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Nic Nemeth is excited for the chance to renew his rivalry with Matt Cardona. This time, however, they are doing it with a bigger spotlight on television.
Nemeth spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard to promote his new Nemeth Bros podcast. Nemeth mentioned the ‘yin and yang’ relationship he shares with his brother, Ryan, which prompted a look back in time at one of the other ‘yin and yang’ in his life.
Matt Cardona (then Zack Ryder in WWE) and Dolph Ziggler (Nemeth) tried to use the former’s successful YouTube channel as a platform to build a feud. They wanted to have the feud culminate with a match at WrestleMania 29, and both put a lot of effort into it. Ziggler “hacked” into the show, and Ryder spent a large amount of money on ‘ZR vs. DZ’ stickers to generate hype since they were doing it without the aid of WWE TV.
The match didn’t ultimately happen at WrestleMania, and both men have since left the company. Nic Nemeth is the current TNA World Heavyweight Champion and Cardona has built his own empire as the ‘Indie God.’ Now, they will have their first singles match in nearly 12 years at TNA’s TV tapings in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Nic Nemeth on resuming the DZ vs. ZR feud
“No one can say enough positive things about Cardona and what he’s doing,” Nemeth said. “Ten years ago, twelve years ago, whatever it was, he came up with an internet show. He was trying to get over, which was part of his show. He was trying to do everything, throwing things at a wall, everything you can imagine. And that is something that makes me gravitate towards being his friend because we are very much opposites. He collects toys and acts like a giant child. I act like I am 65 years old and I don’t collect a damn thing. There’s no paintings on my walls, whatever. But we are very different and we ended up traveling together.”
Nemeth says he gravitated towards Cardona and names like John Morrison/Nitro and The Miz because of their work ethic. They all tried to go above and beyond to create something on their own to try and be a bigger factor in WWE. Nemeth pointed to the importance of the Zack Ryder YouTube channel as evidence of that, explaining how they planned their social media feud out.
“He went above and beyond”
“[Zack] Ryder was so important to WWE’s YouTube. The YouTube channel came into a deal with WWE and the cornerstone of the plan was, ‘We need Zack Ryder’s YouTube show or there is no WWE YouTube deal.’ Can you imagine? I couldn’t imagine hearing that about The Rock. Let alone, ‘It’s Zack Ryder’s show or there is no deal.’ And what a crazy thing. So he went above and beyond,” Nemeth explained. “Things like that made him stand out.”
“And we said, ‘Listen. We are not going to be at the moment huge players on TV. And some weeks we are not even on. But if we can continue this, I’ll hack into your show, we’ll do a thing. We’ll flip some video things. Even if I live 20 states away, we can make it seem like I was there. We can do all these different things.’ And that was getting the creative juices flowing,” Nemeth said.
This was just supposed to be my comeback from injury video, but it’s so much more than that…It’s my career video…My LIFE video.
The office has counted me out. The fans have counted me out. I’ve even counted myself out! But I always come back. It’s not over until I quit…and… pic.twitter.com/mxD5RB3PQP
“Broski went all in”
Nic Nemeth didn’t love what he was doing on WWE TV at the time, and Ryder was starting to get over in a big way with fans. “The Rock even acknowledged it,” Nemeth pointed out. “That’s a huge deal.” It might have started as an homage to John Cena and The Rock’s year-long feud, but it was not treated as a joke by Cardona.
“Broski went all in again. I’m cutting into his videos and making a couple funny clips. He went ahead and bought $20,000 worth of stickers and he was going to drop ‘em into the air of New York,” he continued. But the idea was constantly throwing things out there and having it work.
“Right now, he is the guy on the independent scene. I’m sure there is a few [others], but he is a guy that does not need a machine behind him. He is the machine behind himself. He’s better off not being at any of the companies right now. If he feels like it, if he can help them out, down the line, absolutely,” Nemeth said. “When it comes to TNA, I love seeing him. Because I know he’s not just going to show up and do his work. He’s going to make some video that leads up to it and then all of these things afterward. He’s always going. I respect that about him so much. And I hate his guts, so it’s funny that we get to have this match, all these years in the making.”
TNA is crushing it and having fun
Nemeth pointed out that they have shared the ring in recent years, but it was always a tag match or battle royal scenario. Now, he hopes the match will get the time it deserves and shared his excitement about going to work again in TNA.
“TNA has given me a lot of rope to where I get a lot of time for my matches. I get a lot of special things to go down, I get [that consideration]. In the old days when its like, ‘Hey you got three minutes, then a commercial break and then two minutes and no entrance. Okay, go.’ ‘Ah! That sucks.’ You get to a point now, it’s like, ‘We can give you 28 or 34.’ ‘Dammit. I will use every second of that. Give it to me.’ So, I really appreciate TNA giving me the ball while also trying to snatch it from him and keep it and run with it. So, we are going to have something special.”
“Everybody is excited to go to work, that’s not always the case everywhere”
Nemeth joked that Cardona might even show up in Spartanburg with those yin and yang logos on his trunks. Either way, he feels lucky to represent TNA as its champion.
“I can’t wait to see what he walks in with. I’m sure he’s gonna have some special gear. He might even have those yin and yang stickers on it or something. Because he’s always ready one way or another to go. And I look forward to that very much. First of all, TNA is absolutely killing it right now. I’m very lucky to be a part of it. But I believe I am helping as the champ. Constantly doing media stuff. The Hardys are absolutely crushing it. Every time their music hits, the place erupts. Joe Hendry, going back and forth from NXT has everybody talking. Jordynne Grace doing things. Rosemary, everybody is excited to go to work. And that is not always the case everywhere. And we are really really at a great time right now. Crushing it and having fun. And that’s why it’s like, ‘Oh cool. Can’t wait to see what I’m doing at work. I’m fighting Matt? This is going to be the best.’ What a great weekend for me?”
TNA will be in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Sunday, September 29 and Monday, September 30 (rescheduled from Friday/Saturday due to Hurricane Helene).
Watch our full interview with Nic Nemeth below:
