Nicholas Theodore "Nic" Nemeth (born July 27, 1980)
is an American
professional wrestler, who is contracted to
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), wrestling on the
Raw brand under the name
Dolph Ziggler.
He is also known for his performances with WWE as
Spirit Squad member
Nicky in 2006.
Nemeth signed a development contract with WWE in 2004, and was sent to
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He was brought up to the
Raw brand in 2005 as
Kerwin White's sidekick. He was, however, sent back to OVW shortly afterwards, where he joined the Spirit Squad. They debuted on
Raw in January 2006, and won the
World Tag Team Championship once before returning to OVW that November.
In September 2007, Nemeth was assigned to
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he formed a
tag team with Brad Allen. The pair won the
FCW Florida Tag Team Championship once, and Nemeth later won the championship for the second time with
Gavin Spears as his partner. He returned to
Raw as Ziggler in September 2008, and was drafted to the SmackDown brand in April 2009. He was awarded, and lost his first
World Heavyweight Championship on February 15, 2011.
Amateur wrestling career
Nemeth attended
St. Edward High School in
Lakewood, Ohio where he was an
amateur wrestler, and holds the school record for most
pins in a career with 82.
He
wrestled collegiately at
Kent State University, eventually setting what was then the record for most career wins in the team's history.
Nemeth's record was passed in 2006, and as of 2010 he stands second all-time in career victories at Kent State.
He had 121 career wins between 2000 and 2003.
He was a three-time All-Mid-American Conference champion, winning the 165 lb (75 kg) tournament in 2000, 2002, and 2003, and as of 2010 is the last wrestler from Kent State University to have won three amateur wrestling championships.
During his time at St Edwards, the wrestling team won the National Championships on two occasions.
Professional wrestling career
Ohio Valley Wrestling and Raw (2004–2006)
Nemeth signed a contract with
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2004.
He was assigned to their
developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), debuting as "Nick Nemeth". He
feuded with
Paul Burchill and challenged unsuccessfully for the
OVW Television Championship, losing a championship match against then-champion
Ken Doane on August 12, 2005.
Nemeth was called up to the
Raw roster shortly afterwards, making his television debut on the September 19, 2005 episode of
Sunday Night Heat.
He was made the
enforcer and sidekick for
Chavo Guerrero, Jr., who was using a
golfer in-ring persona and going by the
ring name of "Kerwin White".
As such, Nemeth became White's
caddy.
His wrestling debut came on an episode of
Sunday Night Heat, teaming up with White in a
tag team match against
Shelton Benjamin and
Matt Striker.
After the death of
Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero dropped the "Kerwin White" character, and Nemeth no longer played the role of his caddy and tag partner. After a few months of wrestling in
dark matches and at
house shows, he was sent back to OVW.
The Spirit Squad (2006)
Main article:
Spirit SquadNemeth became a part of the
Spirit Squad faction, a group of five wrestlers who used the in-ring personas of male cheerleaders, and adopted the name Nicky in OVW during late 2005.
On January 23, 2006, they had their WWE television debut as a group, appearing on
Raw and helping
Jonathan Coachman win a
Royal Rumble qualifying match against
Jerry "The King" Lawler by performing cheers for Coachman and distracting Lawler.
They later became a part of the on-going scripted feud between WWE chairman
Vince McMahon and
Shawn Michaels. The
heel (villainous) McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple
handicap matches.
They also wrestled in the tag team division, and on April 3, on
Raw, won the
World Tag Team Championship when
Kenny and
Mikey, with outside help from the other three Squad members, defeated
Kane and
The Big Show.
After winning the championship, all five members of the Spirit Squad were recognized as the champions, allowing any combination of them to defend the championship.
In May, McMahon signed another Handicap match, with the Spirit Squad facing Michaels. The match never started, however; instead the Spirit Squad attacked Michaels, and, as part of the
storyline, shattered his knee with a
steel chair.
McMahon brought
Triple H to the ring to attack Michaels with a sledgehammer; however, after Triple H felt that the Squad had disrespected him, he attacked the group.
This led to Triple H and Michaels reforming
D-Generation X (DX) and they began a feud with the Spirit Squad.
DX played various
sophomoric jokes on the Squad and the McMahons, as well as defeating the Spirit Squad in handicap tag team matches at
Vengeance and a clean sweep in an
elimination handicap match at
Saturday Night's Main Event.
At the same time as their feud with DX and their alignment with McMahon, the Squad also wrestled other teams in
Raw's tag division over their World Tag Team Championship, successfully defending the championship against the teams of
Jim Duggan and
Eugene,
Charlie Haas and
Viscera, and
Snitsky and
Val Venis.
They then entered a lengthy feud with
The Highlanders, whom they eventually defeated to retain the championship at the
Unforgiven pay-per-view in September.
The Squad as a whole later began a losing streak with separate members losing singles matches to
Ric Flair on consecutive episodes of
Raw, until Kenny managed to defeat him on the October 23 episode.
It was then announced that Flair and a WWE legend, selected by interactive voting, would wrestle the team for the World Tag Team Championship at the
Cyber Sunday pay-per-view in early November.
The fans chose
Roddy Piper, and he and Flair defeated Kenny and Mikey to win the championship.
The group disbanded on the November 27 episode of
Raw, when they were defeated in a five-on-three handicap match by DX and Flair. In a backstage segment later that night, DX placed all members into a crate stamped "OVW,
Louisville, Kentucky", a reference to the developmental territory from which the Squad had come.
Return to developmental (2007–2008)
Nemeth returned to OVW on January 17, 2007, at the television tapings, again using his Nick Nemeth ring name, along with Mike Mondo, formerly Mikey in the Spirit Squad, as the "Frat Pack". The pair teamed with
Mike Kruel in a match against
Seth Skyfire,
Shawn Spears, and
Cody Runnels.
The team disbanded in the early parts of 2007.
Nemeth then competed in several dark matches before the OVW television tapings, competing against wrestler including
Chris Cage,
Bradley Jay and
Jake Hager, before he began teaming with Mondo again in August.
At the end of August, Nemeth and Mike Mondo were moved to the
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental territory and in his debut there, Nemeth gained the
nickname "The Natural" and defeated
Hade Vansen.
In November 2007, Nemeth gained
Big Rob as his
manager, but their alliance was short-lived.
At the start of 2008, he tweaked his name to "Nic Nemeth" and began teaming with Brad Allen, with the pair gaining
Taryn Terrell as their
valet.
Nemeth and Allen started a
frat boy type
ring character with Terrell as a "sorority chick". On March 22, Nemeth and Allen won the
FCW Florida Tag Team Championship by defeating defending champions
Eddie Colón and
Eric Pérez, but lost the championship back to Colón and Pérez on April 15.
Throughout April and May 2008, Nemeth wrestled in several dark matches prior to
Raw, losing to
Kofi Kingston and
Ron Killings on several occasions.
Soon after, he returned to the name "Nic Nemeth", and began teaming with
Gavin Spears.
The pair defeated Colón and Pérez to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on August 16, but lost it to
Heath Miller and
Joe Hennig less than a month later.
"Dolph Ziggler" and Intercontinental Champion (2008–2010)
On September 15, 2008, Nemeth re-debuted on
Raw, introducing himself in a backstage segment under the name "Dolph Ziggler" and with a new image.
On October 10, 2008, Nemeth was suspended for 30 days for his first violation of WWE's
Wellness Program policy.
He returned to
Raw on November 17 in a backstage segment with
Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels.
In his first match on
Raw under the Ziggler name, he lost to
Batista on the December 1 episode.
The following week he got his first victory as Ziggler, by
countout, against
R-Truth.
The next week on
Raw, he picked up his first televised
pinfall victory, when he defeated Charlie Haas.
On April 15, 2009, Ziggler was drafted to the
SmackDown brand as part of the
2009 Supplemental Draft.
He made his debut on the April 17 episode of
SmackDown, defeating the
United States Champion,
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) in a non-title match, and, as a result, the following week he demanded a match for the championship.
On the May 1 episode of
SmackDown, however, he failed to win the championship, after he was pinned by MVP.
Ziggler then started a rivalry with
The Great Khali, losing to him by
disqualification after attacking Khali with a
steel chair.
As a result, Khali began coming out to the ring during and after Ziggler's matches, in attempt to gain revenge and to stop Ziggler from cheating.
Over the next few weeks, Ziggler defeated Khali by countout and disqualification after making it look like Khali had struck him with a steel chair.
At
The Bash pay-per-view, Ziggler defeated Khali by pinfall, after Kane interfered and attacked Khali.
Ziggler then entered an on-screen relationship with
WWE Diva Maria and she became his valet.
He simultaneously started a scripted rivalry with
Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio, who defeated Ziggler at the
Night of Champions and
SummerSlam pay-per-views to retain the championship.
