Nic Nemeth has revealed that WWE pitched him several storylines for a return after his late-2023 departure, but he turned them all down until the company brought him back specifically for the Last Time Is Now tournament to determine John Cena’s final opponent.
Nemeth, who wrestled as Dolph Ziggler in WWE for nearly two decades, returned at Madison Square Garden in late 2025 to take on Solo Sikoa as part of the Last Time Is Now tournament. The tournament was set up to decide Cena’s final WWE opponent before his retirement match with GUNTHER at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025.
Speaking to the Sweet Pop podcast, Nemeth walked through what got him back.
“They had asked me to come back a couple different times for some other things, and I was like, ‘Uh, I don’t know. It’s been two years. I don’t really want to,’ and then they said, ‘This is for Cena.’ They said, ‘We’ve had a million matches together. Incredible guy. We’ve done so much. We have a story. We have a history, and I know all the good that he’s done. You could roll down a Santa Claus list of everything he’s done, what he’s done for us in the back, what he’s done to help the guys and girls, what he’s done granting wishes, everything. Come on, he’s the greatest of all time. So now, come back for this tournament? Yeah, hell yeah, I’ll come back. I really wanted to go, ‘I want you to see how good I am still.'”
Nemeth and Cena had a history of matches across their respective WWE runs. The two worked extensively across the 2010s in various combinations and across multiple championship programs, with Nemeth often positioned as the mid-card mainstay challenging Cena’s main-event tier. The Last Time Is Now tournament gave the two an opportunity to acknowledge that history one final time before Cena’s retirement.
Nemeth was released by WWE in September 2023 after a 19-year run with the company. He has been signed to TNA Wrestling since, where he held the TNA World Championship from October 2024 to January 2025 in his first reign with the company. He continues to work TNA TV and select indies and crossover bookings under the WWE-TNA partnership arrangement. His brother Ryan Nemeth (formerly Briley Pierce in WWE) has worked AEW and TNA in the years since.
Solo Sikoa advanced past Nemeth in the tournament en route to the next round. The Cena retirement run concluded at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025, with Cena losing to GUNTHER in his final match.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit the Sweet Pop podcast and include a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
