t want to say misfits because they’re just like awesome wrestlers and they all have different fits somewhere. And someone like me is welcomed there, which is incredible.
Everybody has been so kind and welcoming, and everybody is working. It reminds me of TNA. We’re all working toward getting the name out for the coming, getting everybody talking about it and putting out a great show. And I’ve watched so many different walks of life and people at JCW. Absolutely going out there and crushing it, and the fans are rowdy and crazy and awesome. I can’t say enough good things about JCW and if they didn’t have a big future, I would still be excited for them.
I think there’s something big coming for them this year. And what really matters is, I can’t explain that it’s not like a business move. We love wrestling and we’re putting a cool wrestling show out and that is just so awesome. And that’s what we need sometimes in between everybody complaining about everything else. We should all be rooting and getting behind JCW because they’re for the fans, run by fans and they just want to put on the best show out there. And I look forward to it. I think this year will be the most appearances I have done with JCW in my career.
AAA, New Japan, and Wrestling Different Styles Worldwide
Card Player: How were those experiences wrestling at Lucha Libre AAA and New Japan Pro Wrestling and what would you say is the biggest difference between those two companies in particular?
Nic Nemeth: There’s huge differences. Big time. A lot of people gave me a pass, because I got so good at wrestling that I never did the independents. I wasn’t on the independent scene. I got hired out of college wrestling. So, I had a year and a half left on my deal at WWE and I begged them to let me out of there. I told them I had a certain window, five or seven years where I could actually be a believable world champion. Let me go around the world. And I was lucky enough that Vince let me go do this.
I never thought I would get in the ring with Hiroshi Tanahashi. I just asked New Japan if I could do something, I wanted to do anything. And instantly they were great about it. Bam, I’m over there at Wrestle Kingdom, just showing up and I went with my brother, and I was very nervous because when I said I didn’t do independence. I didn’t know how I’d be received in locker rooms.
And also, I know this WWE style, and I wrestled that style for 20 years. Because that’s all I’ve learned, now can I apply it to other companies and countries and does it make sense? Does it fit in? Will I be exposed as not being a good wrestler? And somehow with slight adaptations in each way, I did my homework. And I watched New Japan and they wrestle in a very different style than WWE. So, I can apply some of my amateur backgrounds, maybe some submissions. I knew it could be really fun and different.
I got to get out there with Tomohiro Ishii, which was a really fun, hard-hitting match, and I had to put it together so differently than I would in WWE. So, it just makes your brain think so much more. And I got to be a part of a couple really big shows, and I really think a lot of the American New Japan fans were mad that I was doing it or something. But the Japanese fans, when I went to Japan, were incredible. They were not just respectful; they were happy to see me or booing me or whatever the situation was. And they were great.
We did a Chicago show, and I just remember being booed. And that’s great because that’s what the fans are all about. But I was like, well, I didn’t really even like cut a heel promo. We were just having a fight between me and Ishii, just two different guys that wanted to win. But I felt like I was an outsider to some of the American fans, which was really fun, which made the match way more fun for me because every time Ishii and I are hitting the hell out of each other and firing each other up, we just fed off of them, so it made it that much more fun. AAA, they treated me so well.
I didn’t know if I could hang with the Lucha Libre style. Luckily, my American ways adapted with their style, but we still kept that 101 psychology that for a match in my brain was still the blueprint for the match, which made it great. I got to be there with Del Rio a few different times. Then my brother and I wrestled in a huge multi-tag match, and it was wild and crazy and I didn’t know what the hell was going on half the time. But we had an absolute blast being out there and we almost snatched up a win that was going to get the tag titles there. But it was awesome to find these different styles.
Genuinely, every time when I was promoted going there, I didn’t know if I could hang with those guys. I didn’t know if it was going to be a flop when I got there. But when you’re good at your job and you do your homework and you adapt instantly, you’re rocking and rolling, and you’re right off with it. And I had a blast being there. And I hope to go back to AAA soon.
College Wrestling Roots and the Changing Business
Card Player: You mentioned already that you came from a College Wrestling background. With more people coming into wrestling from different backgrounds, do you think college wrestling and things like that are fading out?
Nic Nemeth: I think it already was fading out because maybe in the eighties, the AWA and NWA, you’re getting those Robbinsdale, Minnesota, like actual wrestlers like Curt Hennig and you get Nick Bockwinkel and Flair and Dusty. There are so many of these people like Brad Riggins who had sports or football or wrestling backgrounds and I think that slowly did go away over the last 30, 40 years. And then just sometimes you get someone like Kurt Angle, who ends up being one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. After being the freaking Olympic gold medalist with a broken fricking neck. So, he’s my hero because he did it to be number one in Olympic wrestling and then became a badass, awesome world champion here.
After that there’s several different people with backgrounds. And then some people have somewhat of a background or maybe don’t even recognize them as it, and it’s like Kurt superseded all of that and just became an awesome pro wrestler, but he could apply all his stuff, and it looks good and it’s real and it’s in there. So, I like being able to bust that out once in a while. But I really do think that amateur/Olympic wrestling is on its way out, but it’s been on its way out since the seventies and eighties, I think.
But every once in a while, I think right now I think WWE has hired a couple, like NIL talents. And they’re Olympians, badass college wrestlers, guys and girls, and they look great. And they’re charismatic already, and they just need some training to see if they can make it happen. That’s a great start because I was someone who was trained not to show any emotion when you’re in an amateur wrestling match. And when you get to pro wrestling, that’s the entire business, an emotion behind it. So, you have to be able to apply them both.
I had trouble with that at the beginning because a couple times I’m going into my national tournament, my senior year, my shoulder came out of place and I had to not let my opponent know, or let the referee know that I’m wrestling with one arm here and then get through the match and then have the trainer or doctor pop it back into place. And then you come to WWE where you get hit in the face, the world has to know that you just got hit in the face. So, it took me a minute to figure it out, but once I did, I embraced it and went above and beyond.
Mount Rushmore, Legends, and the Hardys
Card Player: You mentioned your love for Kurt Angle there and what he did for pro wrestling, would he make it onto your Mount Rushmore?
Nic Nemeth: Oh God, I never do this. So, every time I do it, I screw the old timers, screw all the guys that I genuinely grew up watching and love. I always put my friends on there, John Morrison, The Miz, Zach Ryder/Matt Cardona and myself. Let’s do that. We’ll go with our friend group because we weren’t friends when we got into the wrestling business.
But all four of us weren’t just attempting to be the best while constantly being pushed down the card, we were attempting to be the best while going outside of the business. And Mike doing reality shows and movies and hosting and John Morrison getting on Muscle and Fitness covers doing crazy stuff like gymnastics stuff and also making movies. Zach Ryder at the time, making a YouTube show that got everyone talking about him and got him pushed hard on the show to where The Rock is talking on a microphone and they’re chanting Ryder’s name. That’s how much those guys all wanted more than just to bring more eyes to the business, and we all just gravitated towards each other because we all wanted more and to keep like we were hungry and keep going and we still are. And that’s what keeps us going today.
So, I’ll go with that, instead of a bunch of old timers! Who’s on yours? Has to be Undertaker, Shaun Michaels and because I’m British, Wade Barrett. I absolutely love Wade. His voice and his brain are amazing. He’s a beautiful professional wrestler. I am such a fan of his and I always have been. He has so many cool attributes. And then take those away, and he’s still an awesome pro wrestler that looks the part, so I’m a huge fan of his. Then Jeff Hardy.
So, another thing here, the frigging Hardys, my god, I’ll keep it quick. These guys have done four decades and gone through some hellish matches on a regular basis and not only are they still blowing the roof off when they come out for us with TNA. After the show, the grassroots thing we have with TNA is to have to meet some of the wrestlers, guys and girls afterwards.
