AEW Star Responds To WWE Developmental Criticism

A decade before becoming a regular on AEW television, Ryan Nemeth was a blossoming talent in WWE's developmental system under the name of Briley Pierce. The younger brother of Dolph Ziggler made occasional appearances on NXT TV as a backstage interviewer, but never had the chance to make much of a splash inside the squared circle.

Despite his limited opportunities, Nemeth has nothing but glowing things to say about his time in WWE developmental. Responding to a fan who criticized his former ring name, Nemeth called his old moniker "awesome."

"My name was awesome," Nemeth wrote. "Get bent."

Nemeth doubled down on his defense of his career beginnings, emphasizing the illustrious talent pool that came from his class of peers.

"Oh you didn't like MY ERA of developmental? The one with The Shield and the Wyatt family and the women's revolution and half the current AEW roster?" Nemeth wrote. "Really? That one? You weren't into it? Also, we chose our names, you absolute braindead dips–ts. I repeat: get bent.

"Fans love so many of the wrestlers from that time frame in developmental, but also they hate that time frame in developmental," Nemeth continued. "They say but remember how great OVW was, but also they hate boring OVW grads. Hey, you might just like being mad at things? Just say that?"

The Hollywood Hunk cited a number of modern-day main eventers that were birthed, or at least grown, in his class of WWE developmental.

"Do you not think Mox, New Day, Seth, Brodie, PAC, Dax, Charlotte, Sasha, Serena, Naomi, Trent, Colt, Sami (& so many others) are amazing talents?" Nemeth wrote. "Or Bryan Danielson? These are just a few of the people from the eras you're conflating & dismissing. Insane! Do you like anything?"

Nemeth spent three years in WWE, competing for both Florida Championship Wrestling and the early years of the post-game show iteration of NXT. The former FCW Tag Team Champion would have sporadic stints on the independent scene for most of the 2010s, before finding a home in All Elite Wrestling earlier this year.

You can see Nemeth's tweets about his WWE developmental generation below: