20-year veteran reveals backstage struggles impacted his WWE push

Former WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler (now Nic Nemeth) recently revealed that backstage friction hurt his chances of becoming a big star in the Stamford-based promotion under Vince McMahon's regime.

Nemeth bagged several championships in the Stamford-based promotion during his tenure from 2004 to 2023. He has appeared on the independent circuit, TNA Wrestling, and NJPW, holding the IWGP Global Championship in his first reign.

During an appearance on Keepin' It 100, wrestling veteran Konnan asked Nic Nemeth if backstage complications derailed his momentum in WWE back in the day.

"Absolutely, yeah! No one would tell me, and it's the usual couple of things: one, out of context, sure, somebody, some people, or a group. whatever an idea. But also, it's showbiz, and if they [WWE] don't want to go with you, they can make a better excuse; they can find an excuse; they have an excuse; there could be legitimate ones; and it's out of your hands at some point," he said.

According to The Showoff, his main event appearances in WWE were more like "emergency" duty, and he wasn't the first pick.

"So you keep fighting and hope, okay, 'If five more people get sick, they are going to shove me in here,' and then this time at this world title match, they're gonna have to say I'm the go-to guy, but that wasn't the case. It was always like a 'Break Glass in case of emergency and put him in the world title match in the last minute,'" Ziggler continued. [2:12 - 2:50]

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Nic Nemeth on why he didn't sign with WWE's rival promotion

After leaving WWE, many fans imagined that Ziggler would sign a deal with Tony Khan's promotion, AEW.

During the same conversation with Konnan, the 43-year-old star revealed he had spoken to AEW, but didn't lock down with them because of his options in free agency.

"In the past, some [talks], but I had a plan that I’ve been working on for probably the last year and a half. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I appreciate that several companies reached out immediately. I [said] I have this one plan; I want to do this on my own, and even so, Scott D’Amore was so insistent because the locker room was so strong, and somebody in the locker room of TNA reached out, and I go, 'Man, you guys are really making this hard!'" said Nic Nemeth.

The former WWE star will compete in AAA's marquee Triplemania XXXII event in Monterrey, Mexico on April 27, 2024. Nemeth will lock horns with Alberto El Patron (Alberto Del Rio) for the AAA Mega Championship.