And there’s a meet and greet, and we do it just to get more of a family structure, get some people to meet, and it’s not just you rush through and you sign something. We sit there and have conversations and it’s a really good thing, I think it really helps TNA communicate with some people who didn’t come to a WWE show in the city because their ticket prices are too high, so they check this out. And then you have all these wrestlers talking to the kids and taking pictures and stuff. These guys, our lines are so long after the show that on multiple occasions, now this is not a joke.
On multiple occasions, they’re lined for the VIP meet and greet and the time it took afterwards. We were an hour longer than our pay-per-view was that night. And on multiple occasions, the Hardys came back to the hotels when the sun’s coming up to grab their bags to go to the airport. So, these guys, not only do they bring such great credibility to TNA, they back it up in the ring.
These motherfuckers back it up outside of the ring also and it’s an absolute blessing to have them affiliated with TNA. And just knowing what they’ve done and knowing what they’re still going to do, having them with us is an absolute game changer for TNA and it’s one of the huge factors why I think we got this new TV deal.
TNA’s Future and Breakout Stars to Watch
Card Player: With TNA moving on to AMC, what’s one storyline or angle you’re looking forward to seeing that can go big for the company this year?
Nic Nemeth: We’re two weeks into our storylines, so cut me a little slack with that. But I’ve watched both shows very closely. I think there’s a lot of different things. I think Lei Ying Lee is going to have a big year for us. I’m really curious to see where the world title picture’s going to be. We could have Mike Santana as a champ for the next six months, eight months, 12 months. Or I could hit him from behind and become champion with my Call Your Shot at any minute.
So, I like that the idea’s there, but I would love to see Santana become a 6, 8, 10 month champion. And because it’s a deserved run and he earned it and he’s backing it up every step of the way so far. But we have so many different people with us. Indi Hartwell is with us. Everyone in the system, we have like Harley Hudson and Myla Grace, like these young up and comers that they’re about to be dispersed in.
The knockouts are killing it. Mustafa Ali was my first defense when I became TNA champion and someone I’ve known for 10 years in WWE. He’s going to have another big year, I think. KC Navarro when he comes back from an injury, he’s got something big coming. Elayna Black also. I’m trying to think of everybody, Xia Brookside is another good one. I’m trying to think who’s going to have that breakthrough year, but I think there’s a chance in that knockouts division to get some real ass kicking knockout title matches. That can steal the show and main event, a show. And that’s what I’m looking forward to most, I think.
Leon Slater Praise and Rising Young Talent
Card Player: Can we have a word on Leon Slater?
Nic Nemeth: I’ve said 75,000 good things about that little shit. He’s the best. Here’s what makes me mad about him. We had a match and I was told to put him over, and I was happy to do that, he’s a great kid. He’s a good listener. He’s awesome to watch. I’m so excited to see where he goes.
The first thing I said when I walked in the door for my first TNA taping, the first time I stepped around the corner and looked at the monitor, it was him jumping over the turnbuckle to the outside, and I didn’t know much about him and I was shocked when they told me it was Leon Slater and he’s only 20 years old! So they go, Hey, we want you to get there, you know, let us know what you think.
A bunch of different times I was ready for him to be in the wrong place or making a wrong decision or moving too quickly and he wasn’t. He’s not supposed to be this good already. His future is huge as hell. I hope I get to get in a ring with him one more time, because obviously he’s got a bunch of other stuff going on at the moment.
AJ Styles, Memories, and What Comes Next
Card Player: At the other end of the spectrum, AJ Styles, a TNA legend, looks to be having his final run in WWE with a retirement just around the corner. Do you have any memories with him?
Nic Nemeth: Yeah, it’s kind of cool because I heard about this guy when he was in TNA and I was in WWE and I never saw him. And then everyone kept telling me he’ll never be in WWE. And then he was and we got to get out there and he’s one of those guys that, I didn’t know really well at first, but he’s one of those guys that you can roll around with and get some like real submissions and real college wrestling. He’s got that. When you tie up with him, you feel it. So, he’s one of the guys I loved working with.
One of my favorite things was we had a couple big matches, maybe a couple SmackDown main events and a couple other things to where I actually got to go out there and do what I call one of my favorite things.
