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Ryan Nemeth revealed all about his recent trip to New Japan Pro Wrestling with his brother Nic Nemeth.
The pair started teaming together when they joined TNA earlier this year. Nic and Ryan Nemeth unsuccessfully challenged for the TNA Tag Team titles at Against All Odds. Ryan also accompanied Nic to Wrestle Kingdom 18 earlier this year. Nic Nemeth debuted in NJPW that night, attacking David Finlay and setting up a match for the following month.
Ryan Nemeth spoke with WrestleZone‘s Bill Pritchard about the trip to Japan. Pritchard initially joked that Ryan’s shift from AEW to TNA was reminiscent of the plot of Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s season 9 premiere called “Foisted!” Ryan laughed and said it didn’t exactly go down like that, but his trip to Japan was sort of like that.
Ryan revealed how his brother invited him along, knowing that he knew more wrestlers in the promotion than he did. This entertained Jon Moxley, who joked that Ryan Nemeth just turns up wherever he wants and gets booked.
Ryan Nemeth on his NJPW appearance
“I went with Nick to accompany him. He was admittedly a little bit nervous to go over there. And he said, ‘You know, I don’t know a lot of guys from the roster and you do. It will be nice to have you, whether it is, what are they really saying, or introducing me to people.’ And I say. ‘Yeah sure. I’ll go to Japan. Why not?’ When we were there, I thought one of the funniest things was seeing Moxley just start laughing,” Ryan explained. “And he’s like, ‘Man you just show up anywhere, any show, and immediately, yup that’s fine.’”
Ryan gave some important context, as this wasn’t his first “random” encounter with Moxley. He recalled his first time visiting Dynamite, which was only supposed to be a backstage visit.
“I was just going to say happy birthday to Brodie’s son. I wasn’t there to wrestle. And then, magically I’m booked on Dynamite against Hangman. And I remember getting warmed up in the back and Moxley going, ‘So you are just on Dynamite tonight? In a giant match with one of our top guys?’ And I said, ‘Yup.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah that sounds about right. All right.’ And he laughed.
“We both had a little laugh. He likes to view me as someone who can show up anywhere. And whoever is in charge just goes, ‘Yeah that guy should be on there. Sure. Yeah.’ And I go, ‘Yup.’ So, when I saw him at Wrestle Kingdom and he goes, ‘so you are just going to be on the biggest pay-per-view of the year after never having been in this company ever?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And he goes, ‘That’s awesome. Of course you are.’”
Ryan wondered how it would all work
Ryan Nemeth wasn’t sure if he should have cleared his NJPW plans with AEW, joking that he worried that Bryan Danielson would be mad and fine him for it.
“And I thought, well the wrestling thing would be to just do it and then see if you get in trouble afterward. Following that, I remember the AEW creative team asking me, ‘So, what are their plans with you going further so we can match it?’ And I remember thinking, ‘You know… you’re my boss. Shouldn’t maybe it be the other way around?’ You never know how certain places work. You have to adapt and roll with it,” Ryan noted. “But that’s how that went down. I just happen to be there and the people in charge thought, ‘Well, this will be great.’ And I thought, ‘sure. It will. Yes.’”
Nic Nemeth Backed Up This Story
Bill Pritchard followed this up in a separate interview with Nic. The TNA World Champion corroborated the story, adding that he didn’t want to walk into the locker room and not know anybody there.
“It [was] just like, ‘Hey Ryan, I am going to do this secret trip to Japan before I start all my bookings anywhere else. No one knows about it. But also, I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. Want to come with me so I got someone to talk to? So I don’t walk into a locker room and don’t know anyone. I don’t know how this works.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, sure. I’ll come with you,’” Nic explained. “And of course, he gets there and they are like, ‘Yeah, yeah, you go out there with him and you will be a part of this thing.’ And he’s like, ‘Wait, what?’ “Yeah. Let’s go. Off and running.’”
Nic compared his brother to another popular character from a Larry David show, Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, who often “fell into” scenes like Ryan did here. Fans speculated that the Nemeths were foreshadowing a tag team run, but Nic says it was just a coincidence.
“We went out into the crowd watching Wrestle Kingdom a couple of matches early so no one would know what we were there for. And of course, it was like — it wasn’t supposed to be me and him, it was supposed to be just myself. But it’s two of us and the next match is a tag match. And the entire world let us know,” Nic explained. “[Fans speculated that we] already planted the seed. ‘Nemeth Bros, IWGP Tag Titles, they are doing this, here’s who their third feud will be…’
“I’m like, ‘Guys, we just… It was an accident. We timed it to where we were just going out two matches before so no one would think about it,’” Nic added. “And then Ryan wasn’t supposed to be involved. And all these pieces, it’s very Curb Your Enthusiasm-esque.”
Check out our full interview with Nic Nemeth below:
