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SportsTranscript
00:00We got Cleveland Zone here, TNA star, long-time wrestling superstar, St. Ed's, Kent State grad,
00:08Browns fan, oh yeah, and is going to be facing off against A.J. Francis at Rebellion here in
00:14Cleveland at the Wolstein Center this weekend. You can still get your tickets for that. Who's
00:18going to be in this corner? Bernie, damn, Kozar. How cool is that? Nick Nemeth joins us right now.
00:24Nick, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. I can't get over
00:28Bernie Kozar being in my corner for this match. It is an absolute dream come true. I've been to
00:34WrestleMania. I've been world champion. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this moment.
00:38So, how did you get Bernie? Is this a text thing? Do you have to call him? Did you have
00:42to work
00:43through your respective handlers? Yeah, a long time ago, we had some comments back and forth in a
00:49very positive way on social media, and then one time, Bernie just being the nice, kind guy was
00:54like, hey, sometime we should catch a game together. I said, hey, that would be a dream. Thank you.
00:58I had a weird schedule. I couldn't get back here for one or two games, and then he wasn't there
01:03for
01:03him, and then finally it all worked out, and I brought my dad with me, and he was the sweetest.
01:08He
01:08was the best host. He showed us a great time. We watched the game together. My dad and him became
01:12buddies. It was great. I was just like, I have this huge moment coming up with a big TNA pay
01:17-per-view in
01:17Cleveland. I got a big fight. I wonder if I can just invite Bernie, and if he would just come
01:22watch me. All the times I watched him play, it would be kind of cool to, like, I'm pretty damn
01:27good at my job. I want to have him in first front row going, wow, performing for him, you know,
01:32giving back a little bit to him, and I go, let's get a little greedy. Maybe I can have him
01:36involved
01:37in the match. Maybe I can say he'd come out in my corner, and in a heartbeat, he was like,
01:40I'll do it.
01:41I'll be there. He put a video out. I was like, what? I still can't believe this. I won't believe
01:46it
01:46until it comes true on Saturday. That's one of the best things. Bernie's the best. We deal with
01:50Bernie Atani. He's the absolute best. You got to find a way to actually get him to, I don't know,
01:54like pile drive someone or something like that. Well, can he carry a kendo stick to the ring?
01:59Because I think AJ Francis gets a little familiar there. Refs looking the other way. A little
02:03kendo sticks look like they hurt like hell and never been hit by one. Yes, they do. Yes. I was
02:08trying
02:08to think. I'm like, wouldn't it be, is his go-to, like firing a fast spiral into his head or
02:14into his
02:14back? I don't know. I feel like he would throw the ball better than I, but we could, yes. I've
02:19been racking my brain for something. There's going to be some aspect where he has my back and something
02:24goes down. I don't know what, and I cannot wait to see what it is. So we know you're a
02:28Browns fan,
02:30by the way, because you're decked out in awesome Browns gear today. Now, just so you know, this is not
02:35cosplay. Oh, I'm in Cleveland. Let me throw my Cleveland stuff on. This is my clothes. This is my go
02:39-to
02:39outfit. Kent State hat on. I usually have Browns or Guardians or something on a t-shirt. I'm
02:44Browns out because I represent Cleveland anytime I can, even on my gear for pay-per-view matches
02:49and TV shows. Wrong radio station, but we're just going to let that go. It's okay. We can
02:53just, if you want, I've got a marker around here somewhere. I'll turn it inside out. It's
02:57still Browns shirt. But I guess we got to, how are you feeling about the Browns? There's
03:03always next year for next year, I guess. I don't know. There's so many times we go, hey, another
03:08number one pick. Hey, another quarterback. Hey, a quarter of a billion dollar guaranteed to
03:12one of these quarterbacks. And now we got Munkin. I don't know. We've got to see what
03:16happens. The experts don't totally know. And even if you are, I'm trying to think, Marty
03:22Schottenheimer or anyone coming back at their heyday, for some reason when you're at the
03:26Browns, it doesn't always work out. So mathematically, like we were talking before, we came back.
