Kevin Nash

Kevin Nash - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Kevin Nash

Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler, actor and podcaster. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is also known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

This profile of Kevin Nash covers Early Life and Family Background, World Championship Wrestling (1990–1993), World Wrestling Federation (1993–1996), Return to WCW (1996–2001) and Return to WWF/E (2002–2003).

Nash first gained exposure in the professional wrestling industry by performing for WCW from 1990 to 1993 under multiple ring names. In 1993, Nash signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the name Diesel. While performing as Diesel, he achieved status as a top star in the company, winning the WWF World, Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships (the WWF Triple Crown). His 358-day reign as WWF Champion is the longest of the 1990s. While in the WWF, Nash was part of The Kliq, an influential backstage group that included Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman.

Nash left the WWF and returned to WCW in 1996, where he performed under his real name, partnering with Hall as the Outsiders and founding the New World Order (nWo) with Hulk Hogan. As the nWo storyline became one of the most prominent of the Monday Night War, Nash maintained his status as a top star, winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times and the WCW World Tag Team Championship nine times. After WCW went out of business, Nash returned to the WWF in 2002, where he briefly reformed the nWo and feuded with Triple H over the World Heavyweight Championship. He then performed in TNA for seven years, and he held their Legends and Tag Team championships once each. In 2011, Nash returned to WWE under a legends contract and he continues to make sporadic appearances for the promotion.

During his in-ring career, Nash won 20 major championships, including six world championships and twelve world tag team championships. Also, he is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, as he was inducted individually into the class of 2015 and in 2020 as an nWo member alongside Hogan, Hall and Waltman. He headlined numerous pay-per-view events for WCW, WWF/WWE and TNA, including WCW's flagship event, Starrcade, where he ended Bill Goldberg's undefeated streak after 173 wins in 1998.

Notable acting credits include The Punisher, the Magic Mike trilogy and John Wick.

Early Life and Family Background of Kevin Nash

Nash was born on July 9, 1959, to a devout Christian family in southwest Detroit, Michigan. Nash's father, Robert, died of a heart attack on April 4, 1968, aged 36, when Nash was eight years old. On December 27, 1994, Nash's mother, Wanda, died after a four-year struggle against breast cancer. He attended Aquinas High School and the University of Tennessee, where he majored in psychology and minored in educational philosophy. At the University of Tennessee, Nash was a center for the Tennessee Volunteers basketball team. He remained on the team from 1977 to 1980, during which time the team made it to the NCAA Sweet 16. Following a physical altercation with head coach Don DeVoe and a series of other on-campus incidents, Nash did not play a fourth year for the Volunteers, and he attempted to transfer to Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Nash reconsidered his options and instead moved to Europe, where he played basketball professionally for various teams. His career ended just one year later in 1981 in West Germany (while playing for the Gießen 46ers) when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament. With his basketball career over, Nash enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 202nd Military Police Company in Giessen, West Germany. He served in a secure NATO facility for two years, during which time he was promoted to the rank of specialist. After the Army, he worked on an assembly line at Ford Motor Company and as the floor manager of a strip club in Atlanta, Georgia. He then decided to try professional wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling (1990–1993) of Kevin Nash

Nash debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as the orange-mohawked "Steel", one half of the tag team known as the Master Blasters. He was initially partnered with Master Blaster Iron, with whom he made his debut at the Clash of the Champions XII on September 5, 1990, defeating Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner. At the following Worldwide taping on September 7, the Masters Blasters began a feud with Tim Horner and Mike Rotunda. They beat Horner and Rotunda on several house shows. On September 22, Nash's partner Master Blaster Iron was replaced by "Blade".

The reconstituted Master Blasters continued their undefeated streak in October. Meanwhile, Steel had his first singles match on September 28 by defeating Tom Zenk. At Halloween Havoc on October 27, 1990, the Blasters upended the Southern Boys and began to move up the WCW tag team ratings. Their winning streak ended on November 22, when Tom Zenk and Brian Pillman handed them their first defeat with Pillman pinning Blade. They rebounded to go on another undefeated streak by defeating the Southern Boys as well as Alan Iron Eagle and Tim Horner, and earning a NWA United States Tag Team Championship title shot against then champions the Steiner Brothers, but were defeated in two occasions. They were squashed on television in 52 seconds by the Steiners in a match that aired on Worldwide on February 2, 1991. Following this loss, their momentum dissipated as they lost to the Southern Boys and Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich, and they disbanded at the end of the month.

Nash was then rebranded as the Master Blaster in February 1991, who was pinned by Junkyard Dog on February 27. He also lost to Brian Pillman in house show matches, while appearing in tag team matches with Stan Hansen and Arn Anderson. His final match in this guise was against Pillman at a house show on May 12.

A week later, Nash reappeared under his new gimmick, having been repackaged as the silver-haired Oz, a character based on the Wizard of Oz from the 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Oz, managed by The Great Wizard, was pushed strongly for about a month, he squashed several wrestlers before losing to Ron Simmons at The Great American Bash on July 14. In reality, all plans for Oz were immediately scrapped when Nash refused to sign a $300/night guarantee as WCW was cutting costs. A decision was made to retain Nash until a new gimmick could be developed. On October 27, he lost to Bill Kazmaier at Halloween Havoc. Nash wrestled as Oz throughout the remainder of 1991 and went on a lengthy losing streak, suffering defeats by Kazmaier, Rick Steiner, Dustin Rhodes, and Arachnaman.

He later used the gimmick for New Japan Pro Wrestling as the Great Oz in May 1992.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Nash), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.