Former WWE Superstar interested in surprise Royal Rumble appearance

A former WWE Superstar expressed his interest in possibly appearing in the 2025 Royal Rumble match. Nic Nemeth, more famously known as Dolph Ziggler, has been wrestling for TNA Wrestling among other promotions since getting released last September.

Nemeth was with WWE for 19 years, starting his tenure at Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2004. He was originally called up as part of the Spirit Squad named Nicky before re-debuting as Ziggler in 2008. He is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion, one-time NXT Champion, six-time Intercontinental Champion, and two-time United States Champion.

The Showoff was released several days following the official founding of TKO Group on September 12, 2023. He has been performing in TNA Wrestling, as well as New Japan Pro-Wrestling and AAA in Mexico.

With TNA Wrestling's recent collaboration with NXT, it might be possible for Nemeth to return even for one night at the 2025 Royal Rumble. He told the Daily Star over the weekend that he's open to a surprise appearance.

"A Rumble spot? Dude, that's so cool. WWE's killing it right now. To do something fun and wear my old trunks, get the old music to play, come out there and kick somebody in the face, that would be awesome. But the most important thing, it would just be creating a viral moment, so I could talk about TNA. That's the only reason I'd want to do it. It'd be cool to see some old friends," Nemeth said. [18:54 - 19:16]

The 2025 Royal Rumble is scheduled on February 1 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. If Nic Nemeth appears in the match, he'll join Mickie James and Jordynne Grace as TNA champions to participate in the Royal Rumble.

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Nic Nemeth had a year and a half left on his deal when WWE released him

In the same interview with the Daily Star, Nic Nemeth revealed that he requested his release from WWE. Nemeth explained that he still had a year and a half left on his deal, but wanted to explore wrestling outside the company and become a world champion somewhere else.

"I go, 'I don’t know how much longer I’m a believable world champion for any other company. I might have five more years, I might have two, I might have ten, I don’t know. But sitting here collecting a paycheck and working for five minutes a week is not helping WWE, and it sure as hell isn’t helping me,'" Nemeth said. [9:30 - 9:48]

Since his release, Nic Nemeth has won the AAA Mega Championship in Mexico, the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship in Japan, and the WSW World Heavyweight Championship in Australia. He's also the current TNA World Champion.