Sports
Always a Main Eventer: Outside of the Ring with Kevin Nash
Heather Turk, SoCal.com Movie/TV Editor |
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 When Kevin Nash turned against Samoa Joe at “Bound for Glory” and cost his friend the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, it was a swerve that felt natural to the longtime professional wrestler.
“I’m a natural prick,” Nash, who will be fighting Joe at “Turning Point” this Sunday, told SoCal.com with a chuckle. “I love being a heel and I work better as a heel. It’s just easier. It suits my personality more.”
True, Nash may not be a model citizen (“I was a troublemaker in college,” the former University of Tennessee student recalled with a laugh. “I got in a lot of trouble. They sent me home. They just said, ‘Go, you’re done. You can’t be here no more.’ I spray-painted buildings…but I was young’un. I was a radical. It was the ’70s.”), but that’s part of the reason millions of fans have followed him throughout his career. From WCW to WWF to his current home in TNA, audiences can’t get enough of “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash.
Currently part of the Main Event Mafia, a heel stable comprised of former WCW and WWE main eventers Booker T, Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner and Sting, Nash couldn’t be happier to have resigned with TNA.
“The TV shows are mostly done studio-wise, and for me, Universal Studios is like 60 miles from my house,” Nash said. “So I’m home, so it’s not as much travel. [Even with TNA going on the road more], it could never be what the other wrestling promotions are, no matter what. If you work for Vince [McMahon], you may be living in a major metropolitan area and you may only do one TV show a year in your hometown. [With TNA], you’re still going to be doing majority of your work--if you live in Florida--close to home, which isn’t bad for the guys who live there. I think Joe just moved from California to the Tampa area, so for the guys who are making a long-term commitment with the company, it just makes sense to kind of be closer to that Florida area.”
Just a few short weeks ago, no one--Nash included--knew where he would be wrestling in 2009. With his TNA contract up for negotiations, Nash was talking to both TNA and WWE trying to decide what was best for his--and his family’s--future. If he resigned with TNA, Nash could continue wrestling for at least a few more years, while if he signed with WWE, he knew his time in the business was limited.
 “When I actually thought about going back up there (to WWE), I was only going to do it up until next WrestleMania and that would be it,” Nash stated. “Because their work schedule is so intense, I don’t think my body would have held out more than 10, 11, 12 months tops. My whole thing was that I really kind of wanted to do something with Shawn [Michaels]. I wanted my last run to be with Shawn and kind of go out into the sunset together--him and I. With less of a schedule that I have here, though, I can probably wrestle a few more years as long as I stay healthy.”
When asked if he planned on continuing wrestling until he was in his “Flair or Hogan years,” Nash just laughed and replied, “To where I’m 100? I’m almost there. I’ll be 50 soon. I never thought I’d be doing it this long. I still enjoy it, though. I still have fun doing it.”
That being said, Nash admitted that when people ask if he could change one thing in his career if he had to do it all over again, he replies that he simply wouldn’t do it.
“I’d find something else to do,” Nash said. “I’d be a doctor.”
Not that Nash doesn’t treasure everything he’s accomplished during his storied career. Having wrestled everyone from Ric Flair to Hulk Hogan, there aren’t many legends the five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion hasn’t shared some time in-ring with.
“I would have loved to have wrestled Andre [the Giant], but besides that, God, I don’t think there’s really anybody who I haven’t had the opportunity to wrestle in my era,” Nash stated. “I wrestled Mach (Macho Man Randy Savage), [Ricky] Steamboat, [King Kong] Bundy…I think I’ve wrestled just about everybody. I didn’t wrestle [Jimmy] Snuka, but he’s still out there in the indie scene; I can still wrestle Snuka somewhere.”
 Had Nash signed with WWE, he admitted there were plenty of new Superstars he would have enjoyed getting in the ring with.
“Oh, God, there are so many guys I haven’t worked with,” Nash said. “I’ve never worked against Batista, [John] Cena, never worked against Randy [Orton]…I had one or two matches with Jericho, but I’ve never really worked with Chris. There are just a ton of matchups.”
