Moose Vs. Nic Nemeth

TNA World Championship

TNA Rebellion

April 20, 2024

Palms Casino Resort in Paradise, Nevada

Moose Vs. Nic Nemeth is easily one of my top wrestling matches of the year. Now, this match is the definition of long-term storytelling for Nemeth's side. An outcast and an undervalued player of the WWE roster for years, where he went under the moniker Dolph Ziggler, he is now becoming one of the top wrestlers in the world. Nemeth always had, in my opinion, been one of those talented wrestlers who were never allowed to be the face of the company, even when his work ethic and talent always shined bright.

He has a history of mid-card title victories, including a world heavyweight championship run in his time in WWE. Still, for some reason, in the eyes of WWE, he never had the it factor that wrestlers like John Cena and others had to succeed in WWE. Still, now, after he decided to leave WWE and venture into new wrestling territories, it shows that WWE fumbled with Nemeth. So why is this match so important for Nemeth? Well, this is technically his biggest challenge since his time in WWE; he recently won a mid-card championship in New Japan pro wrestling but set his sights on becoming the best in the TNA promotion. For Nemeth to be the face of the company, he had to dethrone the two-time grand champion Moose.

Now, the name Moose perfectly describes the man; Moose is a monster of a man, gigantic, standing at 6’5 and weighing 299 lbs, and moves like a darn cruiserweight. Moose is an absolute unit that can perform aerial and powerful heavy-weight moves. So, in an easy way to visualize, the match would be described as David vs Goliath. So, realistically, from a booking standpoint, which means the predetermined nature of wrestling, both men could have won. Still, ultimately, Moose had to win to build him up as the final boss of TNA; there was no way in hell Nemeth, a newcomer, would walk in and dethrone the man. Now, has it been done? Yes, an example would be only in most instances mid-card title matches like the 2005 Carlito vs John Cena match, but for the top prize, it's been unheard of. At most, it would be bad for business as you’re making your top guy, in this case, Moose, look weak, as for years, TNA was building him up to look like the absolute final boss of the company. So, taking the lead of Nemeth losing was the best for business as it can allow long-term storytelling to unfold. Nemeth loses, allowing the story to flourish, where Nemeth is now getting more robust and better throughout the year until he can rechallenge Moose as Moose will continue to dominate. It can finally lead to a rematch where Nemeth finally earns the respect of the TNA community and finally wins the championship.

Everyone loves a good underdog story; plus, during Nemeth's run for the challenge, it'll give the booker, who's the person who decides who wins the match, to see if Nemeth has won over the crowd and can see if Nemeth is ready to be the face of the company. Now, to talk more about the match in itself. The match was fantastic from a wrestling technical standpoint; yes, there was a mess up in one of the spots where Moose was going for a backflip onto Nemeth, which ended up being short, and Moose ultimately did not connect with Nemeth. But the rest of the match was great; it wasn’t a 5-star match by any means, but it was fantastic for what it brought to the table: two hungry wrestlers wanting to prove to the world they are the elite and top players in the world of wrestling today. The entrances were grand; they brought such a high level of energy to the overall vibe of the crowd and match.

Nemeth walks out confident and cocky, while Moose walks out like a Killer, silent and calculated but yet very hyped. Both men finally meet face to face, and the match begins. We saw plenty of outside-of-the-ring work being done, which was exciting to me. There were plenty of superkicks by Nemeth, which I'm guilty of saying; I'm a big superkick fan, love the move, and I don’t care if the wrestlers spam the move; the superkick is one of the most incredible-looking moves that can be performed in wrestling today. One of the best moves I popped for was the famouser off-the-ramp from Nemeth unto Moose. It’s the extraordinary running leg drop to the back of the opponent, which Nemeth did off the ramp, which was crazy because one wrong move can end a wrestler’s career. Another spot I enjoyed in the match was the elbow drops Nemeth gave Moose, whether inside the ring or outside; it reminded me so much of Shawn Michaels. But of course, Moose had to pop off, too, and he gave Nemeth the works. First, we saw several back-aching power bombs that looked like Nemeth was about to fall through the ring canvas. The most painful-looking one was the powerbomb outside on the steel entrance ramp. Moose also was giving some air-sucking spears, which ultimately was the move that took out Nemeth and allowed Moose to retain the title. Overall, it was a great main event; both wrestlers proved to me that they were some of the best, and I can't wait to see another encounter between these two men.