In September, Mysterio lost the Intercontinental Championship to
John Morrison, and Ziggler entered a feud with Morrison, losing to him at the
Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
On the episode of
SmackDown, following Hell in a Cell, Ziggler ended his on-screen relationship with Maria after she cost him a match against Morrison.
On the February 26, 2010 episode of
SmackDown, Ziggler defeated John Morrison and R-Truth in a
triple threat qualifying match to compete in the
Money in the Bank ladder match at
WrestleMania XXVI, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
In June he began a romantic storyline with
Vickie Guerrero, who began accompanying him to the ring.
On the July 9 episode of
SmackDown, Ziggler defeated
Chavo Guerrero and
Montel Vontavious Porter in a triple threat match to qualify for the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match at the
Money in the Bank pay-per-view, where he once again failed to win the match.
On July 28 at the tapings of the August 6 edition of
SmackDown Ziggler defeated Kofi Kingston to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the first time.
In his first title defense at
SummerSlam, he retained the championship against Kingston when the match ended in a no contest due to interference from
The Nexus.
Ziggler was able to make a successful title defense against Kingston at the
Night of Champions pay-per-view, and against
Kaval at
Survivor Series.
World Heavyweight Champion (2010–present)
In November 2010, Ziggler was announced as a Pro for the
fourth season of
NXT, with
Jacob Novak as his Rookie.
At
Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Ziggler successfully retained the Intercontinental Championship in a three-way
ladder match against Kingston and
Jack Swagger.
On the January 4, 2011 episode of
NXT, Ziggler won a
battle royal to earn the right to choose a new rookie, and chose
Byron Saxton. His original rookie, Novak, was the first rookie eliminated later that night.
At the
SmackDown tapings on January 4, Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Championship to Kingston after a five month reign. That same night, Ziggler won a four-way match against
Cody Rhodes,
Drew McIntyre, and The Big Show to become the number one contender to the
World Heavyweight Championship.
Ziggler received his match for the championship at the
Royal Rumble pay-per-view against
Edge, but was unsuccessful.
On February 4, Ziggler's girlfriend Vickie Guerrero, who was the Acting General Manager of SmackDown, announced that she had banned the
spear – Edge's
finishing move – and if Edge used it during the rematch between the two, Ziggler would be automatically awarded the championship.
In the interim, Ziggler's second rookie, Byron Saxton, was also voted off of
NXT.
On the February 11 episode of
SmackDown, Ziggler received a rematch for the championship, only to lose after being speared.
On the February 14 episode of
Raw, Guerrero announced that Edge had lost the championship due to using the spear and that Ziggler would be crowned the new champion.
On
SmackDown on February 18, Guerrero fired Edge, claiming that he had attacked SmackDown General Manager
Theodore Long several weeks prior, and awarded Ziggler the championship during a coronation ceremony later that night. Long returned during the ceremony however, and Guerrero revealed Ziggler as the attacker after being accused of orchestrating the attack by Long. Long rehired Edge and gave him his rematch, in which Edge regained the championship.
Ziggler's first World Championship reign lasted 11 minutes and 23 seconds, the shortest in history behind
Jeff Hardy. After the match, Long fired Ziggler in storyline.
On the March 7 episode of
Raw, Ziggler was introduced as the newest member of the Raw roster, and defeated John Morrison in a singles match. Ziggler was accompanied by Guerrero, who had also been fired from
SmackDown, but she was forced to earn her spot on the Raw roster.
Personal life
Nemeth has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was five years old, when he attended a wrestling event at the
Richland Coliseum, and decided to become a professional wrestler at age twelve.
Nemeth has a younger brother named Ryan, who is also a professional wrestler.
Nemeth attended Kent State University, where he
majored in
political science with a
pre-law minor.
Prior to his WWE tryout, Nemeth was living in
Phoenix, Arizona, and had applied to
Arizona State University law school, where he was due to start his first semester.
Nemeth is good friends with his former Spirit Squad teammates, particularly
Michael Brendli, with whom he lived in Florida until 2008.
Nemeth has since returned to residing in Phoenix.
Nemeth appeared on the November 3, 2009 episode of
Deal or No Deal with Maria Kanellis and
Eve Torres.
He then appeared on
Lopez Tonight on August 9, 2010.
In wrestling
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WWE Dolph Ziggler Theme "I Am Perfection" Full Version CD Quality with Download Lin
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Maria in the Closet With Dolph Ziggler WWE SmackDown 07 /10 /09 HD
