When news broke that WWE was releasing Nic Nemeth from his contract after nearly 20 years with the promotion, it felt like only a matter of time before the former Dolph Ziggler would be making his way to AEW.
On paper, it made sense, right? Nemeth is a respected veteran with a brother who worked for the promotion – at least at the time – and a ton of friends in the locker room. Factor in a desire to prove he can still hang in the ring and a willingness to embrace the different styles AEW has to offer, and the pairing felt like a natural fit for Tony Khan and company, so much so that fans started fantasy booking the duo for future matches as soon as his exit was announced.
And yet, it's six months into 2024, and Nemeth remains firmly out of the AEW Galaxy, with appearances in TNA, New Japan, GCW, and beyond on his resume but no matches on Dynamite, Rampage, Collision, or any of the promotion's many, many, many Pay-Per-View offerings.
What gives? Was AEW not interested in Nemeth, or was Nemeth not interested in AEW? Well, as it turns out, it's more of the latter than the former but frankly, that doesn't show the full picture, as the “Show-Off” liked what AEW was offering, he just wasn't looking to jump from one long-term relationship to another without playing the field first.
“I talked to Tony a long time ago, and he was like, ‘Just so you know, you can do anything you want while you work here.' He wants everyone to have a good time and doing the best possible thing,” Nic Nemeth explained on Eyes Up Here via 411 Mania. “That's awesome, and a lot of people did think I was going to AEW, and I love a bunch of people in AEW, I love AEW, Tony's freaking great. I was just weighing my options and figuring out, I didn't have a plan. I've got this thing in my head. I wanna go and make a name for myself on the independents. Just to see if I can go outside of this New York bubble … I wanna see if I can hang, or be better, or the best everywhere around the world … I just got out of a long-term relationship, I'm not looking to get engaged, or engaged to be engaged.”
Welp, there you go, folks; AEW was definitively interested in Nemeth, and Nemeth had some interest in joining the promotion, too, but opted to work the Indies first in order to really get where he wants to be long-term. Who knows, after spending 2024 in the indies, in New Japan, and in TNA, maybe Nemeth will pull a Mercedes Mone and land in AEW long-term, as outside of an unlikely reunion with WWE, that feels like his perfect long-term home.
Nic Nemeth revealed how Pat Patterson pushed his career in WWE.
Elsewhere on Francine's Eyes Up Here podcast, Nic Nemeth discussed his relationship with Pat Patterson and how the long-time WWE employee helped to push him in WWE when he wasn't a big “Vince McMahon Guy” or a big “Triple H Guy.”
“Either nobody is rooting for you in the meeting because you're not 6'5″ or 300 pounds or you're not Vince's [Vince McMahon] or Hunter's [Triple H] favorite guy, so no one is going to be like, ‘Yeah, that's a good idea, boss. I like him too.' There is not one of those things. Then, there is also the other extreme where Pat Patterson was a big fan of mine, and he was more of a consultant, so some months he is there every TV, sometimes he's talking to Vince all the time, and some months he's gone for a few weeks,” Nic Nemeth told Eyes Up Here via Fightful.
“He was a little bit older and enjoying his life. Sometimes, there is nobody there, and if nobody has your back, it's tricky already because I'm not a legacy, I don't have any inside information, or nobody is looking out for you. Also, I got to a point where the top of the top, other than Vince, pulled me aside and said, ‘Pat pushes for you so much because he says such great things and sees such great things in you, that we're actively ribbing him by having you lose every week.' He laughed when he said it. I go, ‘That's funny, but that's my career where I already lose 80% of the time, now I'm losing 95% of the time. Come on.' They thought it was a cool thing to tell me.”
If it wasn't for Patterson, would Ziggler have made it almost 20 years in WWE? It's impossible to know, but hey, good on him for doing so, as without him, Lucha Libre AAA might not have their Mega Champion without his push.
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