Most of you will likely know Ryan Nemeth best for being the brother of former WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler. However, he's making headlines after Fightful Select learned of a complaint he sent to several AEW executives this past September.
In that, Nemeth is said to have "outlined a timeline of events" claiming he was mistreated by fired AEW star - and current WWE Superstar - CM Punk.
The report explains that he first expressed concerns about potential issues with Punk to AEW lawyer Megha Parekh last April; two months later, they had a run-in after Nemeth referred to the Second City Saint as the "softest man alive" on social media. During that locker room confrontation, Nemeth says Punk threatened him.
Despite receiving assurances from Parekh, Tony Schiavone, and Matt & Nick Jackson that his employment wouldn't be affected by these issues, Nemeth wasn't booked for the next two months. In July, that prompted him to express concerns to Parekh that he was being "silently fired."
Revealing that he received support from Jon Moxley, Nemeth was added to an AEW Collision taping in August, only to be sent home by Punk because he reportedly held a previously undisclosed "Executive/Producer/Manager" while overseeing that show's creative.
Later that month, Nemeth says he was told to cut a promo that would "verbally antagonize" Punk on AEW Dynamite. This was in the build-up to AEW All In in Wembley Stadium, London, where a backstage altercation with Jack Perry would lead to the Best in the World being fired.
Due to his previous complaints, Nemeth was part of the investigation that followed and, after last competing in AEW in November 2023, he was quietly let go when his contract expired this March. Nemeth believes his decision to speak out forced AEW President Tony Khan to fire Punk and that he's being blamed for the embarrassment that followed.
He also alleges that he was asked to sign a big-money NDA, only for the offer to be reminded when he started asking questions.
Honestly, this all sounds like a bit of a conspiracy theory and many fans on social media have argued that Nemeth is simply looking for someone to blame after he was essentially fired by AEW. In this instance, that's Punk.
Somewhat overshadowing his claims are recent remarks from current NXT Champion Trick Williams. "He’s a good guy, man, like for real, for real," he recently said of CM Punk. "I hadn’t met him before he actually came back to WWE, and I didn’t really have expectations."
"But all I can say is, since meeting him, man, he’s gotta be one of my top three favorite people in the business. Like, he’s that good of a guy."
Neither AEW nor Punk have responded to Nemeth's claims.