While he lived out a dream to face Tanahashi, Nemeth also pointed out that he lost his title to David Finlay the night after, but opts to focus on the positives instead. “They treated me really well and being in the ring with Tanahashi was something I thought, five years ago — I was in WWE for 20/25 years, then I was going to come behind the scenes, assistant, agent, producer, you name it — and I never thought that this match could ever happen and now it can happen.”

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Despite capturing gold and facing Tanahashi, Nemeth feels like he’s “barely” earning the respect of the locker room since he’s only had a few trips to Japan and only had a “couple of marquee match-ups” so far. “So, I’m still earning that respect and hopefully I’m earning that step-by-step.”

Nemeth does, however, believe that he will earn their respect eventually, but that being humble will aid him in his efforts. “It really helps to be humble, especially when you go ‘I don’t know if I’m even accepted here, I gotta see if I can earn my stripes with these guys just to have a chance to come back.'”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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