WWE Threatened To Fire Former Champion Over Tweet Controversy

WWE

A former WWE star has reflected on the tweet that could have resulted in them being fired from the company.

In September 2011, during the United States Championship feud between Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) and Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder), actor Hugh Jackman made a memorable cameo, standing in Long Island Iced Z’s corner for the bout.

While Jackman’s presence alone was a big deal, it made even more headlines when the Wolverine actor played a crucial role in the match’s finish, laying out the Show-Off with a very stiff looking punch – something Nemeth had personally requested from Jackman beforehand.

Speaking on the Going Postl podcast, Nemeth revealed that a seemingly harmless tweet attempting to play up the effect of the punch almost got him fired from WWE altogether.

Nemeth tweeted that Jackman may have broken his jaw, something that was picked up by outlets such as TMZ and Entertainment Weekly, and ultimately led to Nemeth being threatened to be fired from WWE if he didn’t take the tweet down.

Nemeth explained the entire situation:

“The next day (after the moment with Hugh Jackman on Raw), I said, ‘I have to go for x-rays. I may have a slight fractured jaw’ and by the time the next morning came around, I was being threatened with being fired from WWE because I had lied and TMZ was calling them to check on it and I go, ‘I’m just trying to protect the storyline.’

“I said, ‘I didn’t say Hugh Jackman put me in a hospital or I’m having a heart attack. I was like, oh, there’s a chance there’s a hairline fracture and I’m gonna get x-rays to keep it vague’, because it’s wrestling…

“Because it was such a good punch and everybody was talking about it that night and the next day, I was so excited. It all worked out and Broski was on a tear, I was so excited about it, I go, ‘Let me add a little extra to it’ and then the second-in-command was like, ‘I don’t wanna have to fire you but you’re gonna have to recant and take this down…’

“Meanwhile, cut to two years later or the rest of WWE’s existence, they’d be begging for that kind of publicity but whatever and I said it in a nice way but I took it down but, for the next couple of weeks, I wore mouthguards and did Miz’s punch in the face gimmick that he did for a month or whatever… and it was really, really fun.

“I think I had matches with Miz anyway or Broski and it was like, the whole thing was not to not punch me in the face because my jaw might be broken and it was the best. That stuff makes it so much fun on the weekends.”

13 years on from their feud, both Nemeth and Cardona are enjoying success outside of WWE, with Nemeth capturing the IWGP Global Championship in his NJPW debut match in February.

Cardona has been away from WWE for almost four years, and has competed for AEW, TNA, NWA and GCW among other promotions.

Unlike Nemeth, who is only six months removed from his WWE exit, Cardona has previously suggested a WWE return could be in his future, with his wife Chelsea Green recently stating she is “patiently waiting” for it to happen.

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Transcript via POST Wrestling

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• Nic Nemeth
• fired
• Dolph Ziggler
• wwe

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