03:31At some point, one of these things has to work for us, right? Because mathematically, you
03:36flip a coin, it can't always be tails every time. It has to be heads one time. So we're going
03:40to get something. Maybe this is how we started this year. We get five or six wins. Next year,
03:44we're rocking a roll. So here's my thinking, because I can sell you on it. One, Munkin is
03:49a true football guy, and we like that. Two, they were a five-win team last year, and they had
03:54maybe the worst offense I've ever seen. And I've seen some bad offenses. I don't think it's that
03:59hard to take an awful offense to at least not offensive. Those two things, I think we're cooking
04:06with gas. We just need the quarterback not to screw it up. That's what, yeah, we need
04:10baby steps. Go to five, go to seven and ten. Hey, that's not that bad. And then the next
04:15year, ten and seven. Okay. All of a sudden, we're...
04:17What can you sound? It's not that bad.
04:18It's not that bad. But man, I've been around for the one and 15 and the one and 16. It's
04:25just, it's hurtful.
04:27Are you a Shador guy?
04:29I'm still, jury's still out for me.
04:31Okay. I need, I need a full season. I need everyone behind him. We go with them or we
04:35don't. Don't halfway go with them and go, okay, Deshaun's going to start in the second
04:38half or something. I think that should be over with. I know it's really hard to say
04:41I'm writing a, I'm lighting a check for a quarter of a billion dollars and lighting my
04:46cigar with it and throwing it away. But I don't see any positives there. I, we got to go
04:52with Shador or somebody else and give them a shot and let them play and grow them up.
04:55What's your favorite Browns memory?
05:00I'm trying to, there's all the, the, the, the go-to ones, but man, what did we do? I
05:04went to the game. I want to say, you guys will tell me if I'm wrong. I think it's the
05:08game where they go the year where they go one in 15. We beat the Steelers on a last second
05:13field goal and the place where I was at the game, we erupted the Jamie meter block.
05:19We is a Prince of Parma, the pierogi Prince of Parma.
05:24But we, I just remember, I'm like, Oh my, we're going to pull this off. We're going to
05:27go one in 15 and it's the Steelers or something. And it was like, I can't believe this. And
05:31even then we still like the guy got tackled in bounds. There's eight seconds left with
05:35the running, the kicking team out. I'm like, we're still, we're not going to blow this
05:38about, they got it off at one. And where I'm sitting, I just see the ball go past the
05:43upright. I don't know if it went in or out and I'm watching, I'm watching and fireworks
05:47just started going off. And I go, okay, I guess we won one. And we got the one win that
05:52year. And I go, that meant a lot. We, we all celebrated like we just won the Super
05:55So it's, what's funny about this is my favorite memory that when I first asked you the question,
06:00it was the year that, uh, that we knocked the Steelers out of playoff. Uh, but we were
06:07like a six win team and that was a Thursday night game. It was so cold. They were handing
06:12out hand warmers and the, the PA person had come out and say, please don't stick these
06:17down your pants because people are getting a third degree, you know, second degree burns,
06:22whatever on the vital parts of their anatomy. And there's nothing more Browns fan than your
06:27favorite memories of a one win team memories of a five win team mutilate yourself for this
06:33one. Yeah. But getting like the national game and having everyone watch and having to be
06:37the Steelers gives us some hope. I mean, between this and you telling us you were at
06:41that saints game a couple of years ago, that's the Njoku shirtless game where the temperatures
06:45were like the negative. You're like the anti Brad Paisley when it comes to celebrity fans.
06:50I am no fair weather fan. I am the foul weather fan at, at all points.
