Was Nic Nemeth ever close to signing with AEW?
The former TNA World Champion just conducted an interview with Chris Van Vliet and talked about signing with TNA and the topic of AEW came up. Now Nemeth worked with WWE for 19 years, so he wasn’t looking to jump into a new company for the long haul. To the surprise of many, Nemeth ended up signing with TNA thanks to Scott D’Amore; however, when asked if he was even close to signing with AEW, he gave a straight answer to the question.
"I wasn't. I love so many people there. I've had a couple of conversations with Tony in the past, and I rooted for those guys every step of the way. AEW being a thing helped a bunch of people out, worst-case scenario, with negotiating and setting up their career for years down the line. I go if this ends in two or three years, it helped a bunch of people out and put some other people on TV, and they're rocking and rolling and doing their thing.
I watched every Wednesday, because I have to talk about it on Thursday. And it's another one where I gotta watch wrestling. It's like kind of a joke, but I've like come to learn all the people on the show and watching what they do. If I could do all the stuff that everyone does, their top circle, the whole show, really, it has so many different moving parts and pieces to it that I don't know that I could, from my old style. I can adapt to anything, and I have been, and I even watched. The 2025 version of me still applies some different things that I wouldn't have done a few years ago.
But I don't know if in a 35-45 minute match, if it wasn't with me and Bryan Danielson or Jon Moxley, those guys where I know what they've done, and I can move around and do some things, but it's like, if it's remembering a sequence like I'm getting 30 guys in Contra every two minutes, I would be more vacant in the match, instead of like feeling the emotion and just remembering it. I go, I don't know how they do it, but when it comes to those pay-per-views, they blow the roof off, and it's incredible."
Ultimately, Nic felt that he could really help TNA in the long run. He eventually fell in love with the place because of the locker room, but he wanted to do what his hero Kurt did.
"And I just really thought with TNA, I go, I will never, ever be Kurt Angle. He's just my hero, but I know that he did something special with going to TNA and I go, maybe, just maybe, this guy that a bunch of people, most people, seem to respect and have been waiting to see what I can do, maybe me showing up here and being involved could be another spark that does something, because they're already getting talked about and making some moves, and they've been a insane brand for years. But I go, maybe, just maybe, me being there makes this a bigger and better place by 1%. Then falling in love with the locker room and everyone behind the scenes, I just go, this is the fit.
I wasn't going to go anywhere. I didn't want to. A couple dates for somebody and a couple dates at AEW, 100% I would have done that. But I just go I need to travel the world and be able to sleep at night knowing that I can go, because I talked this sh*t for 15 years. No one's better, no one can follow me. Sorry about the booking, but that's not my call.
And it's like, now it's like, back it up or don't. And I had to, and I would have gone almost anywhere for a few dates just to check it out, but TNA was the fit. I would have watched their progression from the outside if I wasn't there, but I'm rooting for all those guys and girls."
Nemeth then recounts how he got pulled into TNA in the first place.
"I didn't want to sign anywhere because I just got out of a long-term relationship, and I didn't want to get out of a 20-year marriage and go right down to being engaged like six months later. So I really go I need to be able to have the freedom that I could go to Mexico, I could go to Japan, I could go to Germany, I could go anywhere, and then not have to be like, well, it has to be based on someone else's schedule.
And Scott D'Amore was begging me. He's like, three years, two years, six months. And I mean this in a very positive way. He goes, 'Dude, you're gonna love it here. Wait until you see the locker room.' You would be a huge piece here. And, I mean begging. 'Give me something about where you're related to this company that we can use, and it'll help you and help them.' He started having a couple of people text me. He had Roode text me, which is pretty great. Well, we're buddies, but it was just like him texting me out of the group chat like, something important is happening.
It was really funny and I was like, All right, I'll give it a shot. I go eight dates, so that way I can still travel the world and go test myself. And one day in, it's not even fake, it's real. I'm like, Oh, this locker room kicks ass. Everybody is open to creative ideas and they're really looking for some little spark just to keep rocking and rolling along the way."
Nemeth and Chris eventually go back to talking about WWE and the TNA star was asked about his level of interest in returning to the company. He was definitely open to returning for a high profile match, but if it involved NXT then he wasn’t interested.
Check out the full interview with Chris Van Vliet where he goes deeper into his connection with TNA, his WWE release, and a possible Hall of Fame induction.