New Japan Pro Wrestling presented its signature event Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome, and similar to the staple of the Japanese calendar in recent years, the show finds the organization in somewhat of a state of flux. More specifically, the past several years saw many of the top NJPW stars recruited by either WWE, such as Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Balor, or AEW, as a core group of New Japan stars were taken to launch the All Elite project, with many others added since that time. The latest New Japan grappler to make the jump is Will Ospreay, who announced at Full Gear in November that he will finish up his current NJPW deal in March.
Make no mistake about it, New Japan made an incredible resurgence under the Bushiroad ownership after it was on the brink of collapse before founder, Antonio Inoki sold his shares of the organization, but every hot streak will eventually cool off. That’s not to say monumental mistakes were made, but rather that the natural dynamics of the industry bring peaks and valleys. Perhaps, the best way to manage those dynamics is to maximize the peaks and minimize the valleys. Still, we know that NJPW, like many organizations in Japan, lost money during the pandemic when they paid wrestler contracts, but couldn’t host live events to generate revenue because of attendance restrictions. Even outside of the COVID limitations of a few years ago, New Japan simply can’t compete with the money that can be offered by WWE or AEW.
Granted, it’s great when a talent wants to perform for the art of the industry, but the bottom line is, money often has to be the top priority for performers so that they can have a level of financial security after they hang up their boots, especially with how physical the Japanese style is. For a comparison, Jay White and now Ospreay were main event guys in NJPW so you’d assume that they made top money for a New Japan wrestler in that position, but both opted to ink a deal with Tony Khan for better money. Sure, New Japan runs a scaled-down version of American shows, which is a good strategy to have, but it’s still primarily a domestic organization, not a truly global product. That’s not a criticism, either since the NJPW style is very much tailored to the Japanese culture, but simply to point out that the organization wouldn’t necessarily translate to a global audience so it probably wouldn’t be worth the added expense for the company to attempt major expansion.
With that in mind, it becomes key that New Japan not only develops its roster, which it has to some degree over the course of the prior year, and bolster some star power as well. The working agreement with All Elite Wrestling opens the door for “guest stars” for showcase events, including Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson at the Tokyo Dome, but obviously, each organization has to focus on their best interest.
That’s why it was very interesting and somewhat surprising that Nic Nemeth, the former Dolph Ziggler, and his brother, Ryan Nemeth show up to take a seat at ringside after the Shingo Takagi/Tama Tonga bout at Wrestle Kingdom. The former WWE heavyweight champion probably isn’t going to make the trip to Japan just to watch the show when he could view the broadcast from his couch and definitely wouldn’t appear in front the live audience unless there were plans for him to work for the organization.
NIC NEMETH IS HERE AHHH LET’S GOOOO ??#njwk18 pic.twitter.com/af1neKM4IQ
— s e t h (@futurafreesky) January 4, 2024
The story of Dolph Ziggler is well-documented, he somehow survived the Spirit Squad gimmick that ruined a handful of careers before two concussions at the hands of Jack Swagger and Ryback within a calendar year hindered his championship runs more than a decade ago. Unfair or not, Ziggler was seemingly labeled as injury prone, and the company didn’t invest main event stock in him again. To be honest, you can’t necessarily blame management in that situation, considering that concussions were thought to have ended the careers of both Christian and Bryan Danielson at one point. Despite how tremendously talented he is, which is why the office kept him on the payroll in some form or fashion for almost two decades, there was a risk if they invested TV time and promotional dollars into Ziggler as a top guy because one more injury could’ve ended his career.
Despite the fact that he was typecast as a good utility worker, being used in a tag team with Drew McIntyre when the writing team didn’t have anything better for him or someone to make Bill Goldberg look good in a squash match, the office knows how useful Ziggler was to the company. Sure, he toiled in relative obscurity for the five or so years before his release last September, but he always made good money to justify staying under the WWE umbrella.
At 43, Nemeth doesn’t need the cash and is clearly at the latter stages of his in-ring career. He has other interest, including his ventures into stand up comedy so it’s doubtful that he will work full-time anywhere as far as his next move in professional wrestling. Fresh off of his 90-day non-compete clause of his WWE deal, he will return to the ring for World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico in a few days.
Despite his reputation as an underutilized athlete during his WWE tenure, it’s fair to say that his star power is rather minimal in 2024. He worked only two dozen matches for WWE last year, with roughly half of them at house shows. His last TV appearence was in May of 2023 so in many ways, he’s been completely off the radar. That’s not to say that he doesn’t have value as a performer, but rather to point out that a select few New Japan bouts allows him to be a big fish in a smaller pond rather than getting lost in the shuffle of All Elite Wrestling or being completely under the radar in TNA.
It’s still very possible that he surfaces either in TNA, again as a big fish in a small pond, or works for AEW, simply because his brother is on the roster. Given that Ryan Nemeth was alongside him at the Tokyo Dome, his motivation for working with the Japanese league and maybe eventually All Elite might be to help his brother get a better spot within the industry. Ryan Nemeth isn’t Frankie Williams (bonus point for anyone that gets that reference), but he’s not exactly going to be the subject of a bidding war for any company either so Nic Nemeth might be willing to work New Japan to help him get a chance to showcase his talent, too.
Following the Global Championship triple threat match at Wrestle Kingdom, the new champion, David Finlay confronted Nemeth, prompting an altercation between the two, which gives an indication of who he will work with upon his NJPW in-ring debut. While I don’t think his involvement will skyrocket New Japan business, it certainly helps the organization, and at the same time, it gives him a chance to showcase his skills. Since it will undoubtedly become a topic of conversation, as it usually is when any free agents hit the market, the former Dolph Ziggler could potentially end up on AEW programming, but I think it would be a very similar situation to many of the new additions to the roster, there would be the artificial debut pop, he would be spotlighted for a few weeks and then he would become just another guy on the roster. Tony Khan doesn’t have the focus to truly maximize the assets that he has within the company now so there’s no reason to think that Ziggler would be the exception.
The biggest takeaway from this story is that Nic Nemeth will give New Japan a boost, and it might not be earth-shattering, but as mentioned, it’s definitely helpful. It also creates a certain level of intrigue as to what might happen within the industry, both with free agency and working agreements between different organizations.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