06:55Now we, we did mention, uh, TNA has got rebellion this weekend in Cleveland. I want to know,
07:01cause you can lie if it just makes you look better. Did you have a hand in, in Cleveland
07:05landing rebellion? First and foremost that yes, yes, I did. And two years ago I was, I was trying
07:11to get a Cleveland show here when we first relaunched this, this brand of TNA and I joined
07:16and it was supposed to happen like a year and a half ago. And because of a scheduling
07:20conflict, they had to switch it up and we had to wait another year and a half. And now
07:23I go, we need something and we have to make it go down. And I go, send me there. I'll
07:27do all the media. I'll be there for anything you want. So, uh, I'm already a big media guy
07:31myself and the Hardys do a lot of stuff all, um, for a TNA. And I really think that that's
07:36what helped get us that AMC TV deal every Thursday night at nine now. And now with that being
07:42said, now that we have some wheels in place and I get a little bit of pull, let's go to
07:46Cleveland. Let's make something special. And I go, I'll find a way to make some, I'll get
07:50somebody. And I didn't, I was like, I got the perfect guy. If he says, yes, I go Cleveland
07:54Brown hero, mine hero from Cleveland. He's been down and out before and kicked out and
08:00come back forward. Like this is the, this guy, Bernie Kosar represents Cleveland. And I
08:05hope I do too, whenever I'm in the ring. So I go, this is the perfect matchup and a big
08:10moment. We can have something special for Cleveland. And also it's a TNA pay-per-view
08:14with all the titles on the line. Like this is huge. The Hardys are defending their tag
08:18titles. Santana versus Eddie Edwards for the world title. Ash by elegance, who is a
08:23Kent state grad. She's, uh, involved in action fighting for, um, she's fighting there
08:28too. Like there's so much cool stuff going down. So it's not just a regular pay-per-view.
08:33It's a big deal for us. Does it ever get old coming home and performing in front of the
08:38home crowd? Absolutely not. No way. I, um, I'm psychotic. I don't like, uh, no matter
08:43where I go or what I do, if I wasn't perfect or didn't steal the show, I stay awake thinking
08:48about it. So when it's moments like this and I get a chance to be in front of like, it's
08:53cool to see like friends, family, ex-girlfriends who missed out and stuff like that. He's like,
08:57oh, this, oh, everyone's, everyone here's cheering for me. No big deal. Let me go steal
09:01the show and then move on to the next town without you. Yeah. It's a beautiful thing.
09:04So it's funny. I've been to all the, the major folks that have had shows here. I've
09:10been to, whether it's the Gund or elsewhere around Northeast Ohio, I don't think I've ever
09:15been to a building where it wasn't for whatever promotion packed. Yeah. I think that is like,
09:21I think there are towns in America that get a lot of love and a lot of, you know, praise
09:25being good wrestling towns. I kind of think Cleveland's a, and Northeast Ohio in general,
09:30like I've been to an independent show in, cause I think Warren and it was packed. Like
09:37I did, like, is that fair? Like there's a bit of an underrated wrestling town.
09:40So it's real easy to like lie and be like, dude, it's such a great town. What in town
09:45X that I'm in. And it's like, but one that doesn't get love is Cleveland because I remember
09:49we've, I've had, I did 18 and a half years with WWE 19 and a half. And there was a
09:54lot
09:54of ups and a lot of downs. And sometimes the business was way down and way up. What always
09:58stayed consistent was a near sellout for Cleveland for us coming to town. And much like you said,
10:04even independent shows, AIW rocks. I just did a show with them last month. They are like,
10:09they put on the shows that people want. And that's just for the independence around here,
10:13let alone TNA or WWE or AEW coming through. So I really like, like, this is one of those
10:19towns that doesn't get the love from everybody. And it's better than that. Like it's a bad-ass
10:23wrestling town. So I'm saying this, it's similar to what you said about I'm in place X and Oh,
10:29what a great town it is. I'm not saying this just cause you're on the air, but I thought you
10:34did
10:34something really awesome when you decided to go away from WWE after almost 20 years. And you know,
10:40the, your, everything that I've said or seen you say in it is I want to prove what I can
10:45still do.
10:45And I didn't feel like I was getting those chances. And I think that's awesome. Cause I think,
10:49I think my favorite guys in the business now are guys, the prove it guys, guys who've done that.
10:55And, and whether it's in an early part of their career or middle part of their career.
10:58So I do want to know, like, now that we are, we, you are where you are. What, what are
11:05the goals
11:05in that second half of your career that you feel like are still driving you to do professional
11:10wrestling? It's funny because I, I, there's no like, ah, I need this title or to get this win. Or
11:17um, I was a fan of, of Tanahashi and new Japan. And I go, I'll never wrestle this guy. I'm
11:21with
11:21WWE for the rest of my life. The boss told me I'm going to be a producer behind the scenes
11:24when I'm
11:24done. Screw it. But now getting out there, I got to, I got to go to Japan, wrestle him. I
11:28got to
11:28wrestle a few other guys, got to go to Mexico all over the world. And I was just like, when
11:32I say
11:33that I was nervous because I say I was in a bubble. It was a giant bubble with some of
11:36the greatest of
11:37all time, but I was in that one world. I did not do independence. I didn't go all over the
11:41world.
