Earlier this month, wrestling fans across the globe celebrated the 20-year anniversary of the formation of the nWo when Hulk Hogan joined forces with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall at WCW’s Bash at the Beach . Nash’s original defection to WWE’s rival, and then the Hogan heel turn, changed the landscape of professional wrestling forever. It also sparked the Monday Night Wars, still considered to be sports entertainment’s peak in terms of popularity.
Nash would remain a main-event level talent in WCW until the company folded in 2001. Like many others, Big Kev waited out his guaranteed contract before returning to WWE alongside Hogan and Hall. His second run working for Vince McMahon ended in early 2004, and he spent the next seven years with TNA working with the Main Event Mafia and The Band, among other angles.
Beginning in 2011, Kevin Nash would make several surprise appearances in WWE, including two Royal Rumbles and, of course, a memorable run-in during the Triple H and Sting match at WrestleMania 31 that featured the confrontation between the nWo and D-X. But he did return as a part-time superstar in 2011, booked to be a significant player in one of the company’s top programs in the second half of the year.
Nash fought Triple H at the 2011 TLC pay-per-view, but an injury at the end of the summer prevented him from facing CM Punk at Night of Champions . Triple H hastily filled in for Nash, but the entire angle was largely criticized as sloppy and rushed.
Nash is now a WWE Hall-of-Famer, inducted by Shawn Michaels last year. The idea of another comeback has been broached on a number of occasions, with all parties agreeing that his wrestling days are in the past. Nash recently appeared on Vince Russo’s podcast on PodcastOne, where he revealed the only two ways he would return as a recurring character on WWE television. The first, interestingly enough, revolves around current WWE veteran, Dolph Ziggler (thanks to Wrestling Inc for the transcription).
“People always say would you ever come back to wrestling and I say to myself I’d come back and be [Dolph] Ziggler’s Diesel because that’s all he needs. Number one, he’s not a face. Ziggler is a heel and I wouldn’t have to say a word because he can talk. I’ve already had mine. But for the bigger guys, he needs somebody to stomp them. He does the same thing Shawn [Michaels] did. He takes every bump in the world. He takes every beating from the guys and then usually they beat him. But to me, his in ring performance is as good as anybody’s in the business right now. He works so hard.”
Nash was, of course, alluding to his first WWE run, when his Diesel character was the bodyguard for Shawn Michaels. Ziggler has long drawn comparisons to The Heartbreak Kid for their similar in-ring styles and how they take bumps. Nash now wants to help Ziggler take that next step to get back to the top of the card.
“I’d like to teach him the little things that Shawn learned. Yeah, he can fly back on every bump but every third one is kind of nice to take a punch and bounce off the ropes. I mean, the ropes are there for a reason.”
Aside from potentially aiding Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Nash revealed that the only other storyline he would sign off on for a WWE return would be a reformation of the nWo. Not the original, mind you, but Nash would like to help in the making of a modern-day version of the stable. He’d certainly have his friend Triple H’s ear on creative pitches, but The Club may be the closest we get to a new nWo, especially considering the fact that Nash himself has signed off on the faction using their famed “Too Sweet” hand gesture.
[Image via WWE]