Nic Nemeth Recalls What Vince McMahon Told Him During His World Title Run

During a recent interview with TVInsider, World Heavyweight Champion Nic Nemeth spoke about how his current TNA World Title run compares to his other runs as world champion, including WWE. He also spoke about what Vince McMahon told him when he became World Heavyweight Champion, saying it was just for a few weeks to get Albert Del Rio “heated up again.” Below are some highlights:

Nic Nemeth on His Current World itle Run to His Title Runs in WWE

“It’s pretty damn cool. Anytime you’re any kind of champion or representative or even ambassador to the company, it’s being able to talk to different media outlets and do PR work. So that’s fantastic. Comparing it to other companies, f you want to compare world championships in TNA to those in WWE, that’s easy. I became champion by cashing in a contract on a very injured man who still almost beat me. Then when I came to the back I told Vince [McMahon] that I looked forward to being his champion. He said, ‘Yeah you’re just holding the title for a few weeks so I can get [Alberto] Del Rio heated up again.’ And I went, ‘Okay, I guess I have a few weeks to try and change your mind.’ He went, ‘Yeah okay,’ and shrugged.

“That meant that there’s absolutely no one behind me, and there’s no long-term story. That’s fine. That’s life. That’s pro wrestling. That’s Hollywood. In TNA, they say, ‘We love your work. We love the way you talk. We love the media that you do. We love the reputation that you have to steal the show in every single main event of every pay-per-view that we have, so we are behind you. We want you to be the best here, and we feel that you’re the best representative to be world champion.’ And I went, ‘Yeah, that makes sense.'”

On Stepping Up as a Leader in TNA Wrestling

“I felt like it made sense to me because I feel like I’m the main representative for TNA at this point on a regular basis, and I really appreciate that. But if I was in WWE, I would have done the same thing. Once you get to a point where you’re actually taking responsibility for things inside the ring and out, I feel like I’m a good ambassador for that. I was like,’“Hey, man, I’m the world champ right now, and I got to tell you, it was a little confusing if we were going live tonight or not, to me included.’ I said, ‘Listen. It happens. It’s on me. I should have been even clearer when I was promoting it. And you know what? We’ll fix it.'”

“It ended up doing okay. We did some pretty good numbers with it. And then myself and Matt Hardy did pretty damn good numbers a couple weeks ago too. So that being said, yes, it’s really easy to be like, ‘Hey, I’m the champ, and we’ve sold out for WrestleMania, and I show up once every three months.’ It’s really easy to say something like that. But when it comes down to [if they ask], ‘Why are there only 800 tickets sold for this pay per view? You’re the world champ and you’re the guy.’ And you go, ‘Well, I got to get out there, and I got to get the word out, and I got to get more people watching iMPACT!. I got to get more people following us on social media. I got more people to sign up for the YouTube. I have to get more people every time I have a media opportunity to take that.’ I take it in stride and look forward to it.”

Nic Nemeth will be in action tonight at TNA Bound for Glory 2026. He defends the title against Leon Slater in the main event. Tonight’s show is being held at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. It will be broadcast live on pay-per-view.