Nic Nemeth has opened up about one of the lowest points of his WWE career, revealing there was a time when he was so frustrated that he was asking for a release, pushing to go to NXT, and even considered faking an injury just to get away.
Speaking to Renae, Nemeth looked back on the period before his successful run in NXT. After spending nearly two decades on WWE’s main roster, he admitted he felt completely stuck and was desperate for something—anything—to change.
“I was, uh, begging to do anything. I was like, ‘Let me out of here. Let me out of my contract. Let me go do something at NXT. Fake—let me—I was debating faking an injury so I can go home and just, like, not be around because nothing was working out. And, uh, I—you know, if you don’t get injured or miss any time in 20 years, you get a little repetitive, and people have seen you, and it’s not a big deal.’”
Eventually, an opportunity came out of nowhere. Nemeth recalled John Laurinaitis asking if he’d be interested in heading to NXT for what was originally supposed to be a short program with Bron Breakker while WWE evaluated the young star for a main roster call-up.
“But, uh, John Laurinaitis was like, ‘Hey, would you like to go work with Breakker in NXT for just three or four weeks?’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s something to do. Great.’ Um, and when I got there, yeah, it was—it was supposed to be, yeah, a fun thing. ‘Let us know how the kid is. We’re debating bringing him up. We’ll get him out there with you and see what you think.’”
Nemeth said he immediately realized NXT was a completely different experience. Instead of memorizing fully scripted promos, he was given bullet points and trusted to deliver them in his own style, something he had been craving for a long time.
“And, uh, I think we had, like, a triple threat with Ciampa also. And, uh, we were building up a little story, and it was fun. And Bob was with me, which was cool. Uh, but I—I was like, ‘Yeah, this is fun. This is something different and unexpected, and, oh wow, I get to talk however I want, not how somebody wrote it on a card.’ I was like, ‘Hey, this is pretty great.’ They give me some bullet points, and I get to have a little fun with it. So, I made it extra fun for me. It was a nice little project.”
What was supposed to be a brief visit didn’t stay that way for long. According to Nemeth, things went so well that WWE completely changed course, extending the storyline and asking him to become NXT Champion.
“And, um, it went so well after three weeks that we were gonna just have a, you know, a couple-week thing and keep the title on Breakker, and I was going to go back to work. And it was going so well that they said, ‘Hey, can we double the time of this and maybe have you win this title?’ Like, ‘If you really want me to win this thing, okay.’ Like, I don’t know if this helps you guys at some point. All right, whatever. I—like, I don’t need this title. Like, I’m here and I’m happy to help out. It’s a fun time. It’s a great atmosphere.”
Looking back now, it’s hard to imagine that Nemeth’s NXT run almost never happened. What started as a last-ditch attempt to escape a frustrating situation ended up becoming one of the most enjoyable chapters of his WWE career.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
