Another side of Kevin Nash
Regular readers of Ring Posts know that I am not a big Kevin Nash fan. That wasn’t always the case, however, and even now my feelings about him are somewhat complex.
A story in The Wrestling Observer last week forced me to look at Nash in another light. The story showed that, if nothing else, Nash won’t abandon a friend in need.
The Observer reported that Nash recently flew to Texas to check Sean “X-Pac” Waltman into a facility for both rehab and psychiatric care. The story said that Nash also was instrumental in getting Scott Hall to agree to go to rehab after he blew recent opportunities for a comeback in TNA and Puerto Rico.
Shawn Michaels told a similar story about Nash on The Shawn Michaels Story DVD that was released last November. Michaels said that it was Nash who told him several years ago that he was a husband and a father now and that he needed to get help for his drug addiction. Nash also confronted Michaels about his fractured friendship with Triple H, telling him that it was his fault and he needed to repair it.
Nash is to be commended for his loyalty and, as it pertains to Michaels, his brand of tough love. Having worked in WCW as the editor of the company magazine for a year while Nash was there, I also can tell you that he was generally well-liked by most of the wrestlers.
As a matter of fact, I was impressed with Nash as well the first time I ever dealt directly with him. In 1995, when Nash was WWE champion as Diesel, I conducted a phone interview with him for a story in The Sun to promote a WWE house show, and he was very pleasant, articulate and funny.
I liked the Diesel character, too, especially when he became an anti-establishment babyface that was a precursor to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. I continued to be a Nash fan after he went to WCW and formed the nWo with Hall and Hulk Hogan.
My opinion changed, however, when Nash started doing what was best for Nash, not what was best for the company. Nash had become a consummate backstage politician as a member of the infamous Kliq in WWE, but he took it to a whole new level in WCW. Coming up with health issues the night before having to do a job on pay-per-view, stirring up trouble backstage, going into business for himself and basically trying do as little as possible while he collected his big guaranteed paycheck were all part of Nash’s M.O.
He also could be petty and childish, as I found out firsthand in WCW. I’ve written about this before, so I won’t go into all the details, but Nash angrily refused to do an interview with me for the company magazine – you know, the same company that was providing him with that big guaranteed paycheck – for reasons he never made clear (although others told me it was because he disliked the publisher of the magazine and the fact that I was brought in as editor to replace a guy that he was friends with). That incident was disappointing to me, but I got over it, especially because Nash eventually agreed to do the interview when Vince Russo asked him to.
It was clear from his behavior in WCW that Nash – who was in a good financial situation and knew he always would be welcomed back in WWE – couldn’t have cared less whether WCW went out of business or not. I had a tougher time getting over that.
After WCW eventually did go down, Nash returned to WWE and wasted little time becoming a disruptive force. He and Waltman once demanded that a script be changed to their liking (Waltman reportedly threatened to quit on the spot if they didn’t get their way), and Nash also complained to management after The Rock ad-libbed a line in a promo about Nash that Nash didn’t like. That was hilarious coming from Nash, who often said things on the air that he was specifically told not to say.
Nash’s time in TNA has been more of the same. On Impact, he openly jokes about “doing nothing and getting paid,” and on two occasions he suddenly had health problems that prevented him from putting someone over on pay-per-view (funny how that never happens when he’s scripted for a big win). Amazingly, TNA keeps bringing him back and putting him in pay-per-view main events despite the fact that he can do very little in the ring at this point in his career.
I get it that wrestling is a cutthroat industry and wrestlers need to look out for their best interests, but Nash takes it to the extreme and is shameless about it. If I were running a wrestling company, I definitely wouldn’t want Nash in my locker room.
But I also can’t deny that he has another side. He played a huge role in likely saving the lives of three of his friends, and I certainly respect him for that.
Comments
Eck,
Do you know how much money guys like Nash, Hogan, and the Rock made during wrestling's boom period compared to top names today like Orton and Cena?
Posted by: John | February 24, 2008 5:19 PM
Get off of Nash's back.... the man has earned everything he's ever gotten and has the right to do what's best for him, like we ALL do. I'm sure if the job wanted to give your spot to someone else, you'd do what it took to keep it.
Posted by: Fred | February 24, 2008 5:51 PM
Good stuff Kev . I had read about his involvement with Hall and X-Pac 's rehab afew days ago . Always like when you can interject some of your past history with WCW . As for Nash as a wrestler , never liked the Diesel act but NWO was the bomb. Those were good times . These days he looks like he can hardly move , and he probaly can't given all his injuries combined with age . I wonder if he knows Rellik is Killer backwards ?
Posted by: jack in hebron | February 24, 2008 6:39 PM
By the way , "Beyond Wrestling .com " cites Kevin Eck's blog . Specifically Kevin Nash article . Well done.