11:41I just went to WWE. So I genuinely wanted to see if I could hang and go. And then I
11:47got a couple
11:47of weeks in and I was like, Oh yeah, I still got this. All right, that's great. So it's like,
11:51it really motivates you to go. I don't have a goal, like to be this champion or to do this.
11:55It's to get out there with, with some younger up and coming talent and show them the way,
12:00but also push them to go. I'm not out here to just have you look good. I'm out here to
12:06steal the
12:06show and do my thing until I can't do that. But also you and me together can make it special
12:12and
12:12you can take on everything that we learned this night and you pass it on to somebody else when
12:16I'm out of here. So I've always loved to hear a guy say, like, I remember reading Bret Hart's book
12:21and he talked about how with Kurt Hennig, it was just, it wasn't really, it was just,
12:25they were just same wavelength. Shawn Michaels, same wavelength, right? Who are the guys that you've
12:31worked with that it didn't even feel like work. It just felt pretty effortless with that chemistry.
12:36First and foremost, Bret and Mr. Perfect together are some of the most beautiful things I've ever
12:42seen in my life. If you're a wrestling fan, they've got some Madison Square Garden matches.
12:47It's incredible. They're too, they're so good, but sometimes you have friends and you're like,
12:51I'm good. And my friend's good. And there's no chemistry there. And there's, you're off and
12:55you miss things. And I've had that happen before, but I've been very lucky that because of the way I
13:00am, people are like, Oh, you guys have such good chemistry with almost everybody. Yeah, I know.
13:03Cause I'm really good at my job, but there's a few out there. Uh, Kofi Kingston is the first one
13:08that comes to mind. We, we had a best of 500 series that I think he won four 97 to
13:12three or
13:12something like that. But the thing is we, we wrestled so many times and it was such a throwaway
13:18match because there wasn't a lot of like big story angle between us, which is like, Oh, it's two guys
13:22that are going to wrestling. We'll just put them out there again. And we had to try and outdo the
13:25match. We did the before and outdo the counters to each other. So you had to think more and make
13:29things happen. And without the big storyline build to it, you have to bring everybody into
13:34your match with the match for the first half of it. And we, we really prided ourselves on getting
13:39everybody starting off a little bit cold and then grabbing them. So it's, uh, my friends, I have the
13:44most chemistry with, uh, Mike, Mike Mazzana and the Miz, uh, Matt Cardona, who was Zach Ryder and John
13:50Morrison. Like we all gravitated towards each other cause we wanted to like be the best and we have
13:55such totally different backgrounds, but we all mesh together because you just, I don't know,
14:01it's your friend. You get to hit them a little harder and you know what I mean? And you get
14:04to
14:04make things mean a little bit more and you get to try a little bit weirder stuff and having those
14:08guys,
14:08uh, and being able to throw ideas off them and go steal the show with them has been, uh, one
14:13of the
14:13coolest parts of my career. You mentioned that you, you thought you were going to do like a producer
14:16role for the WWE when it was all said and done. And now you're doing this and I can tell
14:20the
14:20excitement you have and just talking about basically what leads up to the actual match
14:24itself. Do you get more enjoyment and like in planning it out and having the fun moments and
14:28then seeing how it's going to go and actually doing the matches themselves? Uh, the match will
14:33always be the ultimate payoff though, because like, it's so great to be out there and nothing beats
14:37that, but it really is what separates a dream match. Having two people that like, oh, this guy's
14:43awesome. And this guy's awesome. I want to see that. That's awesome. They'll have a great match
14:46and everyone will be behind it. But when you have some buildup to it, we're like,
14:50oh, this guy jumped him from behind and he did this to him. And 10 years ago, we had this.
14:54Now these, you're drooling to like, get out there and get the payoff to this match because
14:59the story and the character made it happen. That is, it gets me like, I know I sound a little
15:03worked up. Like I get all excited going, I did this and this and this. And it's like,
15:06I was doing some fun stuff with Matt Cardona when he was doing things on YouTube.
15:10And before, before everybody did things on YouTube and we, we were coming up with everything
15:15outside of the box to where I'm attacking him. We have a story. And then like on TV,
15:19he's accidentally kind of being played as an afterthought. So I embraced that and called
15:23him like, he shouldn't be here. He shouldn't be in this business. And everybody is chanting
15:27this guy's name before he even comes out for a guy who's on TV every other week. He's not
15:32even one of the main guys. So he did that for himself. And we all embraced that and,
15:36and just made everything bigger.
15:37So as the match is going on though, are you thinking to yourself, like, wait,
15:40that move was awesome. And like, they're picking up on that. Are you like constantly checking in
15:45to be like, Oh, did they get that? Did they not get that? Wait, why didn't they get that?
15:48That should have been awesome. Yeah, absolutely. The entire time. Yes. Anytime something happens,
15:53especially someone like me who is like, I'm usually the guy in charge and like the quarterback out
15:58there. So I want to make sure, okay, they should be here. Oh, we got them. Hell yeah. Let's go.
16:03Or,
16:04oh no, that didn't work. We're gonna have to switch this up. And I'm like,
16:07and you call it audible on the fly. Nick, you've done acting standup pro wrestling.
16:12I feel like you've done a little bit of everything here when, you know, as a creative guy, I always
16:16try and find things that, that allow me to have that outlet. What's the thing that you feel like
16:22let's get, gets most out of your passion when it comes to many of the things you've done.
16:26That's funny. I it's wrestling, but also I got to a point, I don't know, seven, eight years ago where
16:33I
16:33was like, I didn't love what I was doing, but I still was like, I'm in the biggest wrestling company
16:36in the
16:36world. I'm the, one of the most reliable guys of all time. Uh, I, I don't want to leave, but
16:41maybe
16:41I should. And I, I just needed a challenge. So like the first 20 times I did standup comedy,
16:46scared to death. I'm still scared to death now when I go out there, but it's not quite the same
16:50as the first 20 times I did professional wrestling. I was like, Oh my God, don't mess this up. Don't
16:54mess this up. And then you, once you get out of your head, you get comfortable and you,
16:57you can't wait for it. I'm still at the mode now, 10 years in, but like two shows a year
17:02or whatever,
17:02two, three shows a year for 10 years. And then you get to where I'm like, I'm scared. I'm like,
17:07don't mess this up. Like, Oh, I hope everyone laughs at this thing I just wrote. And if they don't,
17:11they're gonna be like, Oh, he's, he's a fraud. He's not even a good wrestler. Like run, run out of
17:15town,
17:16but it really motivates you to go. I have a reputation for being one of the hardest
17:20working show stealing guys in a business where everybody works hard and steals a show. And I go,
17:25I need to commit myself that much to the standup comedy, to acting, to politics, to anything I do on
17:31the side to, so I dedicate myself to this. And one day I'll get to that same level wrestling-wise.
17:36All right. Before we let you go, cause you've been so gracious with your time. What can people
17:40expect with TNA rebellion this Sunday here in Cleveland? All the championships are on the line.
17:45Cleveland always shows out for great wrestling. TNA has been on the rise and busting their butts.
17:50The talent we have is unbelievable. The X division blows everybody out of the water. And it's such
17:55a unique match that we have. We have championship match with Mike Santana versus Eddie Edwards,
18:01the system versus the Hardys. The Hardys have been wrestling in four different decades. They're
18:04absolute legends. And I get a chance to go one-on-one with AJ Francis, with Bernie Kosar in my
18:09corner.
18:10If you love pro wrestling, we are going to go above and beyond, blow it out of the water,
18:14steal the show and a couple of girlfriends because just because I have to,
18:18who could offer anything more there? Check out tickets there. Ticketmaster.com and anywhere you
18:23get your tickets as well. Nick, it was great to meet you, man. We're rooting for you on Saturday.
18:28And again, Kendo stick, Bernie Kosar. I feel like if you give him a football or baseball,
18:32he might kill a guy. We're just looking for a win. We don't want to do it in jail time.
18:37We just need the win. Yes, you're right. Good call. Great stuff, buddy. Thank you.
18:40Nick Nemeth there, TNA star, Kent State grad, St. Edwards grad, Browns fan, damn good guy.
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