Kevin Nash

Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE under their legends program. Nash has wrestled under several ring names, but is best known by his real name in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he has also been billed as Diesel. In 1994, Nash (as Diesel) won all three titles comprising the WWF Triple Crown, and at that year's Slammy Awards won the MVP (now Superstar of the Year) and (with Shawn Michaels) the Best Tag Team (now Tag Team of the Year) awards. Between WWE, WCW, and TNA, Nash has won a total of 21 championships, including being a six-time world champion (a five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WWF Champion), and a 12-time world tag team champion between the three promotions. Although he held the WWF Championship only once, Nash is the longest-reigning titleholder of the 1990s, with a 358-day run. During his time in WCW, Nash also became the first wrestler to defeat Goldberg and in the process ended his undefeated streak of 173–0 at Starrcade in 1998. Nash was a member of The Kliq, a group that included Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman. He is one of the three founding members of the New World Order (nWo), along with Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall; Nash was described in Fighting Spirit Magazine as "arguably the nWo's most important member". He was inducted into the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame. Early life Nash was born on July 9, 1959, to a devout Christian family, in southwest Detroit, Michigan. Nash's father, Robert, died of a heart attack on April 4, 1968, aged 36, when Nash was eight years old. On December 27, 1994, Nash's mother, Wanda, died after a four-year struggle against breast cancer. He attended Aquinas High School, followed by the University of Tennessee, where he majored in psychology and minored in educational philosophy. At the University of Tennessee, Nash was a center for the Tennessee Volunteers basketball team. He remained on the team from 1977 to 1980, during which time the team made it to the NCAA Sweet 16. Following a physical altercation with head coach Don DeVoe and a series of other on-campus incidents, Nash did not play a fourth year for the Volunteers, and he attempted to transfer to Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Nash reconsidered his options and instead moved to Europe, where he played basketball professionally for various teams. His career ended in 1981 in Germany (while playing for Gießen 46ers) when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament. With his basketball career over, Nash enlisted in the 202nd Military Police Company in Giessen, Germany and served in a secure NATO facility for two years, during which time he was promoted to the rank of specialist. After working on an assembly line at Ford Motor Company and as the floor manager of a strip club in Atlanta, Georgia, he decided to try professional wrestling. Professional wrestling career World Championship Wrestling Nash debuted in WCW as the orange-mohawked "Steel", one half of the tag team known as the "Master Blasters". He was initially partnered with "Iron", with whom he made his debut with at the Clash of the Champions on September 5, 1990, defeating Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner, but Iron was soon replaced by "Blade". The Master Blasters, however, disbanded within a year. In May 1991, Nash was repackaged as the silver-haired "Oz", a character based on the Wizard of Oz from the 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Oz, managed by The Great Wizard, was pushed strongly throughout early 1991; he squashed several wrestlers before losing to Ron Simmons at the Great American Bash on July 14. On October 27, he lost to Bill Kazmaier at Halloween Havoc. World Wrestling Federation In 1993, Nash left WCW, signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation at the request of Shawn Michaels. He was given the stage name of "Diesel," with the character given the nickname "Big Daddy Cool." For the role, Nash dyed his beard and hair black. Taking on the appearance of a typical cocky biker thug, Diesel sported black sunglasses and leather garments. The name of Diesel, suggested by Shane McMahon, was a play on the fact that Nash was from Detroit, known famously as "The Motor City." To play off of his character's name, Nash's initial entrance music was a simple series of truck engine noises along with loud horns beeping. Diesel started out as the bodyguard/best friend of Shawn Michaels. He made his WWF debut at a house show on June 6, 1993, assisting Michaels in defeating Marty Jannetty for the Intercontinental Championship. In January 1994, Diesel appeared at the Royal Rumble, eliminating seven men in under 18 minutes of in-ring time. Diesel won the Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon, following interference from Michaels on the April 13, 1994 episode of Superstars. The duo of Diesel and Michaels defeated The Headshrinkers to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on August 28, making Nash a double champion. The next night, Ramon defeated Diesel at SummerSlam to regain the Intercontinental Championship. Other media In 1991, Nash made his acting debut in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze as the genetically enhanced version of the villain, Shredder called the Super Shredder. He also had a very minor role as a jackhammer worker in the 1998 movie Family Plan. In 1999, Kevin Nash created and co-wrote a comic book titled Nash, set in a dystopian future and featuring himself as the primary character. Image Comics published an ashcan preview edition and two regular issues. He was the first choice for the role of Sabretooth in X-Men, but the role ultimately went to his former tag team partner Tyler Mane. Nash appeared in a fight scene as The Russian in the 2004 film The Punisher. While filming the scene, Nash was accidentally stabbed with a real knife by actor Thomas Jane. He made guest appearances in three different TV shows. He appeared on one episode each of The Love Boat: The Next Wave (episode "Captains Courageous") and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (episode "The Crucible") and in two episodes of Nikki as The Big Easy (episodes "Gimme Shelter" and "Stealing Nikki"). In 2009, he appeared on Fox's show Brothers, in which he came to get his stolen championship belt back.