Nic Nemeth is taking a brutally honest look back at his long run in WWE — and he believes one personality trait may have ultimately held him back.
While speaking on the That Sweet Pop podcast, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion reflected on how his approach to wrestling differed from others around him, especially when it came to balancing personal success with making the overall product better.
Nemeth explained that despite learning from respected wrestling minds like Shawn Michaels and Lance Storm, he often focused more on helping matches succeed than making himself the centerpiece. He then stated that the fundamentals of wrestling psychology never really change, no matter the era.
“Everybody has a different perspective—guys like Shawn Michaels and Lance Storm think very differently, right? But the core ideas—the 101 psychology of what works and what doesn’t—will never go away. That’s always there, and that’s what linked me to all these different teachers.”
According to Nemeth, he took pride in applying those lessons throughout his career, but admitted his mindset may have worked against him professionally at times.
“And to a fault, I was a little selfless. I was like, ‘I want you to look great. I want this match to be great. I want everyone to be talking about it,’ instead of going, ‘I want to be talked about as world champion.’”
Nemeth then acknowledged there is a major difference between elevating a match and aggressively pushing yourself to the top of the industry. However, he also admitted that wrestling can sometimes reward people who are far more ruthless behind the scenes.
“And there’s a difference there. Maybe it’s a reason I had a job for 20 years. But also, it’s detrimental to yourself when you’re not fully stepping on some backs and knifing some people in the back. When you’re not doing that, you miss out on getting ahead.”
The comments offer a look into how Nemeth views his WWE career years later, especially after becoming known as one of the company’s most dependable performers despite often moving in and out of the main event scene.
Bottom line: Nic Nemeth believes focusing too much on making matches and opponents look great — instead of aggressively pushing himself as the star — may have ultimately hurt parts of his WWE career.
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