Nic Nemeth [Dolph Ziggler] Recalls The Night WWE Fans Ruined His Iron Man Match With Seth Rollins

Nic Nemeth, previously known as Dolph Ziggler, has looked back on his WWE match against Seth Rollins that became notable for the wrong reasons.

In the main event of Extreme Rules 2018, Intercontinental Champion Ziggler put the title on the line against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match. With this being a time where Roman Reigns headlined every major show, a move that fans grew sick of at this point, there was optimism that the two competitors would leave the fans with something memorable to close out the show.  Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh crowd had other ideas.

With the timer being on the big screen, the live fans started counting down every minute like they were waiting for the next entrant in a Royal Rumble match. Completely checked out of the match, the crowd hijacked the show to the annoyance of many watching the show.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet about the match, Nemeth recalled how they fought to have the match take place and that they were going to give the fans what they wanted:

“This was at the time where, no matter what you think of Roman, now he’s amazing, 11 out of 10. But at the time, he was being forced on people to constantly be the guy, and he’s great. But just at the time, he was force-fed nonstop. Vince goes, ‘This is gonna stick one way or another, whether it takes 6 years or 10 or whatever.’ They’re like, God, we’re so sick of this, the same guy every time he’s in the main event, and he’s out. They go, God, I wish the guys fighting for the Intercontinental title would be out there. I wish Seth would be in the main event. Wish Dolph would get it. We got it. We got a shot. Finally, against the boss’s maiden wishes, we’re going to main event this pay-per-view; Intercontinental title is in the main event. It’s an Iron Man match. Seth, who you love, Dolph, who you mostly hate, and are good wrestlers. The guys that you are begging for, the workhorse guys, to get a shot.”

Continuing, Nemeth spoke about the fans counting down and how it affected his performance, especially when the clock was taken off the screen:

“All the stars align. Vince still says no, and we talk him into it. We’re main eventing the show, and like three minutes in the crowd just starts doing the clock. I just put a hold on. I’m like, man, what is happening? And they’re not even doing the clock right, so it’s kind of screwing me up. Then I missed something, because they’re going, ‘7,6…’ and it’s like 10 or something. I’m like, what? It’s not even a countdown. It’s just the time. And then a third of the way through they go, ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry, we’re taking it off the screen.’ I go, ‘No, no, don’t do that.’ They take it off the screen. So the crowd just starts going ’10, 9…’ every 10 seconds. It’s not even every minute now, they’re doing it every 10 seconds. So now, instead of the last 10 seconds of every minute, it’s every 10 seconds. They’re just counting down. And now I don’t know what time it is, and now, most importantly, they’re not paying attention to the match. I go, man, that’s on us to get them back.”

The match initially ended 4-4 when the time limit expired, but Nemeth won the final fall in overtime.

“Thanks A Lot Pittsburgh”: Nic Nemeth On The WWE Match Hijacked By Fans

After the clock was taken off the screen, the fans booed the decision heavily and started chanting, “Where’s the clock?” Concluding the recollection, Nemeth also added that while they persuaded Vince McMahon to have them main event, McMahon noted that he thought it was ultimately the wrong decision:

“We tried, and it wasn’t my best night, because I was a little out of it, because I was trying to do something on the fly that would change. But I’m trying to express that to Seth, while we’re going to these pieces that we got to get to every certain amount of minutes. And it’s just yeah, the crowd, internet crowd, live crowd, they begged for a shot for the IC title, for Seth, for myself, anything but Roman, they got it, and Vince went, ‘See I was right, you’re all wrong.’ And then it was out. So thanks a lot Pittsburgh.”

In a previous interview, Nic Nemeth spoke about joining TNA in 2024 and the ongoing partnership between the promotion and WWE.

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Featured image: WWE