Nic Nemeth (aka Dolph Ziggler) is considered one of the best wrestlers in the world.
The former WWE star proved that night in and night out throughout his 19-year in WWE. It’s a shame that WWE never really capitalized on the 45-year-old. Sure, Ziggler is a former World Heavyweight Champion, but that was a transitional run that didn’t really allow him to flex his muscles as a world champion.
Regardless of never being a proper world champion, many will put Nemeth as one of the best wrestlers of this generation. So how did he get so good? Well, the TNA star credits two veterans of the game and they currently work for AEW.
"Those two dudes, Christian and Cope, are two of the guys that I absolutely, other than Vince [McMahon], learned the most from," Nemeth said on Busted Open Radio. "Tommy [Dreamer], handful of other guys behind the scenes, Pat Patterson, but Christian and Cope taught me so much. Those guys are two of the smartest guys in this business, and you know why. They've lasted so long. Everyone cheers them. They're beloved."
Nemeth notably had a feud with Cope (aka Edge) in 2010 and briefly won the World Heavyweight Championship on a technicality. These two had great matches and it’s really the feud that many fans started to see Ziggler as a top world title contender.
Could Nemeth and Cope revisit their rivalry?
That would be a miracle. Nemeth is currently in TNA Wrestling and it’s doubtful that he’ll be heading into AEW anytime soon. Of course, this is professional wrestling so never say never. Meanwhile, Nemeth is doing his thing on the independent scene as he hasn’t wrestled for TNA in nearly a month.
Cope is scheduled for a tag team match this Sunday as he’ll team with Christian to take on Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian in a grudge match. Nemeth has spoken about the Edge & Christian reunion on Busted Open Radio as well and he felt that it was rushed.
“Forbidden Door, a little over a week away. I wonder now that we’re talking about it, is it a ‘Man, you know what would be a great moment for this Forbidden Door pay-per-view to get something going? Can we speed this up three months?'”
It was definitely rushed as Christian still has developed into a babyface that the fans can truly root. Nevertheless, the match at Forbidden Door should still be good even if the story beats are wonky going in.