Dolph Ziggler Reflects on WWE RAW Return Against Solo Sikoa – TNA’s Nic Nemeth, reprising his role as Dolph Ziggler, made a surprise return to WWE on Monday night at Madison Square Garden for a Last Time is Now tournament match against Solo Sikoa. It was his first time competing in a WWE ring since his release in 2023, and the night proved to be a special one.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Nemeth described the experience as “insanely fun and awesome and cool.” He revealed that the secrecy surrounding his return added to the excitement. “I had to hide out all day, which was fun. In 20 years, I got to watch so many people hide or hide under the ring or sit on a bus somewhere — I never got to do the hiding. So I had all black on, and I put like a ski mask over my face and sunglasses. And they pulled me into the loading dock inside of the building. Then I got walked in and I got to hide out for like 5 or 6 hours. You know, once someone comes and visits you then a couple more people come to visit you. And then my brother goes, ‘Oh, I just found out online and it’s official that it’s you.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, great.’ So it took a solid hour of people poking their head into wave to like put it online somewhere and some ‘journalist’ [reported it].”
Nemeth credited longtime partner and agent Bob Roode for helping him prepare. “But, like, it was awesome. The in-between for a lot of stuff was Bob Roode, who was a badass wrestler and we got to tag together. And he’s the agent, and he’s even better at agenting than he is in the ring. And he’s still jacked, and awesome, and great. It was so cool to have him, like, going back and forth between him before we figured everything out. Surreal moment.”
Nemeth revealed that he first learned about the surprise appearance two to three weeks ago, and with RAW taking place at Madison Square Garden, the timing felt perfect. “All these different pieces all added up to like — I was excited, but it’s wrestling, we have these egos, we’re crazy. I go, ‘I hope they remember.’ Because otherwise, what am I doing here? And then the music hits and you get that 1/1000th of like, ‘Okay, they do. All right. Let’s go to work.’”
Although pressed for time, Nemeth felt he and Solo Sikoa delivered a strong performance. Sikoa ultimately picked up the victory to advance in the tournament, which will determine John Cena’s final opponent. “Solo was on point, great the whole way, so easy to work with,” Nemeth said. “But I really think, in the time allotted, we crushed it. We gave everybody everything we could have. We gave the ups and downs of it. And, man, was the crowd there. It was a beautiful thing. It always flys by, but, like, it flew by. Really wanted to soak that in a little bit more.”
Outside of WWE, Nemeth continues to compete for TNA Wrestling and serves as a regular host on SiriusXM’s Pro Wrestling Nation 24/7 channel. His return to RAW, even in defeat, was a reminder of his enduring connection with WWE fans and his ability to deliver in high-pressure moments.
On the same night, both Sikoa and Gunther advanced in the Last Time is Now Tournament, keeping the road to Cena’s farewell match unpredictable and full of intrigue.
Dolph Ziggler Reflects on WWE RAW Return Against Solo Sikoa
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