Popular Star Requested His WWE Release Multiple Times

WWE

Former WWE star Nic Nemeth (fka Dolph Ziggler) has commented on his WWE exit, noting that he asked for his release on multiple occasions.

Nemeth’s WWE release in September 2023 got a lot of people talking, with many believing that WWE didn’t use him to his full potential.

The former “Dolph Ziggler” has since made appearances for TNA Wrestling and NJPW, with Nemeth instantly entering a feud with IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion David Finlay.

Nemeth addressed his WWE exit in an interview with NJPW, noting that he’s ready to fulfil promises he made to himself prior to his release.

He explained:

“The first six or seven years of my career, I would get to every Monday after Wrestlemania thinking ‘well, this is the day when I’m gone!’ (laughs). So I would think about, OK, I can go back to school, go to law school, be a manager at Chipotle… you start thinking about all these things and get ready to go so you’re not blindsided by being told you’re released.

“But after about ten, 15 years of that I started realising, OK I’m a mainstay here, I’m needed. But I got to a point where I was ready to go. I’d asked the company a few different times whether I was ready to go, and they told me I was signed, and they weren’t letting me go.

“So I started asking them, ‘hey, can I start doing this, can I start something else’. So I was prepared to be done and to start exploring other avenues.”

Noting that he wants to have longer matches away from WWE, Nemeth said:

” I spent the last six, eight months, a year, saying ‘I’m going to be in the best shape of my life when all this goes down,’ and when it finally got to the point where I asked (WWE) enough and they gave me my release, then it became ‘OK, well you asked for this for the last five years, you’d better deliver.’

So, OK, I’ve got this, I’m doing this, I have insurance ready, I’ve been training in the ring, watching different things, and I’m ready to go. So let’s go.

” I famously don’t watch wrestling, because for the last couple of years I was so disheartened. I always felt like I didn’t like what I was doing, my work’s good, but I didn’t like what I was doing. The question was how do I change it? I figured, OK, I’ve gotta stop watching back the 90 seconds of TV time I might get in a week, because that’s not how it’s meant to be.

“I had to get my mind back in the way of thinking 20, 25 minute, hour long matches. I’ve had my stamina since high school and college at St Edwards and Kent State, from just never ever ever being too tired to get one more takedown and score one more point. I went from amateur to pro wrestling with that same mindset.”

Nemeth will challenge for Finlay’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship at the February 23 New Beginning in Sapporo show.

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• Nic Nemeth
• Dolph Ziggler
• Release
• wwe

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