I got to do it with Cesaro, I got to do it with Jack Swagger and a couple other guys where you go out there and you almost do a division one college wrestling room, almost full go of like trying to take each other down but also working with each other and making it work and AJ’s one of my favorites to do that with. Because you can apply all of his amazing body of work mixed in with some amateur wrestling and cradles and pins and we’d be trying to get each other but also try to help each other out and put on a good match.
He’s one of my absolute favorites to roll around in there with and do some weird stuff and then come out of a couple of cradles and pick me up into a Styles Clash or something. He obviously is a special performer and if this is the end of his run, he’s going out on top in all of our eyes and hearts and minds. And I’m glad I got to get a couple reps in there with him.
But obviously I always want to do more, I’m selfish. We all do, but he’s someone special to this business and it’s always good to see him and I hope even if he has done full-time, we see him constantly part-time or bouncing around or in Japan or in AEW or TNA. I would love to see him, but if he’s calling it a career, he’ll probably become a part-timer or help backstage or something. But yeah, I wouldn’t even pretend to know, but one hell of a career and the dude could do 10 more years if he really wanted to and outshine most of us.
WWE Locker Room Reflections and Missed Opportunities
Card Player: The Miz opened up on a podcast recently how your release hit home for him. What do you miss in particular about that locker room and the guys you were working with day-in-day-out?
Nic Nemeth: Kofi Kingston and I had a best of 500 series that I think he won 497 to three. But we weren’t really wrestling too much toward my last couple years anyway. Then Bobby Roode and I were put together. We were told we were going to pass on some knowledge to some young up and coming tag teams and right around then COVID hit also and then it just became no live events, just doing TVs and things.
So, I really wish we would’ve got to do the old schedule with the Street Profits. Because one, the two of those guys individually offer something really special and different. Together they make this cool New Age Outlaws kind of team also. And they were young dudes who could do anything. I really was looking forward to doing a couple of months of live events where you go out there and you just kind of call it and feel it and tell them why we’re not doing this thing, but we are doing this other thing.
But we really didn’t get a chance to do that. I wish we would’ve had a couple of months with those guys. That it would’ve been an absolute treat, but they’re going to do fine on their own. But in this day and age, without all those live events we were slowly losing out on since COVID, being better wrestlers because it wasn’t really passed down the last couple years.
And now having less and less of those events slowly but surely, the work is going to become a little bit, not as good, eventually, but luckily, we have so many people behind the scenes at all the companies that you can at least practice what you preach to them behind the scenes. It’s not the same, not getting those reps in the ring, but that can help because we did not get those reps in the ring to pass down to the next generation.
So, I think they’ll be ready for TV wrestling, but if they’re not ready completely to have a full career on their own, then we did everything we could. But that’s going to be a slight notch downward for the business for the next few years.
Card Player: Hopefully we will see The Street Profits back on WWE TV soon.
Nic Nemeth: Yeah. I haven’t seen them for a while either. And I watch everything because I have to talk about it on the radio. And it’s weird. I don’t know, and I’m not going to ask or pretend to know, but sometimes people are hurt, sometimes there’s different creative decisions. Sometimes they ask for time off. So, I don’t know and I won’t speculate, but when we get them back on TV, maybe they’ll do their own thing or get back together. Whatever. Their future is bright for those guys, for sure.
Vince McMahon, MSG, and the $500,000 Fine
Card Player: Vince McMahon famously paid a $500,000 fine so you and John Cena could finish your cage match at Madison Square Garden. When you walked back into Gorilla after that, what was his initial reaction after you cost him half a million dollars?
Nic Nemeth: Like, you owe me $250,000? No, it would’ve been different had I not talked to him beforehand. But we went beforehand to go, ‘Hey boss, we’re up next. We’re going to have about seven to eight minutes, and we’re going to hit that overtime.’ And I’m paraphrasing a little bit because I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he goes, I won’t even say the F word that he probably said, but he goes, ‘Go put on a fucking show for those people and don’t you worry about that time. I got it!’
