Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Punk get to where he was because he was friends with a group of controlling *****? Or because he was associated with Hulk Hogan? No, right?
Now answer me this, did Kevin Nash compete in high profile matches for the highest drawing PPV events in history? Was he a consistent performer in the ring capable of putting on coherent, entertaining matches on a weekly basis? If you say "yes" to the last one, you deserve a hot skillet to the face.
Kevin Nash had the talent to get to the top of his profession while getting paid big money to do it.
It's not show friends, it's show business. Back in Kevin Nash's era it was dog eat dog & WCW especially it was a shark tank. Don't player hate because Nash was at the top of the food chain. So you reckon midcarder Shawn Michaels convinced Vince McMahon to put the strap on Diesel at the expense of himself? the stupidity of some people on here...Nash was given the strap as a result of Vince McMahon being a "mark" for Nash's size & because McMahon believed Nash had some untapped intangibles that a title reign might bring out in him. So Nash (one of the most intelligent, cunning, manipulative, witty & intimidating men in the business) needed HBK to pull the strings for him? I suppose you also reckon HBK helped Nash's rise to power in WCW...Sure HBK helped Nash but that is part & parcel of the business. HBK helped Nash just like Curt Hennig helped HBK & Scott Hall. It's not like HBK didn't get anything out of the equation either because until Nash none of the big guys would sell for HBK until Nash started doing it & setting a precedent.
In regards to Hulk Hogan:
Wade Keller in the 14th March 1998 edition of PW Torch Newsletter (sample because the article in regards to Sean Waltman's firing is huge):
When Hall and Nash, and later Waltman, jumped from the WWF to WCW, it didn't take long for them to establish influence within WCW. But with Hulk Hogan around, there was always an underlying tension between Hogan and the Nash faction (he is the most outspoken member of the WolfPac). Bischoff's reputation is that he pays close attention to his personal relationship with the top handful of wrestlers in WCW, but is otherwise often dismissive, if not outright disrespectful, with the rest of the roster. Bischoff has tried to juggle the egos of Hogan and Nash while staying friends with both of them, although when push comes to shove, Bischoff -- for a variety of diverse reasons - always sided most closely with Hogan.
Wade Keller in the 28th November 1998 edition of PW Torch Newsletter:
Kevin Nash has been WCW's "back-up quarterback" for the past couple of years. He is the type of quick-witted, brash, hip leader that everybody wants on his team - unless you fancy yourself a leader. If you're a leader, Nash is the type of guy who threatens you & must be stopped. Hulk Hogan, a former wrestler by the time you read this (yeah, right) was threatened by Nash & worked hard to hold Nash back. Hogan might argue he tried to co-exist with Nash, but Nash insisted on being "top dog" & was difficult to work with. No matter what the spin, the conclusion by both men was the same: "There ain't enough room in this town for the both of us." Nash has made it clear. He has been miserable in WCW & was counting down the days until his WCW contract expired. If you asked him, he knew down to the day how much time he had left before he could return to the WWF.
The safest thing Eric Bischoff has done is cling to Hogan. No matter what went wrong with WCW, Bischoff could always count on one thing. He could say he wasn't stupid enough to get rid of Hogan or downplay Hogan. Because Bischoff knew if he downplayed Hogan & the gamble didn't work out, Hogan would tell Bischoff's higher-ups (who are marks for Hogan's name value & star power) that Bischoff made a mistake. Bischoff would be out & Hogan would retain his power.
Hogan came to WCW & gave WCW instant credibility with advertisers, licensees & Turner higher-ups. He gave WCW an identity as a major league national group, replacing their image as a Southern based WWF wannabe. But soon Hogan as a babyface began to run out of steam. His matches were terrible, his rehashed feuds from his WWF glory days were stale & WCW trailed the WWF in every major revenue category despite his presence. Then along came Scott Hall & Kevin Nash. Vince McMahon has said outright had he known the impact Hall & Nash would have on the WWF vs. WCW battle, he would have offered enough money to keep them. Nitro began winning the ratings over Raw as soon Hall & Nash arrived. Hogan saw them as his chance to resurrect his career. So Hogan, who is considered one of the smartest businessmen in the history of the industry when it comes to pure self-preservation, hitched his wagon to Hall & Nash. Of course, he reframed it as Hall & Nash hitching their wagon to him but in reality he knows his career got a huge renewal by associating with the brash, hip, hugely popular Outsiders. WCW needed Hogan until they arrived. Once they arrived, Hogan may have soon be seen as expendable. He also knew that by putting Hall & Nash on his team, he could better control them. And control them he did. It wasn't always easy but Nash didn't have the clout to push Hogan out of the top position. On the surface it seemed smart for Bischoff to continue to ride Hogan. Nash put up a fight & at times seemed to make head way with Bischoff but in the end Bischoff stuck with the safe route.
Hogan continued to make a strong case for keeping his enormous power. He subtly worked to sabotage PPVs that he wasn't on so he could point to diminished buyrate figures. He skipped appearing on Nitros that would be poorly rated (during NBA timeslot shifts, for instance) & he placed himself on quarter hours that would also draw strong ratings. All of Hogan's backstage maneuverings wouldn't have meant a thing if Bischoff didn't keep bringing in big name stars to keep the WCW juggernaut rolling.
The latest spending spree didn't produce numbers. Ultimate Warrior was going to give Hogan another burst of life. It was a legendary feud that consisted of only one match. Hogan thought with that fresh opponent he could generate ratings that would justify his remaining atop WCW. When the ratings sank & the buyrate flopped, he saw the writing on the wall. Recently, despite his repeated appearances on Nitro, Nitro continued to lose to Raw in the ratings. He got off the sinking ship before he could be known as the captain who steered WCW into the iceberg. He left just soon enough that he can blame his replacement - in this case, Nash for running WCW into the iceberg.
In the meantime, Bischoff has to repair a damaged relationship with Nash & survive for the first time without the security blanket of Hogan. Nash has more power now than ever. But Bischoff hasn't decided yet that Nash should get all of the power. Nash is part of a loosely organized "creative team" that has no central authority figure, differing agendas, no credibility with the wrestlers & a history of lacking any organization. Hogan knows the mess Nash is inheriting. Bischoff doesn't know of any alternative. He has outright told people if he knew of one person who could handle WCW's "creative duties," he'd fire everyone else. Nash might be out to prove he is that man. He's got his work cut out for him but unlike Hogan, Nash wants to build his legend by being an architect to success, not just building his mainstream celebrity status at WCW's expense.
[YOUTUBE]watch?v=Dndbp7N6TGw[/YOUTUBE]
In 1998 Kevin Nash was the leader of nWo Wolfpac which got super over & was perceived to be more hip by fans in comparison with the nWo Hollywood faction lead by Hollywood Hogan. nWo Wolfpac got more mileage out of the nWo angle & was instrumental in helping WCW make 1998 it's most successful ever year. Come 1999, Hogan realising he needed rub that came from standing next to Hall & Nash rather than Brian Adams & Vincent did the same thing he did in 1996 with original nWo & jumped on the Wolfpac bandwagon.
Attempting to credit CM Punk as being one of the reasons for the WrestleMania buyrates of the past few years is insulting to my intelligence & at the same time hilarious. Dave Meltzer has went on record a few times recently saying that CM Punk doesn't sell tickets or sell PPV's but that he does sell merchandise. WWE draws these days on based it's overhyped brand name & only a very select few like The Rock, Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, John Cena are legitimate PPV draws.
CM Punk is a mark for having a problem with The Rock because he doesn’t think you should be in the business part-time and take a WrestleMania spot from someone who deserves it (keep in mind this hypocrite pushed for match with Stone Cold Steve Austin for years). This means CM Punk doesn’t understand the concept of a drawing card, since the three WrestleMania shows The Rock came back for were the three biggest grossing events of all-time because of that fact.
In WWE CM Punk was nothing but a cog in the wheel, with delusions of grandeur. Nash politically battled real stars for top spots like Undertaker, HBK, Bret Hart, Savage, Flair, Piper, Sting, Luger, DDP & Goldberg & best them to boot while in the process manipulated his way to become head booker in order to challenge Hulk Hogan's creative control dominance. CM Punk can't even handle Cena, Batista & Orton so he took his ball & went home - MMA wannabe would've been jobbing to Glacier back in the Monday Nitro days.
Kevin Nash & Scott Hall were the originators of the cool heel. WCW merchandised the nWo, heel fans were encouraged - it was pioneering. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall were influential behind pro wrestling's shift to more reality based content. In the 90's white boys now listened to rap, Tupac bandana wearing Nash knew demographic had changed & tried to crossover. Even little things such as wearing jeans & leather jackets was rarely seen until The Outsiders did it & it became accepted as the norm. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall were instrumental in WWF offering downside guaranteed contracts. They helped increased the pay scale of the industry while in WCW. They were the catalyst for the 90's wrestling boom. They helped book arguably the greatest angle in wrestling history while participating in it. Kevin Nash redefined what a giant could be in pro wrestling.
You're joking me, right? You do realize where that all went, right? Cattle prod, fingerpoke, WCW's death. If the previous Starcade didn't condemn WCW, this one more than did the trick thanks to one Mr. Nash deciding to put himself over Goldberg.
