Yardbarker
x

Tonight Saturday, April 20th TNA Wrestling presents Rebellion 2024. The matches for Rebellion are pretty good but the one everyone is looking forward to is the main event. In the main event, it will be TNA World Champion Moose defending against challenger Nic Nemeth

Before we look at the challenger and why the “Wanted Man” Nic Nemeth should win the championship let’s take a brief history of the champion, Moose.

TNA World Champion Moose

Moose has been the current TNA World Champion for 83 + days. He won the championship when the brand switched from IMPACT Championship back to TNA from TNA Legend Alex Shelley. Moose is a two-time TNA World Champion and a 1 time inaugural TNA World Heavyweight Champion back in 2020.

He is also a two-time Impact Grand Champion and the 2015 Rookie of the Year. This superstar caught on to wrestling quickly as he began his professional wrestling training in 2012 at 28 years old.

Before that, he was an offensive tackle/guard in the NFL where he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons. He would also go on to play for the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, and the St. Louis Rams. After his second stint with the Rams, Moose would begin his wrestling career.

He would compete in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling before making TNA his permanent Wrestling promotion in 2016. He is currently the face of the newly reinstated TNA brand as the TNA World Champion.

Moose is also in a faction named The System alongside Alisha Edwards and the TNA World Tag Team Champions, Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers. Now let’s get started on why Nic Nemeth Deserves to be a World Champion.

#1 Nic Nemeth’s Career Speaks for Itself

Nic Nemeth has made a name for himself in the WWE under the name Dolph Ziggler. As Dolph Ziggler, he is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion, one-time NXT Champion, a six-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time United States Champion, and the 2012 Money In the Bank winner.

As a tag team competitor, he was also fairly accomplished. Ziggler is a two-time Raw Tag Team Champion.

One alongside Robert Roode and the other with Drew McIntyre. Ziggler also won the Smackdown Tag Team Championships with Robert Roode. Even a part of a joke of a group called Spirit Squad, Ziggler under the name Nicky won the World Tag Team Championships.

He is the 22nd triple crown champion, won most underrated wrestler of 2011 and most improved, wrestler of the year in 2014, and out of 500 wrestlers was ranked 9th in 2013.

As Dolph Ziggler, Nemeth was quite successful and was a part of one of the best Survivor Series Matches of all time. In 2014 Ziggler had one of the best survivor series showings of all time.

He was the last man standing in his group where he would eliminate four of the five opponents by himself with a little help from Sting who made sure Triple H did not get involved. Ziggler had a successful WWE career but that’s not the only reason why he deserves the World Championship.

#2 His Loyalty Is Unmatched

Nic Nemeth was in the WWE for about 19 years from 2004 to 2023. As talented as Nemeth is he was never supposed to shine in WWE. The WWE had him dress up as a cheerleader as a member of the Spirit Squad for the start of his career, that’s not exactly reassuring.

Then he would be a jobber for a bit even losing his first match on Raw to Batista. Slowly but surely Ziggler went up the ranks as a mid-carder.

That’s when the WWE Universe got behind Ziggler in his ShowOff role. When Ziggler won the Money In the Bank the fans were still behind him. He even had the second-best cash-in of all time. The cash-in was on Raw when he cashed in on Alberto Del Rio.

That match was unique because Del Rio was the face and Ziggler the heel but because of the crowd reactions Ziggler came out as the face and Del Rio as the heel.

However, WWE quickly put a stop to his momentum. He was later put in storylines with Lana and Rusev, one of the worst storylines of all time. Ziggler was also used to put over other talents so he would lose a lot.

Even after Survivor Series and The Authority Feud where Ziggler was the hottest star at the moment, WWE did nothing meaningful with him. Instead, he was stuck as a mid-carder. The last bit of success was when they sent him down to NXT to work with the younger talent.

He Could Be Loyal To TNA

All those years Ziggler to the eyes of everyone except the WWE was main event caliber, but sadly WWE never saw him as such. Nic Nemeth would stay loyal to WWE to the end until WWE fired him for budget cuts in September of 2023. 

We know Nic Nemeth is loyal through and through. Sticking with a company even though they saw no potential in him. 

If TNA pulls the trigger on Nemeth as TNA World Champion, that faith would be rewarded. Nemeth has stated that he is riding with TNA for as long as he can still go. If they push him to the moon, Nemeth will reward them with more loyalty. For now, he is going back and forth between TNA and NJPW.

#3 Nic Nemeth is Not Getting Any Younger

Nic Nemeth is 43 years old. He has a few years left at best. If he is lucky he could wrestle all the way to 50 or past. He is still in good shape. It’s also not like the current champion is super young either, Moose is 39 years old. This is the perfect opportunity to give the championship to Nemeth.

Have him with the belt for at least a year and see him thrive as a dominant champion. It’s either that or risk Nemeth getting a career-ending injury before he succeeds and at his age it’s possible. With the fans behind him, it’s the perfect time for a new champion.

#4 Nic Nemeth is the Full Package

Nemeth has all the makings of a main event talent. He is athletic, amateur wrestling background, he’s good on the mic, and he can play heel or face. He has the looks of a star and a style that he has perfected. Nemeth is a safe worker and he’s fun to watch in the ring.

Nemeth can make anyone he is in the ring with look incredible and on top of that he is one of the safest wrestlers ever. His peers, the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton, have all said he is one of the greatest wrestlers they have gone against. The best part is Ziggler can make everything he does believable.

He has that underdog aura as a face and that obnoxious showoff character you love to hate as a heel.

#5 Ziggler beats the System

It is only fitting for Nic Nemeth to beat a group called The System. Moose has stated that Nic as Ziggler has never been able to beat the System in this case WWE.

How fitting is it for Nemeth to win a World Championship by beating the System metaphorically? Fans want to see Nic Nemeth succeed he deserves it after all these years. But what would happen storewise if he does win?

TNA Can Make The Storyline Interesting Either Way

If Nic Nemeth wins TNA can choose to spin it either way they choose. Nemeth beats Moose and remains a face could be option one. He becomes the face of TNA and holds the championship for a very long time cleanly and without help.

A face Ziggler could continue the System storyline against Eddie Edwards, Moose, and Brian Murphy with each getting a title shot. They could even have him face people like HammerStone, Mustafa Ali, and Steve Maclin just to name a few.

Or they could turn Nic Nemeth heel as he wins the championship. Remember Nemeth said when he arrived at TNA that he did not want to win the title right away. He said he wanted to earn it yet here not even 5 months into his TNA career. He said he would beat Moose cleanly and what if he does not? 

What if he cheats then TNA can repackage Nemeth into a hypocritical heel who believes he is still a good guy. The matches against Josh Alexander, Ace Austin, Chris Bey, and Kushida would be incredible storylines too.

Nic Nemeth TNA World Champion Make It Happen

Heel or Face Nic Nemeth would pull it off. We can’t have Nic Nemeth lose in his first TNA World Championship match, that would be WWE all over again. TNA needs to push Nic Nemeth to let him have the credibility of a worthy main venter.

Nic Nemeth would be an entertaining champion and he is just the star to help TNA to start competing with WWE and AEW. Nemeth is also the current IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion so having him with two major championships will elevate Nemeth’s legacy even further.

If Nemeth wins the World Championship then maybe WWE can realize that they had a main event status wrestler. At 43 Nemeth is still competing at a high level and the wrestling community has long awaited this moment, when Nic Nemeth becomes a World Champion one more time.

This article first appeared on Last Word On Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.