Former WWE/WCW/TNA star Kevin Nash spoke with Justin Barrasso of SI.com about his first stint in WWE that lasted from 1993 – 1996. Here are the highlights.
On the wrestling business in 1996:
“At that point, wrestling was dying. The Hulkamania era was over for Vince, and he was looking for the next big thing. A lot of his guys were working as occupations. There were a couple stars, and then there was a pig farmer, a dentist and a plumber.”
On his decision to leave WWE in 1996 to go to WCW:
“I had a wife who was due,” explained Nash. “I was living year-to-year on whether I got a payday at ‘Mania. I didn’t know what I was going to make, and I’m driving a used Mercedes. Then, all of a sudden, I’m going to get a minimum of $850,000 from WCW, and it was for 180 days, which was considerably more days off than Vince at over 300.
“I was coming from a world where I’d sit in the car and watch guys come back from the phone booth after making a collect call home and say, ‘My kid walked today.’ Then we’d drive off to Binghamton, New York or wherever else. I didn’t want that to be my life. If you’re in this business, you’re already on the road way more than you should be. The majority of our time was Waffle Houses and getting lost with no GPS. You had a map.”
