Nic Nemeth Wants More From TNA’s NXT Partnership After The Company Missed Out On The Dusty Classic

Nic Nemeth wishes there was more TNA representation on NXT.

Following the passing of wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes in 2015, NXT introduced the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The round-robin tournament, first won by Finn Balor & Samoa Joe, was recently announced to return for the first time since early 2024, with the field reaching 14 teams. This year’s edition sees the NXT & AAA Tag Team Champions, The Vanity Project & Los Hermanos Wagner respectively, getting byes to the quarterfinals. However, one TNA star would have loved to seen their company have similar representation in the tournament.

Speaking on Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez, TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth shared that, whilst he was happy to sit this one out, he wished that TNA had been involved.

“It doesn’t [as a TNA Tag Team Champion] because myself and my brother are comically busy at the moment, but as a TNA wrestler, yeah it does because there’s a relationship there. We’ve had some moments where we got a lot of NXT people who were brand new, gave them a shot, gave them some TV time, got those reps in. It would be nice to see it replicated, but of course, it’s not always the time and place for it. All of those moments can still happen, and they will when the time is right. It would be great to be represented out there… but down the line, I would love to see more of an interaction if we continue that relationship because it was really fruitful for both sides.”

-Nic Nemeth

Nemeth is no stranger to NXT, having won the NXT World Championship in the past. For now, though, the star is currently in his second reign as TNA World Champion, as well as his second reign as a TNA Tag Team Champion alongside brother Ryan. Plus, to illustrate his point about having a full schedule, Nic recently on a show in Budapest, taking on Szabo Tamas at a HCW event.

Still, TNA’s involvement with NXT has noticeably declined even when making comparisons to 2025. Last year, they met as part of the ‘Showdown’ special, which saw stars from both brands compete in traditional Survivor Series elimination matches, while they’ve remained largely separate in 2026.

On the topic of TNA, it seems two former WWE Tag Team Champions could be set to join the company soon. You can read more about that here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Nic Nemeth and the NXT x TNA relationship as soon as we hear more.

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