Last night, NJPW presented Wrestle Kingdom 18, the first installment of the show in five years to be held on a single night and not across two. The big event was capped off by a pair of main events, the first of which featured Kazuchika Okada picking up a hard-fought victory over Bryan Danielson. The second and final match of the night saw Tetsuya Naito capture the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time ever. Elsewhere on the card, a big free agent making his presence felt caught the attention of many glued to their screens: Nic Nemeth.
Nemeth, formally Dolph Ziggler in WWE, was flanked by his brother, Ryan, who is currently signed to AEW. The two sat ringside for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship match, which saw David Finaly successfully defend against Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley. Following the contest, Finlay got into the face of Nic, and the two began throwing blows. Security guards and agents quickly stepped in to separate the two.
After the match, Finlay was engaged in a post-show press conference when, out of nowhere, Nic entered the room and leaped across the table to attack him. The two men were eventually separated, and Nic was left alone on stage, holding the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
“Professional wrestling is about honor and believing in yourself and something bigger than you, something bigger than you, a championship,” he forcefully spoke. “Which means you, you are the one with the strap, the entire company in the world on your back. This, this title, this brand new championship. This Global Championship means more to me, and I’ve never even been here.
“You want to be a champion? You want to be a leader? You stand up for it. You stand up for what’s right, and you do the damn thing. And you set an example for the rest of the damn world. You want to be the best; you back it up. And if you’re not, I’m gonna stomp on your ass and take this championship to the top where it belongs.”
Nic and Ryan’s wild twenty-four hours did not stop there. Shortly after Wrestle Kingdom wrapped, Ryan uploaded a video to his YouTube channel titled “Wanted Man.” It features Nic as a convict who finds himself having to battle zombies. The end of the short film features a song titled “Wanted Man” by Downstait, who has done other pro wrestler theme songs, like “Kingdom” for Cody Rhodes, and appears to be Nic’s new theme song.
The video is very well done, and we don’t want to spoil it, so you can check it out below.