Nic Nemeth defeated David Finlay to win the IWGP Global Championship earlier today at NJPW “The New Beginning” in Sapporo.
In a post-match backstage promo, Nemeth declared that his goal is to be a fighting champion, even if that means defending the title from his grave.
You can check out some highlights from the promo below:
On winning the title: “I knew if I could just get back in that ring, if I could just get a sniff, a chance to claw at this title. I knew, I knew I could make something happen. I knew that I could bring something to this title. It’s not just something like Finlay had to throw around. This means a lot to fans, to family members. wrestlers all over the world, whether they’re dead or not born yet. This means something, and when I mean something, I mean it means everything to me. Don’t care when, I don’t care how, I will back this up in the middle of the ring every day until the day I die. I believe this, and I believe in this, because I know in my heart that I’m the best damn wrestler walking the world today, and I’ll prove it every damn night.”
On getting the chance to challenge for the title: “I want to thank New Japan for giving me a chance. I hadn’t proved myself outside of a bubble. I hadn’t proved myself in the last five years. I didn’t know if I could still go. New Japan, sight unseen, said if you got it, it’s sink or swim. You got a chance to put it all on the line. Everything in the last 20 years that I worked for was put on the line tonight and if I didn’t back it up, I was done. I told myself I was done, I was gone, I’m retired. But I have to thank Finlay. When he spit in my face, it didn’t pi*s me off. It lit a fire inside me. I may not be able to contain it ever again.”
On his goal for his title reign: “This might be 20 more years of me holding this title and defend it in every goddamn night. If that’s what it means, that’s how I will go into my grave holding this, holding this championship that says, I am better than the best and I don’t just sit on my a*s now and go home and wait for a call in three months to say it’s time to defend it. You want a shot, you earn it, you step up to me, man to man, face to face, look me in the f**king eye and say, I think, I think. I think I can go with you. I think I can hang and you better believe that I’m gonna knock your head off your f**king body.”