With all the big name stars who have jumped ship to TNA over the years--including the aforementioned Booker T and Kurt Angle, as well as Christian Cage--it’s only natural to wonder if Nash would like to see some of his old WWE friends sign with TNA in the future. And while Nash would love to see wrestlers like HBK or Triple H “cross the line,” he’s not holding his breath.
“I would love to grab a Randy Orton or somebody like that,” Nash said. “But, you know, Shawn’s almost ready to probably call it quits. And of course Hunter would never…I don’t think Hunter’s going anywhere [laughs]. I don’t think Paul’s going to make the move. And Taker is like me; Taker’s too beat up to think about more work. Those are really the guys I grew up in the business with.”
While no one expects Mr. Stephanie McMahon to make the jump to TNA, fans of both wrestling promotions have always been hopeful to see the two brands interact, if only for a night. That opportunity presented itself at this year’s WrestleMania, which was held in Orlando, the home of TNA. Of course, nothing monumental occurred, and Nash doesn’t expect anything to occur in the years to come.
“Vince would never give us that opportunity, as the run would benefit us right now,” Nash said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t show up at their pay-per-views and buy a bunch of good seats and hit the ring and hope our legal can get us out of it, though [laughs]. No, I think if we did anything in that aspect, my country club membership would be revoked.”
 Now that Nash has committed himself to TNA “for a while,” he acknowledged that despite all the growth the company has had over the past few years--including the introduction of the Knockouts division and broadcasting “iMPACT!” in Hi-Def--the little wrestling promotion that could still has a long way to go.
“I still think the major thing we have to do is brand TNA,” Nash said. “I think that a lot of people just don’t know that we exist. I’ll walk through the airport and people will see me and they’ll come up to me and they’ll talk to me and ask me what I’ve been doing lately and I’m like, ‘I’m on TV every Thursday night.’ And you tell them and they’ll say, ‘Okay, I’ll look for it.’ I just really think that we need to brand and build the brand stronger--it just takes time.”
When asked what he thought of TNA’s decision to broadcast in Hi-Def (some questioned WWE for doing it, saying it shows more botches as well as the Superstars’ and Divas’ true age), Nash replied, “Like anything else, it’s a progression of where television is. It’s like when people did e-mails, I said I’d never do e-mails. I was the dinosaur, and now I check my e-mail everyday, couple times a day. You can say that you’re not going to do Hi-Def, but then nobody’s going to watch your show because someone will be shooting an infomercial in Hi-Def on another channel and it will catch their eye.”
Although no one has criticized TNA yet for the change, something the brand has been chastised for over the past couple years is the recent influx of WWE and WCW talent. While obviously the bigger names help draw more viewers to “iMPACT!,” some say TNA’s homegrown talent--wrestlers like AJ Styles, Alex Shelley and Christopher Daniels--were pushed out of the main event spotlight once the “Main Event Mafia” came in. Nash, however, disagrees.
 “I think the intrigue of the old versus the new is always going to be good,” Nash said. “I’ve always felt this is a storyline-driven business, and you have to come up with a storyline that intrigues people to want to watch it on a weekly basis, like a soap opera. It can’t be episodic where you watch it one week and it ends, and you can pick it up four weeks later and not miss a thing. It’s like when Jericho and Shawn did that storyline [on ‘Raw’]. When something is good and sticks out, I watch it. Not because Shawn’s my friend, I watch because it’s also good television. When that angle was going on, I watched it religiously. Our creative, I think right now, has come up with some good ideas that have some legs to them that, as they say, book themselves. And when you do that, you start to draw a wider fan base.”
Nash said he is even looking forward to getting into the ring with some of TNA’s homegrown stars himself now that he’s planning on sticking with the company a little bit longer.
