"I wanted to quit" - 6ft 1in star opens up on WWE exit, says he had "emotional breakdown" privately

A former WWE star reflected on his exit from the Stamford-based promotion over a decade ago. The 6-foot, 1-inch star also revealed he had an emotional breakdown amid the exit.

Ryan Nemeth debuted at AEW in 2021. His last match was against Wardlow on an episode of Dynamite in October 2023, after which he left the company. He has made a few appearances at TNA Wrestling since. Nemeth had a brief run in the WWE between 2011 and 2013.

Speaking on the Developmentally Speaking podcast recently, Ryan Nemeth reflected on his WWE departure and transition into acting:

“I wanted to quit and I remember having a lot of like emotional breakdown moments privately, you know, where I would, like a movie, I [would] like drive to the beach at like 11 at night on a Wednesday and be like, ‘What am I doing with my life, dude? Obviously, this guy wants to fire me.’ I was thinking, I got to just move to LA and just do acting and writing and, you know, if this is the only company in the world and whoever doesn’t like me that’s pretty much it… "

Nemeth further added:

"It was very quick. I, like, basically, suddenly moved to LA, I didn’t have even somewhere to live. I think I went there with my car and like a few laundry baskets of clothes and just thought like, I have some friends there, I’ll figure it out and I did, you know.” [H/T: PWMania]

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The former WWE star revealed a special clause in his AEW contract

Former WWE star Ryan Nemeth disclosed that he had a special clause in his contract with AEW. Nemeth revealed that he would not be penalized for his absence to pursue his acting career:

"So I'm not really picking one thing and I never will and no one has ever made me. Every AEW contract I've ever signed, I had put in there that I cannot be penalized or punished in any way for booking an acting job and going. They were... it was very cool, so I always appreciated that. I was like, 'Hey, it's literally my name, Hollywood Hunk. So, I have to go act sometimes.'"

Ryan also revealed that he missed only two AEW shows due to his acting career. Only time will tell what the future holds for him.