John and I looked at each other, and I’m sure John’s heard that 50 other times, but I got to be in the room for this one. I went ‘Damn, let’s go! Alright!’ And we went out there and tore it down. But I was very lucky to be in there with John, so it’s going to happen either way.
But I held my own and we made a great show, and we did and it cost a couple of extra bucks for the boss, but he knows what that means. He knows what seeing John means. And if you see him for five minutes at a three-hour show, that’s a slap in the face. He says, ‘go out there and give them the best damn thing you can.’ That re-energized me. I was already, like hey, I’m fighting John Cena in the main event at Madison Square Garden in a steel cage!
This is a dream come true for everybody who’s ever grown up watching wrestling. And I get to go out there and steal the show. And I’m already excited. But we went out and we put on a hell of a show. I think we did a little bit extra. Normally he and I would do 18, 20 minutes, but I think we ended up going 24 or 25. Vince is paying the fine, so we are going to give these people everything that they came for and we took them on a ride.
John’s so great and I’m so happy to be able to participate in something, honoring him a little bit in that tournament. He’s the frigging man and the sky’s the limit for him too. And hopefully we, even though his in-ring is done, I hope we see him here and there also.
Career Pops, Strongest, Funniest, and Toughest Opponents
Card Player: What would you say was your ‘biggest pop’ over your career? Because that pop when you came out for your match against Solo Sikoa was quite insane…
Nic Nemeth: Uh, you know what, man. I wasn’t even thinking that because I was focusing on the match at the time, but a couple people said that might have topped Money in the Bank – cash in. And I went, wow I didn’t even think of that. And then watching it back, you know what? It might have and I was nervous, man. Every day I go, is this the day that I’m exposed for not knowing how to wrestle and this has been all a joke or a dream?
And being brought in for that tournament. Okay, maybe some people are thinking, Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but I hope they’re happy to see me. I hope they remember what I did. The music hits and just like being on stage, doing standup, you tell a joke and for half a second you don’t hear anything and you’re like, uh-oh, it seems like two seconds go by, but it’s a half second. My music hits nothing. Nothing. And then I heard Woosh! I went, okay they remember, okay, let’s go tear this s**t up.
Card Player: You did exactly that, you know, it was amazing. And Solo, what a guy he is…
Nic Nemeth: I got to wrestle with him once, the year before I got out of there. It was night and day. He was already good. But I came back and I told him man, this guy was already good, but he’s doing so many great things, calm, comfortable, scary. I go, man, congratulations because in the two years I was gone, you got even way better. That was pretty awesome.
Card Player: Who is the strongest wrestler you’ve ever been in the ring with?
Nic Nemeth: It’s got to be Mark Henry. No question and it’s not because that’s his gimmick. That dude’s a strong, scary guy in a positive way. Who’s strong besides Mark? I mean, a bunch of people are strong. Big Show. I watched him pick up a giant ladder!
Card Player: What about the funniest wrestler you’ve ever met?
Nic Nemeth: Miz on accident. Zack Ryder on accident. Me on purpose. John Morrison on accident.
Card Player: The stiffest wrestler you’ve ever been in the ring with?
Nic Nemeth: Broski is stiff. Sheamus is stiff. Drew is stiff, but it’s all in fun because you’re hitting your friends. So, when you know him and you know you can do what you’re capable of, lay it in there, baby. It’s all safe.
Card Player: Best technical wrestler?
Nic Nemeth: Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro). I’m a big fan of his!
Card Player: The most painful finisher you’ve ever taken?
Nic Nemeth: Great Khalil’s finishers! There’s a couple slow motion where I’ve seen his hand bend over my head and people say a big stack of bananas. Yeah, right. It’s like getting hit with a cinder block. And then he did like a double choke bomb also that he didn’t go down with. I did like three months with him, and it was some of the most painful stuff ever. Nice guy and eventually became really easy to work with. Man, that stuff hurts. You’re falling from seven, eight feet in the air and it hurts.
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