In September 2023, WWE released Nic Nemeth, formerly known as Dolph Ziggler, in what was one of the most high-profile cuts of a wave of talent cuts. He had been with the company for nearly two decades, known for his iconic Money in the Bank cash-in in 2013 and his ability to consistently deliver in any setting, against any opponent, throughout his WWE career.
It seemed like the writing was on the wall for a while. WWE programming rarely featured Nemeth in 2023, and his role had been steadily decreasing in the years leading up to this. That means it was not surprising to see him included in the released group of talent in September, as most of those cut were not heavily featured on television.
During an interview with Busted Open Radio, Nemeth acknowledged that he recognized the need for change long before his release from WWE. As his time there came to an end, he actively sent emails indicating his readiness to leave (h/t Fightful for transcription).
I was prepared. For the last six, eight, ten months going, ‘At some point, I have to make a change here.’ As you get ready to go and see you don’t have a chance to be in a PPV match and steal the show. You don’t have a chance to have a six-minute match to steal the show. You have a match and it’s three minutes and you don’t get an entrance and everyone knows who is winning. Can I find a way to have that work? Once that started happening, even a couple of years ago when Roode [Bobby Roode] and I were tagging, I was thinking, ‘At some point, I have to be ready to go. Will my shape and stamina still be there?’ I have been preparing so long and getting things ready to go, it wasn’t ‘What? What do I do now? I’m free.’ I was planning for half of this entire last contract going, ‘I know at some point, I’m being paid way too much to sit at home so I’m gonna have to get out of here.’ I always wanted to be ready to go, just in case they said, ‘I know you’ve been doing 90-second matches, can you do 30 minutes with The Undertaker?’ You’re damn right I can. I was ready to go anyway, I just wanted to have every option available. It wasn’t out of the blue. I had sent emails to the boss over the last few months saying, ‘I have to move on to somewhere else, can you let me do this?’ Eventually, without exact back and forth, that’s how it worked out. It wasn’t weird because it was so six, eight, ten months in place going, ‘Here it comes.’ Now, I have 90 days sitting around, which broke my heart, but I just got extra workouts.
After his 90 days were up, Nemeth jumped into NJPW and debuted at Wrestle Kingdom 18. He confronted IWGP Global Champion David Finlay, which was a surreal sight seeing him on non-WWE programming, but if that was the beginning of anything, he’s here to show the world on a grander stage.