Nic Nemeth Asked Several Times For His WWE Release

Nic Nemeth (FKA Dolph Ziggler) was released by WWE back in September, bringing his near 20-year stay with the company to a close.

If it had been up to the former World Heavyweight Champion, however, that run would have ended a lot sooner.

During a recent interview with New Japan Pro Wrestling, the 43-year-old said:

"I started realising, OK I'm a mainstay here, I'm needed. But I got to a point where I was ready to go. I'd asked the company a few different times whether I was ready to go, and they told me I was signed, and they weren't letting me go. So I started asking them, 'Hey, can I start doing this, can I start something else?'. So I was prepared to be done and to start exploring other avenues".

Continuing, Nemeth noted that he made a point to prepare for wherever he ended up post-WWE, saying:

"I spent the last six, eight months, a year, saying 'I'm going to be in the best shape of my life when all this goes down', and when it finally got to the point where I asked (WWE) enough and they gave me my release, then it became 'OK, well you asked for this for the last five years, you’d better deliver'. So, OK, I've got this, I'm doing this, I have insurance ready, I've been training in the ring, watching different things, and I'm ready to go. So let's go".

So far this year, Nemeth has wrestled for TNA, GCW and for WWC in Puerto Rico. He will make is New Japan debut when he challenges David Finlay for the IWGP Global Title on February 23.