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EXCLUSIVE: Nic Nemeth Previews 60-Minute Iron Match, TNA Vibes, Being A Leader

Nic Nemeth is having a 2024 to remember.

Steven Muelhausen

TNA Wrestling

Leaving your comfort zone and going into the unknown can be a traumatic experience, especially in the world of professional wrestling.

For Nic Nemeth, all he knew for 19 years was the WWE. His exit came in September when the former WWE World Heavyweight champion got released.

How would Nemeth react jumping into a whole new universe when the calendar turned to 2024?

The 44-year-old jumped into the ocean with two feet in and hasn't looked back, debuting for TNA at the end of January's Hard To Kill and attacking then-heavyweight titleholder Moose. He's captured gold in New Japan Pro Wrestling and AAA.

Nemeth achieved the biggest moment in July, winning a six-way match in the main event of Slammiversary to become the TNA World Champion.

Now, he's the hunted and the journey of being on top of the mountain starts Friday when Nemeth puts the gold at stake against former heavyweight title holder Josh Alexander in a 60-minute Iron Match match at TNA Emergence.

(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

The Takedown: You went to New Japan and won the IWGP Global Title. You went to AAA and became Mega Heavyweight Champion. Currently, you are the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Has 2024 exceeded your expectations after departing WWE?

Nic Nemeth: It really depends. No matter what, if I was 22 or 42, I don’t go, ‘Hey, my year is great because I held these titles’. 

But the fact that with most of them, I’ve been able to defend them without any strings attached and being able to go and bounce in between companies because I just got out of a long-term relationship. I just did 19 years in a row. I didn’t want to settle down somewhere. But because of how wrestling has been the last few years, you can go back and forth between a few companies at different times. I’m happy. 

The Takedown: You have been in the ring twice against Josh Alexander, once in a singles match. What do you make of him?

NN: When I started watching wrestling again because I used to hate watching myself, I started studying the independents and seeing what other champions are doing. I didn’t realize that not only is Alexander a buzzsaw, his thing is doing Iron Man matches. I’m coming out of the last two, three, and four years of my career in New York, where I was doing a couple minutes every night and not getting that 30-40 minutes at a live event. You can do all the training you want, and yes, I have been training seven days a week because the fans are paying my salary and deserve the best version of me. 

I’ve done as much as I could. I was kind of nervous because since leaving WWE, I’ve done some 30-minute, 45-minute matches, and that’s fine. But I wanted to make sure I could go with someone who is an absolute non-stop stamina champion like him who can keep going and grinding it out and hurt you. I live for this challenge. I live to do what I do best, and that’s steal the show.

The Takedown: Do you plan on studying previous Iron Man matches before bell time?

NN: No. But what I will do is study Josh Alexander matches. I will see if he takes a half-step back to catch his breath. Or step right when he’s setting up to grab that ankle. All those actual MMA strategy meetings that you would have a team. I do that on my own, no matter who the opponent is. 

I’m absolutely ready to go. Very nervous that I can pull this off. But most importantly, I want to represent the company well and beat Josh at his own game, and let everybody know we are off and f—g running TNA with me as their world champion. 

The Takeover: The company has been firing on all cylinders since the beginning of the year when they returned to the TNA name, and you made your debut at January’s Hard to Kill. Slammiversary sold out in Montreal at over 4,000 tickets, Bound For Glory is coming up in Michigan. Are you feeling the vibe that wrestling fans are feeling?

NN: You really can. There were times where in the past in New York when it wasn’t the best boom time, and maybe we had 1,100 people on a Sunday night. You know when you don’t have that buzz around you, and you just go, ‘Whoever is there is going to watch me steal the show, and hopefully, they come back next time.’

And there’s been ups and downs. Scott D’Amore was the one who recruited me. He was rabid about bringing me in. He finally talked me into it because I loved the infrastructure and all the pieces he set in place for TNA with long-term booking, long-term decision-making, and long-term growth, and made this company as a whole absolutely awesome.

And when he left, I felt like we all felt, just for a short time, around a month, unsure of what we were doing. Unsure if new management was going to take us in the right direction. And then, once that month started to go by slowly, it was painstakingly over. Then we realized we were on the right path, and 99 percent of those pieces were still in place of Scott’s legacy; now, let’s go to the future and keep moving on even more. Seeing that, you start to feel that, especially in Montreal, and you know it was sold out. Knowing that PCO was doing all that media and every one of us doing all we could and pulling together as a team. We feel that buzz, and we hope the fans do. And we are going to keep it going. 

The Takeover: As you’ve said, you were tied to one company for 19 years. Now, you are all over the world and currently the TNA world heavyweight champion. What does it mean to you on a personal and professional level to be the leader of the pack instead of, like you said, being a spoak on the proverbial wheel?

NN: Sometimes that’s the play. Sometimes, that’s what your career is. Sometimes, your dream was to just make it in professional wrestling and have that be your job, and sometimes, that’s ok. 

I was never ok with that because we are all a little selfish. Everybody should want to be a world champion and lead their company. But you have to be able to back it up. I love that almost always, I’m in the conversation about leading the pack, whether I’m the champion or not. Everyone should feel that way in wanting to be the champion. 

 MORE: Nic Nemeth or Joe Hendry: Did TNA Make the Right Choice?

 

 

 

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Steven Muelhausen

STEVEN MUELHAUSEN

: Steven Muehlhausen is a veteran combat sports writer for various outlets including Sporting News and Yahoo Sports. He can be reached at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @SMuehlhausenJr.

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