Outside of an occasional spot here or there, Nic Nemeth‘s final half-decade as a member of the WWE Universe was largely spent on the back burner.

Sure, he defeated Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship, even if that reign only lasted a few weeks, and had a minor program with Austin Theory that didn't really go anywhere, but for the most part, the man formerly known as Dolph Ziggler filled a Udonis Haslem-type role, providing veteran leadership to the younger guys while only having his glass broken in case of emergency.

His new promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, clearly felt differently about Nemeth's potential, as one month into his run with the “King of Sports,” the “Show Off” has been entered into a program with Bullet Club leader David Finlay, wrestled a single match, and ultimately, been crowned the second-ever IWGP Global Champion, defeating Fit's son at New Beginnings in Sapporo to become a champion for the first time since 2022.

Discussing his win in New Japan's traditional post-match media availability session,  Nemeth revealed just how overlooked he felt in WWE and how close he came to hanging up his boots for good.

“I knew if I could just get back in that ring, if I could just get a sniff, a chance to claw at this title. I knew, I knew I could make something happen. I knew that I could bring something to this title. It's not just something like Finlay had to throw around. This means a lot to fans, to family members. wrestlers all over the world, whether they're dead or not born yet. This means something, and when I mean something, I mean it means everything to me. Don't care when, I don't care how, I will back this up in the middle of the ring every day until the day I die. I believe this, and I believe in this, because I know in my heart that I'm the best d**n wrestler walking the world today, and I'll prove it every d**n night,” Nic Nemeth told reporters via Fightful.

“I want to thank New Japan for giving me a chance. I hadn't proved myself outside of a bubble. I hadn't proved myself in the last five years. I didn't know if I could still go. New Japan, sight unseen, said if you got it, it's sink or swim. You got a chance to put it all on the line. Everything in the last 20 years that I worked for was put on the line tonight, and if I didn't back it up, I was done. I told myself I was done, I was gone, I'm retired. But I have to thank Finlay. When he spit in my face, it didn't p*ss me off. It lit a fire inside me. I may not be able to contain it ever again.”

Whoa, is Nemeth just self-mythologizing, or did he actually consider calling it a career in favor of other opportunities outside of the ring should his initial run in NJPW have fallen flat? It's impossible to know, but considering he secured the title in his first NJPW match, it's safe to say fans won't have to worry about retirement any time soon, as Nemeth is now fully turning his attention to becoming a fighting champion.

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Nic Nemeth is ready to become a become a NJPW fighting champion.

Continuing his post-match comments, Nic Nemeth revealed how he plans to handle himself as the new IWGP Global Champion, which should include plenty of title defenses all over the… globe.

“This might be 20 more years of me holding this title and defend it in every godd**n night,” Nic Nemeth noted. “If that's what it means, that's how I will go into my grave holding this, holding this championship that says, I am better than the best, and I don't just sit on my a** now and go home and wait for a call in three months to say it's time to defend it. You want a shot, you earn it, you step up to me, man to man, face to face, look me in the f**king eye and say, I think, I think. I think I can go with you. I think I can hang, and you better believe that I'm gonna knock your head off your f**king body.”

What does the future hold for Nemeth? Is he going to truly revolutionize the IWGP Global Championship and become a fixture of NJPW shows in Japan, in America, and beyond? Or will he instead fall far short of his own expectations and see his reign come to an end well before his desired 20 years as champion? Fans will have to keep watching NJPW shows to find out, as chances are, Nemeth will be on a lot of them.