Posted by: jack in hebron | February 24, 2008 7:00 PM
Wow, I didn't even need to call you big Kev again...just kidding.
It was very honest of you spit all this just as you feel it and preventing us about the subjectivity of your opinion.
Even with that subjectivity, I think it was a fair and real vision about Nash.
I knew about all these facts a few days ago and I was surprise about Diesel's solidarity and sense of friendship.
Posted by: Gaston | February 25, 2008 1:49 AM
What you wrote about Kevin Nash isn't all that unusual or remarkable. After all, even Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin had a caring side when it came down to their family and other loved ones. We all have people in our lives that we care about and so we all will do as Kevin Nash did with Waltman and Michaels. Nothing unusual there. It's just ordinary human nature.
A better test for a human being is their attitude and reaction towards those that they do not know and those that they dislike. Do they express fear or welcome to strangers? Do they turn the other cheek or stab people in the back? With this in mind, I see no reason whatsoever to respect Kevin Nash as a human being. His contributions (or lack of) to the industry is a separate matter, of course.
Posted by: Din | February 25, 2008 1:53 AM
Rellik is Killer backwards?!?!? You just blew my mind.
Eck, are you referring to the No Way out PPV where The Rock cut one of the funniest promos ever at the expense of the nWo and did the "toot toot" sound referring to Big Daddy Cool Diesel? I still laugh at that entire promo.
Also, what's Nash's standing with the WWE these days?
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Actually it was a promo on Raw in which Rock referred to Nash as Big Daddy (expletive). Considering Nash's friendship with Triple H, I would never say never as far as Nash returning to WWE in some capacity, but I think he definitely had his final run as a fulltime wrestler several years ago.
Posted by: JTK | February 25, 2008 11:38 AM
With all due respect to "Din" . Forgive me if i read your comment incorrectly but in your comment you say " a test for a human being is their attitude and reaction toward those they don't know or dislike ." You go on to say you have no respect for Nash as a person . Doesn't that contradict your earlier thought ? signed,
not lookin' for a fight
Posted by: jack in hebron | February 25, 2008 2:47 PM
There's a reason Kevin Nash has made it to where he is now, helped to change the face of the business, and will be remembered as a legend, and it isn't from being a nice guy and staying quiet. You have to do what you have to do to make it in this business. As for him not caring whether WCW went out of business or not, he'd even agree with you on that, having said in a recent shoot interview that he really had lost his desire to compete at a high level those last few years. If you haven't seen the RF Video Shoot Interview With Kevin Nash DVD, I highly recommend you check it out.
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: As I said, I understand that wrestling is a cutthroat, unforgiving business, and wrestlers have to look out for themselves. That being said, there are still plenty of wrestlers who do that while still being team players. I don't buy that you can't be a "nice guy" and get ahead. For example, The Rock was never part of a clique or, to my knowledge, played political games or refused to do jobs, and he was the biggest star in the industry. And, in my dealings with him and from everyone I know who knows him, he's always been gracious.
Posted by: Daniel | February 25, 2008 6:02 PM
Being that Triple H and Nash are such good friends, I hope Triple H learned from the mistakes of Nash in WCW and knows when it's time to step aside and let the young blood take over. Being married to the boss' daughter gives him alot of power, and here's hoping unlike Nash, he will use it wisely and not sink the Orton's and Hardy's of the world to keep himself on top as long as he can.
Posted by: glen | February 25, 2008 10:41 PM
Well, as Vince has shown in the past, Triple H's dating or being married to his daughter is seperate to him from business. If it is in his best interest to not push Triple H, he won't. And whether HHH wants to be champ or not, Vince is a bottom line businessman and won't allow anyone to bury someone he feels can put butts in seats and make him money. So if he feels a Jeff Hardy is one of those guys, no one, including HHH will dissuade him from putting him over. It's why he has survived all challengers. He's had Kevin Nash types and learned from those mistakes, while WCW never did and it sunk them.
Posted by: Walter Hollman | February 27, 2008 2:24 AM
Ok to all those people who said to get off Nash's back. I am a big Nash fan, but I have seen Nash backstage in WCW when they came to Chicago and other midwest cities. I heard wrestlers and bookers complain. Even Kevin sulliven didn't ego trip the way Nash did. Yes he has helped his freinds but I have heard Nash talk down Ric Flair for his booking style (Beating Vader @ SuperBrawl etc.) But Nash KNEW what he was doing was wrong. Flair actually believed he was doing the right thing. As wrestling fan you have to love Nash as a so-called smart mark and someone who has been around backstage shows he is a disruptive force, because it should be Eric Young at Samoa Joe's side not Nash, heck Chris Harris!!!!
Posted by: Jermine WELLS | February 27, 2008 2:29 PM