Nic Nemeth Wasn’t Pleased With His Dolph Ziggler Moniker

Nic Nemeth used to go by the name of Dolph Ziggler during his days in WWE. He made his debut in WWE back in 2004, but was unfortunately let go from the company last year. Free from the WWE contract, Nic recently revealed that he wasn’t too pleased with his Dolph Ziggler moniker.

After his short stints as Kerwin White and Nicky of the Spirit Squad in WWE, he was repackaged as Dolph Ziggler in 2008. Donning this moniker, Nic achieved a successful career in WWE as he won the title of World Heavyweight Championship and the Intercontinental Championship.

While on Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Nic shared his reaction on first hearing about his repackage as Dolph Ziggler. He expressed that he was absolutely heartbroken with McMahon’s decision to repackage him and tried his best to convince McMahon to allow him use his real name.

“Heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken [laughs], and I am heartless, but I had to get a heart and then smash it in front of myself. I hope I’m remembering this right. I get a call on a Saturday night after an OVW show. ‘Hey, you’re debuting on Monday. Your name is David Diggler,’ yeah, you thought Dolph Ziggler was bad. ‘Your name’s David Diggler. We’re not exactly sure what you’re doing, but just bring your gear.’ I’m like, ‘What, David Diggler?’ They’re like, ‘What, do you have a problem with that?’ I go, ‘Man, that sucks. Why is that the name?’ They go, ‘Well, we needed a name with the same with the same consonant.’ I go, ‘My name’s Nic Nemeth! We’re going with the reality era, it’s n-n. What?’ They go, ‘Nah, you can’t use your real name anymore.’ I go, alright. They go, ‘Alright, we’re going back in to talk to Vince in 15 minutes. You got 15 minutes to pitch him something else.’ So I text everybody in my phone. ‘Guys, I need a double D name.’ So my dad’s name was Don. I had that down there, I had Dolph for Dolph Lundgren. I pitched all these different things, and they go, ‘It’s probably gonna be David Diggler, but we’ll see you on Monday.’”

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“So I get there, it says, ‘Dolph Diggler.’ I’m kind, ‘What?’ So I find Vince for the first time in my life, I bump into him and say, ‘Sir, we just went to reality-based. We got John Cena, Randy Orton, this says David Diggler or Dolph Diggler. My name is Nic Nemeth. You can Google my name, I broke these records. I would love to be the best possible reason that you have legitimacy in this new era.’ He goes, ‘Nope, Dolph Ziggler. It stands out. That’s it.’ He walked away, and I went, ‘Okay, here we go.'”

Despite the initial hesitancy from Nic about using the Dolph Ziggler moniker, it turned out to be an important point in his career as this decision would go on to define his WWE persona for years to come. Nic was released from WWE back in September 2023 after series of cuts made in the roster.

It appears Nic’s release from WWE hasn’t quite made a dent in his career as he has been keeping himself busy. Since his release, Nic has made his mark in the independent scene after brief appearances in both NJPW and TNA.

Did you catch any shows of Nic recently? What’s your reaction to Nic’s hesitancy to accept the Dolph Ziggler moniker? Let us know in the comments!