TNA's Nic Nemeth, Formerly Dolph Ziggler In WWE, Addresses Pro Wrestling As A Sport

Unlike amateur wrestling, professional wrestling has pre-determined match results, with storylines, characters, and psychological elements intertwined in the road to them. Does that bar pro wrestling from being categorized as a legitimate sport, though? According to TNA star Nic Nemeth (formerly WWE's Dolph Ziggler), it mostly does.

"It's entertainment, and then there's the sports aspect," Nemeth said on "Busted Open Radio." "Whenever I did commentary or anything, it's one more thing to be like, okay, I know in storyline this guy keeps getting his Achilles cut, so he's hobbling around. I understand that, but in storyline he's doing this, but he's fighting from underneath, but we know that he came back from a 3-1 deficit in a ten-man match because he has the stamina to do it.

"I like applying that to it, but not constantly letting everyone know it's a TV show, it's a performance," he continued. "Not that Rock going, 'Hey everybody, it's a fake wrestling show.' I like when you don't have to treat it that way, or you can. Both will work, but you don't see Tom Cruise going to the screen going, 'Guys, I'm not really a pilot.'"

WWE has long prided itself on providing "sports entertainment," meaning the in-ring action is typically centered on storytelling and emotion-evoking, rather than physicality — something WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray feels he outright saw at the 2025 WWE SummerSlam premium live event. Meanwhile, All Elite Wrestling asserts itself as the home "where the best wrestle," with performers such as "Hangman" Adam Page, Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, Toni Storm and Swerve Strickland leading it.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.