Former longtime WWE Superstar and World Heavyweight Champion Nic Nemeth, formerly known as Dolph Ziggler, made a huge splash, appearing earlier today at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 at the Tokyo Dome. Nemeth wasn’t just in the crowd and enjoying the show. He became a part of the and confronted the new IWGP Global Champion, David Finlay.
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The confrontation resulted in a wild brawl between the two men. NJPW released the following clip of Nemeth entering the ringside area of the Tokyo Dome. He was there along with his brother, AEW wrestler Ryan Nemeth:
FORMER WWE SUPERSTAR NIC NEMETH MAKES HUGE SPLASH WITH NJPW DEBUT
During the show, which streamed live on NJPW World, the camera showed Nic Nemeth and brother Ryan in the crowd after Tama Tonga won the NEVER Openweight Championship. They were also seen as Hikuleo and El Phantasmo of Guerrillas of Destiny defeated Bishamon for the IWGP Tag Team Championships and Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships.
After David Finlay defeated Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley to become the first-ever IWGP Global Heavyweight champion, he approached the Nemeth brothers at their ringside seating area. Nic Nemeth didn’t like the way Finlay was talking to him. He then stood up and got into a heated verbal exchange before Finlay pushed Nemeth. This led to fists flying and the two men had to be pulled apart by security. You can view a clip of the incident below:
Nemeth was not happy with the exchange and was not done with Finlay. It was said that he confronted Finlay in the back and came away with the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. Later in the night Nemeth was at the post-show press conference and could be seen holding the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. With this Nemeth makes a pretty strong statement that he is still a wrestler and will make NJPW his new home, at least for a little while.
While Nic Nemeth may not be a household name, most fans will recognize him as Dolph Ziggler from his 19 years in WWE. In late September, he was part of a large group of Superstars who were released by WWE. He was by far the biggest name on the list, and it was pretty surprising.
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During his WWE career, Nemeth won almost every championship available including the World Heavyweight Championship twice, the Intercontinental Championship six times, and he was even able to win the NXT Championship. He was one of WWE’s go-to guys when they needed someone to fill a role. They knew they could trust him to put on a good feud, a good match, and not injure his opponent.
In the latter years of Nemeth’s WWE run, he started to dabble in stand-up comedy. After his release, he focused his time on his comedy work and organized a tour with his brother. Nemeth’s first post-WWE wrestling match will occur on Jan. 20 in Puerto Rico for the WWC, where he will challenge the 21-time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion Ray Gonzalez.
It looks like Nemeth’s second match will be against Finlay in NJPW. He is not the first ex-WWE Superstar to go to Japan following their WWE departure. Some recent names who reinvented themselves in Japan are Chris Jericho, Mercedes Moné formerly Sasha Banks, and Cody Rhodes.
NJPW Or AEW?
Post Nemeth’s departure many people believed he would go straight to AEW to be with his brother, Ryan, who is already a wrestler there. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, at least not yet. AEW and NJPW have a strong working relationship so it is very possible he is signed to AEW, but will wrestle a few matches in NJPW. To prove this point AEW wrestlers Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and Will Ospreay all wrestled on the Wrestle Kingdom 18 card. It is not unheard of to have AEW wrestlers wrestle for championships or hold championships from other promotions
What are your thoughts on the former WWE star Nic Nemeth appearing in NJPW? Are you excited about a feud with David Finlay? Who else in NJPW would you like to see Nemeth wrestle? Do you think he should stay in NJPW or should he move to AEW? If he goes to AEW should he be partnered with his brother? Who is someone you would like to see wrestle in AEW? Let us know on social media if you think he will become the IWGP World Heavyweight champion in the future.
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Source: NJPW1972.com
