Nic Nemeth didn't want to sign a new contract after getting released from WWE.
Nemeth is currently sitting on top of the mountain in TNA, as he won the TNA World Championship at the promotion's Slammiversary event in July.
Nemeth's biggest test yet will come at TNA Emergence, as he will defend the title against Josh Alexander in a 60 Minute Iron Man match. In recent years, Alexander has competed in hour-long matches against stars like Mike Bailey and TJP.
While speaking to Fightful for a new interview, Nemeth talked about how he didn't want to go to any company after being released by WWE.
"Yeah, first and foremost, I didn't want to go anywhere. I was very, very lucky. Again I don't know how the outside world works other than getting it through friends who are on the independents, friends in different companies, and you have an idea but you don't truly know. My last day in New York, I didn't know if my phone was never going to ring again or you get a couple of handful of people like, ‘Hey, congrats or good luck or you want to do this one show in six months.’ Legitimately, my phone got so many messages, it got so hot, it shut down, I couldn't send a text for about six or seven hours. I go—this is not a brag—I go, ‘Wow, okay.’ But a lot of it was like, ‘Hey, hell of a run, blah, blah, blah, blah, what a run,’ bullshit that you say to people. But like a ton of it was, ‘How do we get you here right now?’ I said, ‘Guys, it's a bit out of my standard. Like I'm just getting out of a relationship, a long-term 19 year relationship. I'm not looking to get engaged right now and sign a three year deal somewhere or a five year deal or even one year.’ I said, ‘What I want to do is the reason I asked to leave was 100% like, I'm getting paid a shitload of money to sit on the bench and occasionally break the glass and you have a big match or in case of emergency if somebody's hurt.’"
Nemeth then went on to talk about how he felt like he had a certain window of time to capitalize on his buzz.
"But you only have a certain window. I might be able to do this until I'm 60, but you only have a certain window where it's relatable and believable and like this guy can be champion at any company right now and you can't do that. If I waited another year and a half and then started to do it like, maybe things aren't gonna work out. I go, ‘What are the chances I can get in the ring with Tanahashi before my career's over?’ Never, I'm gonna be in WWE forever and I got it. I got to bounce around and do some things."
Scott D'Amore played a big role in bringing Nemeth to TNA, as he originally got the 'Wanted Man' to agree to a deal with ten dates.
"Then I'll never forget, Scott D'Amore was like, ‘We want you here.’ I go, ‘Listen, I appreciate that. I can't do it.’ He goes, Here's what we got in the background. Here's the long-term storytelling. Here's all the bits and pieces. Here are the people behind the scenes. The locker room's so good.’ All these people from the locker room are texting me. I go, ‘I love it so much, I don't want to be tied down. Like, what if I'm not helping you guys? Or what if I hate it? Or it doesn't work out? I don't want to sign a three year deal.’ He goes, ‘How about a year?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then how about 10 dates?’ I go, ‘Alright, that I can do. Let's do 10 dates and if you don't think I'm worth it, cut me out. Or if I say this sucks, I can't, I don't like this company.’ I love it so much. Everybody's great. In a world where every locker room is pretty friggin’ awesome and hard working. Like there's no wrestling locker room where people are like, ‘Oh nobody works hard here.’ It's every place you go is like these guys are busting their ass to make something special happen. That is the exact same case with TNA. The infrastructure behind the scenes is really awesome. I love Gale Kim. I love Tommy. But like not even because I'm saying because I worked there. I actually know them and like them a lot. I go, ‘Okay, and there's some of the people who get it.’"
Nemeth finished off by talking about how he wants to give his all to the company and how he plans on continuing to help the company climb the ranks of the wrestling world.
"I go, ‘Man, the storytelling and the bits and pieces and the behind the scenes work,’ and they go, ‘We're basically building this up from the ground again.’ I go, ‘Put me on every possible media thing. If you need me to fly in three or four days early to do something, I will do it, absolutely. Because I wanna go all in and make this count as much as possible.’ So go, ‘That's the case.’ That's always been the case and I keep re-upping for long-term. I'm not going to like sneak out of here or like take off with the title or like leave them hanging. I want to see how far I can go and help this company while they are kicking ass and on the upward slope."
Fans can check out Fightful's full interview with Nic Nemeth in the video linked at the top of this article.
As previously mentioned, Nemeth is set to defend his TNA World Championship against Josh Alexander at TNA Emergence on Friday, August 30. Fans can check out the show on TNA+.
