On December 13, 2019 I reached out to Kevin Nash for the first time about interviewing him for my books about the history of TNA/IMPACT Wrestling. Yesterday, just a few hours after watching Nash’s “WWE Untold: Two Dudes With Attitudes” documentary on Peacock, he called me. We wound up speaking for five hours! It was easily one of the best conversations I’ve had during this entire process.
I’ve slowed down doing interviews and been focused on the writing aspect of the book as of late, and I’ve made some nice progress on chapter one. However, I’m still doing interviews, here and there, with notable people from the past, as well as current members of the roster or staff. Kevin Nash isn’t just notable, he’s a legend.
I grew up watching “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel on WWF TV and PPVs during his run as both a heel and face, wreaking havoc and delivering punishing jackknife powerbombs to anyone who crossed his path. I then watched him take over WCW Monday Nitro with Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan as the New World Order, followed by a solid run in TNA in the 2000s, and subsequent returns to WWE.
Kevin Nash and I have been texting for months now, and he told me to stay on top of him about scheduling it. On March 28 he said, “Keep bothering me. I’ll do it.” So, every week I’d shoot him a text, checking in to see if he had availability to talk to me. On April 8, two days after the WWE Hall of Fame aired where he was inducted for the second time (this time as a member of the NWO), I woke up to a voicemail from the big man saying, “It’s Nash. Felt like talking. Later.” This was at 1:00 a.m. Thankfully, I keep my phone in do-not-disturb mode at night, so I didn’t see this message until later that morning. It occurred to me that, perhaps, he felt like talking because he was nostalgic about his career as a result of the Hall of Fame experience.
With this in mind, I knew that yesterday the “WWE Untold: Two Dudes With Attitudes” documentary about Kevin and Shawn Michaels was going to air on Peacock, so I figured it would be a smart time to shoot him a text to see if Kevin wanted to talk. He replied with, “I’ll give you a call tonight.” Well, we started talking around 8:00 p.m. and didn’t stop until after 1:00 a.m., more than five hours later.
“Big Sexy” and I covered a wide range of topics, personal and professional. Going into this call, I knew we’d hit it off because I agree with a lot of the things he’s said publicly on countless issues. My assumption was correct, as we bonded over a unified view on myriad topics. We talked about the “WWE Untold: Two Dudes With Attitudes” documentary, which we both loved, those three epic years in the WWF, his time in WCW, and, of course, his run in TNA. When it comes to TNA, we covered everything: why he joined TNA, why he left, Jeff Jarrett, Dixie Carter, how much money he made in TNA, Hogan and Bischoff coming into TNA and the effect it had on the company, Diamond Dallas Page, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Ken Anderson, and so much more. We also talked about the X-Division, the Knockouts, and how TNA treated tag team wrestling. By the time we talked about the love triangle between Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, and Karen Angle, he said to me, “You’re going to have a really interesting book!” We’d periodically go off on tangents, talking about George Carlin, The Rock, society as a whole, and a whole host of other topics. By the end, Big Kev said it would be great to meet me in the coming months, when the opportunity arises. I said, “Absolutely!”
Kevin Nash is one of the most recognizable and influential professional wrestlers of all time. He was a part of so many important eras in the history of multiple companies that interviewing him for this project was something I really wanted to happen. Thankfully, it did. Not only did Kevin Nash follow through on his promise to talk to me, it went even better than him or I anticipated. I’m extremely grateful for his participation in this project, and I look forward to sharing his thoughts with you in both of my books. I promise that they are just too sweet!
