For the first time in 19 years, Nic Nemeth wrestled a match under his given name instead of the moniker given to him by WWE's creative department, Dolph Ziggler.

For Nemeth, this must have been an interesting moment, as he made a name for himself as a collegiate wrestler under his given name at Kent State, but to many, he will always be Dolph Ziggler, at least until he accomplishes something bigger like winning the IWGP Global Championship in New Japan, or unseating Moose as the World Champion in TNA.

And yet, while he remains Ziggler in the hearts of many, the “Showoff” has never actually been a fan of the name, as he was “heartbroken” when he was assigned the moniker in WWE, as he explained on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast.

“Heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken [laughs], and I am heartless, but I had to get a heart and then smash it in front of myself. I hope I'm remembering this right. I get a call on a Saturday night after an OVW show. ‘Hey, you're debuting on Monday. Your name is David Diggler,' yeah, you thought Dolph Ziggler was bad. ‘Your name's David Diggler. We're not exactly sure what you're doing, but just bring your gear.' I'm like, ‘What, David Diggler?' They're like, ‘What, do you have a problem with that?' I go, ‘Man, that sucks. Why is that the name?' They go, ‘Well, we needed a name with the same with the same consonant.' I go, ‘My name's Nic Nemeth! We're going with the reality era, it's n-n. What?' They go, ‘Nah, you can't use your real name anymore.' I go, alright. They go, ‘Alright, we're going back in to talk to Vince in 15 minutes. You got 15 minutes to pitch him something else,” Nic Nemeth explained via Fightful.

“So I text everybody in my phone. ‘Guys, I need a double D name.' So my dad's name was Don. I had that down there, I had Dolph for Dolph Lundgren. I pitched all these different things, and they go, ‘It's probably gonna be David Diggler, but we'll see you on Monday.' So I get there, it says, ‘Dolph Diggler.' I'm kind, ‘What?' So I find Vince for the first time in my life, I bump into him and say, ‘Sir, we just went to reality-based. We got John Cena, Randy Orton, this says David Diggler or Dolph Diggler. My name is Nic Nemeth. You can Google my name, I broke these records. I would love to be the best possible reason that you have legitimacy in this new era.' He goes, ‘Nope, Dolph Ziggler. It stands out. That's it.' He walked away, and I went, ‘Okay, here we go.”

Should WWE have simply allowed Nemeth to go by his given name? Yes, while Dolph Ziggler is fun in a cheesy, so-bad-its-good Samurai Cop sort of way, the double-n alliteration sounds like a fake wrestling name if you didn't know it was real. Still, it's at least nice that Nemeth didn't get stuck being Don Diggler or Briley Pierce, the moniker his brother Ryan was assigned during his abbreviated run in developmental, as they might have killed his career more than being part of the Spirit Squad.

Ryan Nemeth talks going to Japan with Nic Nemeth.

Speaking of Ryan Nemeth, the former Wingman has been receiving a bit of a career renaissance over the past few months due to his brother's free agent, going from a job guy in Ring of Honor and occasionally AEW to Nic Nemeth's number two, joining him at Wrestle Kingdom 17 and potentially serving as his tag team partner if given the opportunity.

Discussing the Nemeth family's newfound hype in an appearance on the Sarah O'Connell Show, Nemeth celebrated being invited to New Japan alongside his brother, as the experience was truly special.

“I loved the show. I had never been to an environment like that before, ever. I've been to very large events and large wrestling shows and large football, [and] basketball things…nothing like that ever. That is a very unique fandom and culture there in Japan, with pro wrestling. I recommend everybody at some point, somehow try to get involved and watch one of those incredible athletes there. We saw some amazing matches, tag team title matches, we saw some singles matches, we saw just a wild match with Ospreay, Moxley, and Finlay. And unfortunately, there's a little riff-raff after that match,” Ryan Nemeth noted on the Sarah O'Connell Show via Wrestling Inc.

“It was an honor to be part of that event. I look forward to seeing what happens in the future with Nic Nemeth and New Japan Pro Wrestling. And if I can ever be of assistance, then I would love to be. And if not, that's fine.”

Will the younger Nemeth get to wrestle a match in New Japan alongside his brother, a promotion he has somehow never worked a match for – Strong or otherwise – over his near x-year career? Only time will tell, but if Nic wants to tag up and take on the War Dogs as part of his feud with David Finlay, Ryan makes for a perfect plug-and-play partner in crime.