"I asked to leave" – Released star is not looking to return to WWE like Drew McIntyre (Exclusive)

Drew McIntyre returned to WWE in 2017 after a three-year absence and went on to become a two-time world champion. In an exclusive interview, Nic Nemeth explained why he does not have the same goal his former tag team partner had following his WWE departure.

Nemeth, formerly known in WWE as Dolph Ziggler, was granted his release from the company in September 2023. The 43-year-old worked for WWE for almost two decades, cementing his status as one of the world's best wrestlers during that time.

Speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta, Nemeth addressed whether he would like to return like McIntyre one day:

"I don't have [thoughts] like, 'I gotta get back to WWE.' I asked to leave, and I wanna do a second half of my career where I do everything else but WWE because I've done it. I've been there. I wanna see what I can do on my own. It's like a Twilight Zone episode where the guy's at like the top of a company and he's got all the gold in the world. He goes, 'I wanna go back in time and I wanna redo it and do it all again from day one, put all the hard work in, and prove to everyone that I can do this again.' We're all gonna find out here, am I all show no go? Am I a phony that's been sitting around? No, I'm gonna steal the show every damn night." [7:24 – 7:59]

In the video above, Nemeth elaborated on the exact reason why he asked for his release.

---

Nic Nemeth details his busy WWE schedule

While some superstars only work part-time or take months off due to injuries, Nic Nemeth wrestled full-time for almost his entire 19-year WWE career.

Looking back, the former World Heavyweight Champion only remembers missing three weeks of work over the last two decades:

"I mean, I did 20 years there, man," Nemeth said. "A bunch of people did three or four and, by the way, three or four sometimes, or a couple here and there. I mean, Shawn [Michaels] took four years off and people get hurt. I did 19 and a half years and I likely missed about three weeks of work. And by three weeks I mean three Mondays. Not 21 days. Three weeks and one of them was debateable." [6:39 – 7:02]

Nemeth has appeared in several promotions in recent weeks, including GCW, NJPW, TNA, and WWC. He added that no other wrestlers can lay claim to having a busier schedule than him since his in-ring career began:

"Nobody has that," Nemeth continued. "Nobody in the world of professional wrestling. No one that's gone to different companies. No one that if you don't count their breaks. Nobody in the entire world of any sport or any human being has ever done that ever, and I dare somebody to find somebody who could because you can't! Whoever's second to me is not even close by a million." [7:03 – 7:23]

The Showoff also opened up about the backstage conversation that took place before his SummerSlam 2019 match against Goldberg.

What would you like to see next from Nic Nemeth? Let us know in the comments section below.

---

Please credit Sportskeeda WrestleBinge and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.