“I think Joe and I will probably work some more singles, so I look forward to that,” Nash said, “although I like the tag thing more than the singles. I like to share the workload a little bit at my age; I like to watch a match progress while I’m on the apron. But down the line, I really haven’t had a singles match with AJ, so I’d like to work a match with him…we’ve got some good young guys, it just takes a little bit of time. I think AJ and Joe, out of that pack of guys, have shown they’re going to be stars. I think ‘Black Machismo,’ Jay Lethal, has shown that he can be a star. I think Matt Morgan could be a breakout guy. I like The [Motor City] Machineguns. And I think Robert Roode is already a star. I think him and [James] Storm came out good, and I think Robert Roode is going to become a really good babyface someday. He’s been a heel since I’ve been here, but I watched him one night at an indie show he worked as a babyface, and he made a comeback and I thought to myself…Robert Roode looks, to me, like a pro wrestler. He moves like a pro wrestler. He reminds me kind of a little bit of Rick Rude and kind of a little bit of Hennig. He moves a lot like Curt did. Of all those guys, I think he could be the biggest star of all of them.”
Given how close Nash was to almost calling it quits with TNA--and, if he signed with WWE, how close he was to almost walking away from the business altogether--it’s only natural to wonder what matches Nash reflects on the most fondly during his career.
 “I’ve probably got two or three,” Nash replied when asked about his favorite matches. “‘Survivor Series’ with Bret Hart when I lost the belt, I thought we had a good story going into that match and we had a really good match. The match with Shawn Michaels in Omaha--I think it was the last WWF pay-per-view I did in ’96--I think that was one. I really enjoyed the match I had with Jeff Jarrett, I think it was at ‘Against All Odds.’ Hell in a Cell was good with Hunter. It’s always good when you work with your friends. And I’ve enjoyed the times that I’ve had in TNA working with Kurt. He’s very professional and brings out your best and makes you work hard, which at this point in my career I kind of need someone to light a fire under me.”
Always the jokester, when asked if there was a finishing move he always wished he could call his own, Nash replied, “The Figure-four would be nice to lay down in. Anything laying down would be nice. That way I can just call it in--I’ll call my finish in from the hotel.”
In all seriousness, when asked what he’s most thankful for this holiday season, Nash replied with a simple answer: his life.
“My son recently wanted to see some pictures of the guys I used to work with, and I have this old big folder and it’s all 8-by-10s--publicity shots of sports people publicists did at different federations,” Nash said. “And there was a softball game we had in Chicago, and it was Yoko[zuna], Bam Bam [Bigelow], Owen [Hart], Davey Boy [Smith], Curt, Rude…everybody in this softball game is in this picture, and I’m looking through these pictures of me sitting there signing balls and the guys and all of us together. And I’m lookin’ at every page and when I sat down and finally looked at it, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Mike Rotunda and myself are the only guys at this softball game that are still alive. And there’s like 15 guys there; 11 of them were dead. I’m just lookin’ at it, and you realize: God, that was just a day in my life and those guys are all gone. They all had families, and I was the captain of the ship a lot of times; I was in the mix most nights.”
 “I was sitting at a restaurant Sunday morning,” Nash continued. “We never go to this restaurant, never ever go to this restaurant. And I drove by it and said, ‘You know, we never go to that Monterey Grill.’ And my wife said, ‘Well, if you want to go.’ I had already passed it by and had to go back through this nursing home to get to it. It was kind of busy. I sat down for maybe three minutes, and the lady in the seat behind me--older lady, really overweight with a woman on the outside of her--started gagging on a piece of meat. The lady next to her completely froze. By the time the lady across from them screamed for help, I had to pick that lady up and then had to pick this big lady up, and it took a couple of good shots to get this piece of meat out of her. My son has seen me do that three or four different times, and he said, ‘God, dad, it’s amazing how many times you’ve seen people choke and you’ve saved them.’ I said, ‘Think about it, though. We were going to go eat four blocks down the road, and if I didn’t go to that restaurant, she might…’ It’s just kind of fate. I count my blessings that I’m still alive, but at the same time I don’t think it’s by accident. I think there’s a time for you to go. You could walk out of here and get hit by a bus, and people have said that and people have actually had it happen. ‘What happened?’ ‘He walked out and got hit by a dump truck.’ ‘Really?’”
Nash’s outlook on life might surprise some fans, but when asked what might surprise people the most about him, Nash replied that--like his good friend Shawn Michaels--he’s very religious.
