Nic Nemeth won the TNA World Championship at Slammiversary, and he recently commented on criticism that it was him over Joe Hendry. Nemeth was asked about fans being upset that Hendry didn’t win during the latest Busted Open Radio, and he said that Hendry was featured positively on the show. You can see highlights below, per Fightful):
On Hendry not winning the match: “I think it could have been his night. With that comes certain things behind the scenes and all over the company that we would make sure that he was seen in the best possible light. For the most part, I feel that would be more of a shock factor and get a few more views on YouTube at the moment. I don’t know that’s the exact play. Maybe it was. In this case, someone that takes out the three-year undefeated Moose, has one of the best showings of all six fighters in the match, comes out with people dressed as him in the crowd. Has it been like this for six months or a year? It’s been a few months.
“It could be the right time, sure, but it also could be the right time to have him in there with Josh Alexander or myself getting that much better, that much more compared, not just on the microphone or an awesome wrestler, but to be ready to be the absolute best top of the top. You don’t have that sometimes with somebody who is just getting the momentum. ‘Is it ten out of ten here? Nine out of ten here?’ I will make him the best so that when we pull the trigger 100%, this is one of the greatest moments in the world. That’s how I’m choosing to see it. I’m not in those meetings, I don’t know the deal.”
On fan reaction to Hendry not winning: “We could have went that way. There is something special about him and I love that so many fans are excited for him and even on the plane. I got to check a few things. I a lot of ‘congratulations’ and ‘awesome match.’ A lot of people going, ‘Joe Hendry got buried.’ The least thing you could ever say about anyone in that match was someone got buried. What an amazing moment. We set up a bunch of stories for a bunch of people. Joe Hendry is coming for the world title. Maybe he’s the rightful champ. So many great things happened and Joe really got featured in a very positive way where we’re going with this guy long-term. Just in case he happens to be at NXT more and doing other things, we need somebody full-time at the top of the TNA list. I want to be that guy and I’m happy to be that guy.”
