Nic Nemeth, Formerly Dolph Ziggler, Recalls Dealing With Last-Minute Changes In WWE

The news of last-second rewrites to WWE programming has all but disappeared since former Chairman Vince McMahon's infamous fall from grace, but veterans of the pro wrestling business have it burned into their memory. 

On "Busted Open Radio," TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth, who performed in WWE as Dolph Ziggler for nearly 18 years, explained what that was like and how he and others would do their best to make the most of a less-than-ideal situation.

"You'd hear [people wondering] 'What are we doing tonight?'" Nemeth recalled. "'Well, I heard [the] entire show just got ripped in half at 5:45.'" 

Likening that situation to a "WWE Main Event" card might get put together, Nemeth described it as just filling in the remainder of a three-hour show. From there, he noted how it was up to the wrestlers to do whatever they could to make something special, and recalled feuds with Matt Cardona (as Zack Ryder) as an example.

"We couldn't even make 'Raw' [some weeks], so we would make a video and put it on [Cardona's] YouTube," Nemeth said. That took care of some promoting a rivalry that wasn't otherwise being promoted but as for the match itself, Nemeth employed another strategy. "I would use my selling [to make] it seem like there was more invested in the match," he said, all to get fans to think that it is a good story.

Using his experience as a chance to provide a lesson for up-and-comers in the business who might face similar frustrations, Nemeth offered some advice. "If you don't have the chance to do the storytelling part, I'd try to do it in the selling of the match to make it bigger for if down the line we got another shot at it."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.