“I don’t think people would think I’m very religious, but I’m actually kind of religious, like in my own way,” he said. “I don’t think people would associate me with that--that I have any strong beliefs. And I’m an Obama fan, damn it!”
Something else that may surprise fans is, despite being so open in interviews and on-camera, Nash considers himself to be a pretty private person--so despite his acting background, don’t expect a “Hogan Knows Best”-type reality show starring the Nash family anytime soon.
 “I think if Terry had it to do over he would not have done that,” Nash said. “It puts too much pressure on your family. It’s one thing [for the focus] to be on you. I mean, Terry, he’s been used to that spotlight for years and years and years. It’s really different, though, when you put that on people who aren’t used to it, and sometimes it can make people do things they normally wouldn’t do. My wife, I would think my wife has maybe watched me wrestle in person five times in 20 years. And my son maybe once. I was taught, when I broke in, if you want to keep your family and keep them whole, keep them away from the business. I would highly suggest that to anyone who has a family: wrestling is not an environment to bring your kids around, it’s not an environment to bring your wife around. Back in the good old days when ‘Nitro’ was running, you’d go to the Marriott bar and there’d be 40 or 50 girls waiting after the show to hang out with the boys and some idiot would bring his wife on the road for the day and bring her into the bar. She’d look at this and go, ‘Is it like this every Monday?’ No, just here in Raleigh. It’s the only place this happens--everywhere else there’s nobody. It’s like, you idiot! I remember one time one of the guys brought his wife along, and two of the guys hit on his wife ’cause they just thought it was some girl on the road. ‘Who’s this broad?’ ‘It’s my wife.’ ‘No really, who is it?’ ‘No really, it’s my wife.’ And you’re like, dude, why do you have your wife on the road? My wife will be a saint for staying married to me. She went on the road with me when I was Vinnie Vegas for three nights: Montgomery, Pensacola and someplace else. And we drove home to Atlanta and got back at four in the morning, and you know I made her get up everyday and go to the gym--normal stuff that we’d do--and she goes, ‘You get no sleep, you train everyday, you wrestle every night, you guys drink every night…I don’t see how you guys do it.’ Now it’s the exact opposite. We do nothing. You don’t drink anymore, you don’t do anything. You know you’re getting old when a night out is a bottle of red wine and a steak someplace. I don’t even think I’ve been to a strip club in years. I’m getting old. I just hand the torch off to somebody else and go: ‘Here youngster, your turn.’ But now the guys don’t do anything. It’s like, all our guys go back to their rooms and get on the Internet or play video games. Guys bring systems on the road with them, like PlayStation or Xbox.”
Yes, times are definitely changing, not only in the professional wrestling world, but also in Hollywood. When asked if he had any upcoming movies fans should keep an eye open for, Nash laughed and replied, “I just read for a Denzel Washington movie via the Internet, I guess. I put it on the Internet--uploaded [the audition] and sent it to them. I don’t hold my breath.”
When asked if he was looking forward to the upcoming Punisher sequel, Punisher: War Zone (Nash appeared in the 2004 movie), Nash just replied, “I was kind of disappointed they didn’t use Thomas [Jane]. I know the actor that they used (Ray Stevenson), but I thought Thomas did a good job. I’ve watched it a couple of times on FX when it’s on. They play the hell out of it, which is great ’cause I get paid when they play it. I thought for what it was, though, it was a good movie. It was a lower-budget movie; it wasn’t like a $100-million Marvel movie--I think it was only a $20- or $30-million budget. I had fun doing that.”
 And despite being “out of control” in college, something else Nash had fun doing during his life was playing for the Tennessee Volunteers’ basketball team. Fortunately, it seems like the University of Tennessee has forgiven Nash for his bad behavior.
“This is the 100th anniversary of Tennessee basketball this year, so they sent me an e-mail saying they want me to come to a game,” Nash concluded. “So I thought I’d bring my wife and son.”
Luckily for the university, this time Nash won’t need any spray paint to leave his mark on the campus--his career alone has been enough to put the Volunteers in the history books.
TNA “Turning Point” airs Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. PST only on pay-per-view.
“iMPACT!” airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. only on Spike TV.
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