Former “Show Off” Nic Nemeth was intent on facing “The Showstopper” during his WWE run.
One of Nic Nemeth’s highlight moments saw him successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Alberto Del Rio on the Raw after WrestleMania in 2013. This move ultimately led Nemeth (then Dolph Ziggler) to capture his second WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
The cash-in and title win is still one of the most shocking segments in WWE history. However, Nemeth shared another pitch for a cash-in during a Q&A session at the UK’s For The Love Of Wrestling, . Nemeth noted that one of his previous ideas would have taken him in a completely different direction.
“When I was originally the Money in the Bank holder, I pitched an idea that I could cash in — because I didn’t think they wanted me to be world champion. So I said, ‘What if I cash in this opportunity for a match with Shawn Michaels?’ I thought that would be kind of cool,” he said.
As a long-time fan of Michaels, Nemeth was more than happy to wrestle him in a one-on-one setting. Unfortunately, that never materialized, as Michaels was three years retired by that point.
Aside from Shawn Michaels, Nemeth mentioned that he would have also jumped at the opportunity to wrestle the 1989 version of Ric Flair and 1992 Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig).
Emulating ‘The Nature Boy’
Looking back on his wrestling fandom, which began at age five, Nemeth called Flair one of his earliest influences. Nemeth’s gravitation toward Flair can partially be attributed to his uncle, who shared much joy in watching The Four Horsemen.
“I had an uncle who loved The Four Horsemen and Ric Flair so much. And at five and six and eight years old, I was into Ric Flair and the Four Horseman,” Nemeth said. “I said ‘That’s how I want to do it. That’s the way to go, I think.’ I don’t think you’re supposed to get into it ’til you’re like 20, 30 years old like ‘Oh Ric Flair, that’s the man.’ [But] I was like ‘Yeah, okay, I can maybe pull off a suit and some sunglasses.'”
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