TNA’s Nic Nemeth has outlined the business conflicts that led to the cancellation of his scheduled match with MJF.
Create A Pro Wrestling originally booked Nemeth to face the AEW World Champion on May 1. However, TNA management pulled Nemeth from the card, citing partner conflicts.
Speaking on Youngstown Studio, Nemeth confirmed that he communicated directly with TNA President Carlos Silva. Nemeth detailed the resulting conversation that forced the change.
So, a lot of things happened at once. I was out of the country doing a couple of UK dates, and I found out that a couple different things were happening.
Our president, Carlos Silva, is very open when it comes to a lot of things, you know, behind-the-scenes deals or whatever. Some things that people don’t always know about, we put out there and go, “Hey, we’re trying to make this work.”
He’s very open to constantly being, you know, if this works or this doesn’t work, or here’s why I can’t do this thing. And we had a phone call. He said, because of certain deep into contractual obligations, certain companies might have crossover with certain other companies that we… with their rival, or a streaming service, or a cable company. And it was because of the situation, and it’s debatable, and there’s a few of them, we have to do the right thing. Now, it’s going to be a hard choice, but it, long-term, it covers their butts legally for everything.
Nemeth expressed disappointment over the lost opportunity, noting he felt “crushed”. He added that generational crossover moments remain rare and special, making the cancellation particularly frustrating for the veteran.
Despite the setback, Nemeth remains determined to eventually secure an encounter with MJF.
I want to show anybody whether they’re 28 or 35 or the next guy who’s got the torch for AEW for the next 20 years, which really appears to be MJF dominating. Wanted to go, hey, listen, just so you know, I can go to and I want to see if you can hang with me. This is something that we thought we’d never see.
Nemeth is now scheduled to face Bear Bronson at the Create A Pro event, while MJF will feature in an open challenge. Nemeth next appears at TNA Rebellion, where he wrestles AJ Francis.
TNA also removed Leon Slater from a planned match with AEW’s Ricochet at the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow on April 16. The scheduling changes have prompted speculation regarding the power that WWE is able to bring to bear due to its current working relationship with TNA.
The situation regarding the recent pulling of TNA talent from interpromotional matches was covered in detail on Thursday’s episode of Pollock & Thurston.
