On a recent edition of his “Kliq This” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash discussed a medical issue that prevented him from performing at WCW Starrcade 1997, where he was scheduled to face The Giant (Paul Wight) in a singles match.
Nash revealed that he experienced a health concern during the holiday season, which he suspected to be a heart-related issue, possibly triggered by excessive celebration and substance abuse.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On what happened before Starrcade: “Okay, true story. My mother-in-law and her husband were in Arizona for Christmas, and a buddy of mine made me a pan of pot brownies because I knew I wouldn’t be able to smoke because my mother-in-law was there. This is back in my Soma days, I had a little bit of problem, it was muscle relaxers. It was Christmas, man. I was drinking a little bourbon, drinking a little beer, drinking a little wine, drinking a little champagne, having some Somas, having some Xanax. So all of a sudden man, and I have no idea, but my buddy says to me, ‘Where those brownies at?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Man, there’s like an ounce of week in that.’ I’m like. ‘Oh, f*ck.’ It’s like eating bud with chocolate on it, is basically what it was. It was like eating grass. So that shit started to kick in, and it took a while, and I had this big house. I had a couch that was huge, and I sat in it, and I swear to you, man, the thing just ate me. I got heavier and heavier and heavier.”
On feeling like he was having a heart attack: “Finally, I got up and I walked down [to another room]. It was easy the length of a bowling alley that I had to walk through to get to the master. As I walked, I just started f*cking sweating. So I thought, f*ck, man, am I having a heart attack? So I went in the master, and this is ‘97. I’m looking at my wife’s closet door, and I take my shirt off because I’m sweating through it. I look, man, and I’m f*cking gray. I’m just f*cking gray. I said, man, am I having a heart attack? So I go outside. It was cold as f*ck, there was steam coming off me. I walk back inside and I sat down on the f*cking bed, and I put my hand [on my neck,] and I was all f*cked up, I couldn’t count ten seconds. At this point like yeah, let me self-diagnose, before WebMD. I said, I’m not gonna take the chance, dying on Christmas. I always had that thing because my father died of a heart attack, and so I called.”
On the EMT believing Nash was trying to commit suicide: “The guy comes in, the guy’s Australian. I said I think I might be having a heart attack. He goes, ‘Why’s that?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I just don’t feel real good. I said I feel f*cked up.’ He says, ‘You having a hard time breathing?’ I said, ‘Man, I’m having a hard time, just…yeah, I guess, I don’t know. I’m so f*cking wasted.’ The guy said, ‘What have you taken?’ I start naming this f*cking list. The guy says, ‘Is this a suicide attempt?’ I said, ‘No, man. It’s Christmas.’ [Laughs] I said, ‘No, it’s Christmas. I’m not gonna kill myself on Christmas, man. I’m just f*cked up.’ He says, ‘I guess.’ So they take me to Scottsdale North Hospital, and I go in there, and they do a PET scan on me. Because my diaphragm was so thick, you can’t get the image. So the guy that’s working on Christmas, he’s going to diagnose me, and the guy says, ‘I can’t find the bottom of your heart. It’s not showing up.’”
On calling Eric Bischoff: “So they put a heart monitor on me, I’m fine. I don’t have any symptoms. But when they take my blood, there’s an enzyme when you have a heart attack that goes through the roof. Well, I also f*cking that day trained legs and back because I had the key to the gym. So of course, I’ve got a high level of this enzyme because I’ve broken down so much muscle tissue from working out. I spent the night at the hospital, and I’m like, ‘Oh, f*ck.’ I called Eric [Bischoff], I said, ‘I think I’ve had a heart attack. They think I’ve had a heart attack.’ Eric’s like, ‘Alright’ I gave him the number of where I was, and then the next day came, and he’s like, ‘I’m sending a private plane for you.’ It ended up, Scott [Hall] had to work double duty. I wasn’t gonna tell anybody, ‘I’m so f*cked up.’”
On the evaluation by the doctor: “The nurse came in, she said, ‘I want you to walk around so you can…’ I’m thinking, ‘Do you have any idea how f*cking high I am?’ [Laughs] I was there for 24 hours under observation, and the doctor comes in the next day, he says, ‘Not only did you not have any heart problems last night, you didn’t have one irregular heartbeat, which is unbelievable.’ He said most people would have something. I’m like, okay. He says, ‘You can go.’ So I go, and I go back to the house.”
Kevin Nash and The Giant’s match was rescheduled for WCW Souled Out 1998, which Nash won via pinfall.
