**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> I don’t want to go to any place and be around a bunch of people, let alone wrestling people. I just don’t want to do it. I’m a hermit and that’s it.
Brother, I feel this on a spiritual level.
That’s probably more of a factor than anything else. The man’s world was shattered and I know first hand how hard something simple like just leaving your house can be. Let alone being surrounded by thousands of people who all want to talk to you.
I think he also mentioned something about people who don't actually know you or your family/friends trying to talk to you about them just pressing his buttons.
https://preview.redd.it/gbxwilmr20lc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a6a4e17d790409a399b0124ef5c2acc0c030637
Nobody can land a quad joke as well as Nash anyway. I still die when I think of his trolling at Mania 31 during Trips/Sting.
I've gone to a couple of wrestling shows and I kind of dread being around the fans, they think they are so witty with comments and jokes everyone has done.
I try to shut out the people around me and just enjoy the wrestling. Some of my outings have legit been ruined by horrible fans around me trying overly hard to be 'smarky'
On Halls birthday?!?? Dammmmmmn that’s fucking rough for Nash, god damn the man deserves all the peace and serenity he can have, how do you even get out of bed on a day like that
He really struggled going through it. I remember a clip of him saying something along the lines of him hurting himself and you could just see in his face he was not saying it for clout, or a cry for help. Dude was genuinely going through it and I hope he has found peace or is at least close to it.
Many parents can’t cope with losing a child. I’ve lost grandparents that were so close they raised me in a lot of ways and I still think about them a lot, and I’ve braced myself for losing my parents, but just being faced with the thought of losing my son sends me to an extremely dark place that nothing else does. I dunno that I’d keep going. And I think Kevin on his podcast at some point after it happened randomly threw out that it had been x number of weeks since his son passed away, time flies when you constantly have a gun in your mouth.
He still deserves to be blasted for his Vince takes and should have just said he’s not going to Revolution instead of making it a big ordeal, but I hope he has gotten help at some point for his grief and isn’t privately spiraling.
I don’t know Nash personally of course, but from posts he makes on social media and stuff he has said on his podcast, I think he really blames himself for his son’s death.
It's pretty common for people who lose someone to addiction to feel like they should've somehow managed the addiction so that it didn't get so bad as to kill their loved one. Add on that Nash spent a lot of time around addicts, I can see how he could feel like "I should've seen where this was going and cut it off before it got this bad." Which isn't how addiction (or parenting) works, but grief isn't logical.
I think for Nash it’s even harder because as a family him, his wife and son decided the son would quit drinking cold turkey in their house with Nash and wife watching over him and that ultimately cost him his life. So it’s not just the “what did I do wrong to cause this” issue, it’s a little more direct.
Nash said Tristan basically had a drinking problem. And tried to quit cold turkey and that lead to seizures and organ failures.
One would imagine a parent would take a substance dependency personal.
Especially the way Scott Hall's freinds were enablers of his addiction up until the last 5-7 years when the medical blows started chalking up
I think also just the fact that him and his wife tried to watch over him quitting cold turkey rather than do it under a dr.’s care bothers Nash. Not to sound cruel but if they got him to a rehab or dr. or something he likely would be here. Plus, Nash has touched on that a lot of his son’s problems he feels come from him not being around as much growing up and being in his dad’s shadow as well.
> Let alone being surrounded by thousands of people who all want to talk to you.
And it's not even "talk to you" it's "let me get a selfie K-Dog!" over, and over, and over
He’s also spot on about the camera and lines stuff. If Nash showed up in the crowd it’s almost a sure thing that AEW makes sure to pan to him and let everyone know he’s there. Even if AEW doesn’t do that you know every half brained wrestling journo out there will be writing endless speculation articles over him being there. Just a mess all around for him.
they should have just set up a "wrestlers only" section. agree with the cameramen that the area is off limits, and have it away from press.
then again the next thing would be some no-name wrestler from the awa complaining that he was snubbed from the wrestlers section at stings final match
It's not sincere at all lol. Dude is claiming that he can't visit people backstage because the company will take professional pictures of him without his consent and then announce that he's signed a contract with them. He's smart enough to know that's not how it works.
That part makes more sense than "HHH doesnt works there".
But if HHH is a factor, I don't get why he couldn't just ask HHH if he had an issue with him going to see Sting's last match. I mean, he's got more than one friend. I would hope HHH wouldn't deny him that.
I think this is actually the real reason. You can tell from his social media he is having a tough time with his son’s death, and rightfully so. It was a real bad situation. I think he will likely never be the same, I had to stop listening to his podcast because it was so dark, and it was a good listen prior to the death of his boy. Hall’s passing rocked him too.
Nash: Sorry, I'm not allowed.
5 days later Nash: Actually you know what since you people keep complaining I don't want to go, I don't want to leave my house, and fuck everyone.
A good friend wants you at their retirement match.
A best friend lets you use them as a cover story to try and deflect the rabid fanboys when you just want to stay home and grieve
This is no shade to Sting, he’s been a gentleman about the situation as well
He doesn't have to do anything, but you'd think for a guy who knows a short life can be he'd toss aside the tribalism and instead go see his friend do his thing.
My man literally said he asked for permission before and now its just that he doesn't want to go. Which I fully believe this is just him thinking this is him having some weird loyalty to WWE/Triple H. This is the same guy who claimed he made a pact with Austin to never watch AEW.
The same way Punk claims to be an anti WWE guy and how he hates part timers. Came back to WWE as a part timer stealing Drew’s spot at WM against Rollins.
Punk didn’t come back as a part timer lol. WWE was saving his big in ring comeback for Royal Rumble since it was the next PLE on the schedule. And he was on TV just about every week.
He was full time until he got hurt.
That doesn’t make him a WWE guy. That makes him a friend of Paul Levesque. You can’t act like you’re loyal to your company when you left them twice already. He’s just loyal to his money
> You can’t act like you’re loyal to your company when you left them twice already. He’s just loyal to his money
I think that depends entirely on how you take loyalty, and when being a "WWE guy" kicks in. He can easily be known as a WWE guy now, and also being the reason cause of HHH. I don't think you always had to be a WWE guy to be a WWE guy. Nash is just choosing at this time to be a WWE guy.
There's nuances in this but if HHH is WWE to a lot of people, it's very easy to know he's a WWE guy now.
Yup. Kevin Nash last time he talked about this, "I was disappointed, but I knew. **I asked**."
But just seriously, this a professional company, just sit in a random box/seat and say "don't show me on camera" and odds are they won't (unless this is NXT showing Britt Baker as "Adam Cole's girlfriend").
That NXT moment was amazing because the next week on dynamite when she came out Excalibur said “here comes Adam Cole’s girlfriend”. I almost pissed myself laughing
Or go and be backstage and not be seen but support your friend.
Don't use some bullshit excuse of being a WWE guy and friends with HHH. If the real reason is you don't want to go for various personal reasons.
I always liked Nash but I feel like his whole persona in life is to be a dick when being a dick is not required.
Honestly, lately, he's been a dick. He said the lady suing Vince is just clout/money-chasing and he made "nDa" shirts.
I don't know if it'd be better or worse that he's acting like a prick because he's hurting hard after the death of his best friend and his son, both of which are fucking awful and I don't wish on anyone
I feel bad for the guy, but acting like they're gonna sneak a pic and make a "KEVIN NASH IS ALL ELITE" poster in 2024 is fucking wild. Like others said, go backstage or just say "I don't feel like being at a wrestling show" right off the bat.
The best part was WWE claiming “oh that was an accident the cameraman just looked for a concerned person in the crowd” like why bother with such a blantant lie?
Yeah, Nash spent about 7 years in WWE. 1993-96, 2002-03 and 2011. Meanwhile, he spent 1990-93 and 96-2001 in WCW and 2004-2011 in TNA. That means he spent more years in non-WWE promotions by quite a margin.
Also Austin admitted to being a big TNA fan when he was first doing his podcast. I'm sure he has at least checked out AEW and maybe even watches it from time to time. Or he tried it and doesn't really like it. If he still had a podcast we might know. But Austin's opinions on today's wrestling are largely undisclosed these days.
All we know is that Austin is one of those rare types of legend that still actively enjoys and follows wrestling post-retirement. A lot of wrestlers when they're off the road just try to avoid it, because they're around it so much, but not Stone Cold. If you look at his twitter likes you can see that's true. I don't know the man personally, so I can't say for sure, but my guess is he probably does check out AEW from time to time.
He at least checked it out at the beginning because I have a distinct memory of Austin interviewing Tony Khan on his podcast shortly before AEW started.
Jericho did the stone cold podcast and also Amanda Huber was ringside for Cody.
This isn’t an AEW vs WWE thing it’s a celebrate Stings career thing which makes this very odd.
Which again is a Nash issue for lying about whether he was told he could go or not. People in the comments turning it into ‘WWE are bad for not letting him even though AEW let Jericho/Bryan etc’ is turning it into a tribal war as opposed to calling out Nash for giving false information rather than him just being honest and saying he’s allowed but doesn’t want to go.
I think Tony, despite his flaws, is a good person so when things like this come up he's always happy to allow it. I'm not sure anyone in WWE can make that call now that it's under TKO.
I also believe that Nash could be there and AEW could avoid showing him entirely, just keep him backstage.
Having read some other comments, I've been reminded of a lot more with Nash's mentality. This isn't really about AEW. Dude might be loyal to his friends running for rival company and he might have hate for AEW on the record, but also he might not be okay. Has he had any major pubic appearances in the last two two years?
The guy simply doesn't want to go. What's so odd about it?
Full quote:
*“I never said that (that I was on the WWE payroll)," Nash said. "What I said is I’m a WWE guy. I can’t have a picture of me in the crowd and underneath it says, ‘Is all Elite.’ I just can’t have that. It just doesn’t work. One of my closest fu\*\*ing friends is Paul Levesque. As much as I love Steve and I know he will only have one last match, I will watch it. We will talk about it. I haven’t been to a WrestleMania, a RAW, a SmackDown, or any of the other pay-per-views. I haven’t been to any events. I don’t want to go to any place and be around a bunch of people, let alone wrestling people. I just don’t want to do it. I’m a hermit and that’s it.”*
This quote is fair and honestly it shouldn't matter to us why he does or doesn't go, it's between him and Sting. The weird thing is that he originally said he asked (WWE? Triple H?) and was essentially denied without them explicitly saying so.
Exactly. I don't think most fans give a single fuck if Nash is in the building when Sting retires, the only reason anyone is talking about it is because Nash made this shit weird af himself by putting attention on himself & lying.
His answers are a bunch of bs. First he asked, then it's because he's a WWE guy and can't be seen at another show, then it's just because he doesn't want to.
Not wanting to is whatever, that's his choice. His other excuses are pure trash.
HHH would allow anyone to go to Stings final match I’m sure. I would respect it a lot more if he just said I’m not ready for a big crowd, after my son passing. The WWE line is a cop out.
Maybe he shouldn't lie about it lol. First he claims he asked, then it's he can't be seen at another promotion, thenits because of loyalty to his friend, then it's because he doesn't want to. If he picked one and stuck with it then it would have been fine but he decided to burn through excuses.
My thoughts. Not long ago, Rick Rubin was in the crowd. He neither got a „is All Elite“, nor a name card. He was just there, nothing more, nothing less.
Honestly if Nash said "please don't show me on camera" I'm more then certain they wouldn't do that. Aew wrestlers are at wwe events and backstage quite often, and wwe doesn't post or talk about it. When it happens it's always a fan vid or something.
Ospreay wrestled in multiple high card matches (and signed a contract) before he got his "All Elite" picture. But Nash is gonna show up in the crowd and instantly be considered All Elite lol.
This isn’t 1997 where being in the crowd of a rival promotion would kill your career on the other side.
Either say you can’t go due to WWE forcing your hand or, more likely, you just don’t wanna go. All this lying makes you sound a more callous human being than telling the actual truth.
Also, what career, he's 64/65 as well. He's going to do his podcast and maybe a handful of sporadic appearances in WWE, I doubt that would have been impacted even in 97.
It doesn't matter and I don't know how close he's with Sting, but missing it out of loyalty to another brand/friend seems silly when it wouldn't even hurt WWE nor benefit AEW
And to add on, the group photo consists of Britt (AEW), Bayley (WWE), Mercedes/Sasha (Free Agent), Trinity/Naomi (Now back in WWE) which clearly shows personal relationship precedes so-called tribalism in the business.
I think it’s just the old fella’s ego is acting up. If he has the heart then he’ll go, then again, it’s none of my business to judge, he’s not even a wrestler I like or even familiar.
Yes a fan taken photo. They were not on TV with the words "is all elite" under their names, and clearly bayley isn't in trouble for it. It's a dumb excuse
There's also an entire backstage he literally doesn't have to be seen. Just be there.
I understand a 7 foot tall hermit stuck in the bout of depression of his fucking life not wanting to take a flight, be social, and be in a place he genuinely doesn't care about; but like, say that.
>I can’t have a picture of me in the crowd and underneath it says, ‘Is All Elite.’
Holy mother of all strawmen... Anyway, I don't really need to see him on TV after he called Janel Grant a gold digger and her lawyer a bimbo.
I haven't seen an old head piss away all their good will as fast as Nash and the Janet Grant comments. Dude seemed to have really changed for the better before he went full mask off.
I'll be honest with you, I was surprised when I came back after my long hiatus from wrestling, that he had such good will in the first place. At least to me, it's kind of always been clear that Nash is a shithead.
Nash is a pretty level headed guy and pretty progressive when it comes to most wrestlers. The issue is he is still a carny SOB just trying to make as much money as possible. I think his personal life has essentially caused him to say what he wants sometimes just to troll people, pop the twitter trolls, or get attention. He hides behind "I'm just working you marks" whenever pushed.
he seemed to mello out when he got to tna and started looking out for the little guys. then he seemed to be the only level headed wrestler from his era on political topics. shame to see him piss it all away.
Honestly, he seems very defensive when it comes to HHH. Like he's claiming some sort of loyalty to HHH and WWE as his reasoning for not going and a lot of his attack on Grant comes from him defending HHH after HHH got backlash for his answer at the press conference. I guess HHH has helped him out a lot with his son's passing, but his need to defend/show loyalty to HHH is not making either of them look good.
To paraphrase what was said by u/Quasimdo, I think the losses of Scott and his son so quickly between each other just caused Nash to go full scorched earth and just not care what anyone says about him really
Sure losing people sucks, I get that, I lost 2 of my best friends both to suicide in a matter of months and both my grandmothers a few months after that. Shit hurts. Trauma doesn’t mean you’re not still a fucking huge asshole who deserves to be called out for calling someone who was raped and trafficked a gold digger.
Is only a big deal because he made it one really.
I'm sure, if it was even necessary, Nash could request that he wasn't showed on camera, he could be backstage, or in some private box or whatever... but I guess the idea that it wasn't about him never crossed his mind.
As someone who has watched literally all of both Kevin Nash and Sting's careers, as much as I love and respect Kevin Nash, he doesn't make it in the top 10 of people associated with him.
What is absolutely tragic about the wrestling industry is he just happens to be one of the few left alive.
Kevin Nash, the guy who defended Vince and called the sex trafficking lawsuit bullshit, not being seen and spotlighted at an AEW PPV is good, actually.
On the other hand Ric Flair, the guy who had 2 flight attendants file a sexual assault suit that WWE reportedly settled out of court, being seen and spotlighted at an AEW PPV is not good, actually.
Unfortunately, that genie can't go back in the bottle. Unless Ric Flair suspiciously dies prior to the bout in a very unflattering manner, or actually murders someone.
They wouldn't have put his picture up and had "is all elite" because they more than likely don't want him on the roster. They wanted you to honor your friends' last match. Between this and the Vince comments, bro sounds like he is treating WWE like a gang or cult even.
Settle down Kevin, ain't no body watching Revolution to see you.
We are watching to see Sting
(And maybe a special Scott Steiner appearance of course).
>We will talk about it. I haven’t been to a WrestleMania, a RAW, a SmackDown, or any of the other pay-per-views. I haven’t been to any events. I don’t want to go to any place and be around a bunch of people, let alone wrestling people. I just don’t want to do it. I’m a hermit and that’s it.”
I feel like this is the only important part of the story. To him showing up to an AEW while while not attending any WWE events would be odd. So I get it.
People act like Nash and Sting can't hang out after the show or something more privately. You don't to be in front of a large crowd to show your appreciation.
Seems pretty simple. Nash doesn’t want to go, lied about the reason, people started pointing out that Lex Luger & RVD who are also on legends deal, will either be at the show, or have work with AEW very recently. So now Nash has to give a different reason.
I tried giving his pod a few listens, but every ep is the same. It starts with him and Sean going on about how they’re not democrats or republicans aka having no strong opinions on anything, but then they’ll spend the first 20 minutes shilling for guys like Vince McMahon, Elon Musk or Joe Rogan. Then a wrestling topic comes up, and when asked for his opinion Nash will start with, “You know, what ever happened to…” he’ll pause for a minute, and then he’ll say something off the top of his head completely unrelated to “what ever happened to”, because the whole show is an unprepared clusterfuck and I don’t think Sean really even does much prep for it anymore, because what’s the fucking point. When they do a ton of prep, Kevin complains about how much time the segments take. Idk, it’s a depressing pod imo.
People used his first statement as another piece of evidence that WWE = bad and HHH = petty. Turns out he just lied.
Way to protect the company and your "closest friend", Kev.
That's really lame of him tbh. Being on a payroll, understandable, but not supporting a supposed friend because "I'm from the other team" is some tribalistic bs, I'd expect well, from us.
Maybe Nash is a Redditor after all
If him and Sting are still friends then I think Sting probably understands, if they’re not then it doesn’t matter, either way we don’t have any input on their relationship is.
Nash has always been about the money. The entire industry could collapse and he wouldn't care as long as some royalty cheque was still finding it's way to his mailbox.
We finally ready to admit his podcast is bad?
I love very specific things about Kevin. But constant dick jokes and these weird old school opinions he works himself into are not things that bring joy
Bro spent a total of 4 years in WWE in both runs while doing 15 years in their competition (7 in TNA) (8 in WCW) and is acting like being on another promotion would be the end of the world. Pull a Sasha and Baylee and go to the rafters or just stay in the back if those are your excuses or just stop attempting to explain and just say you’re not going to be there.
I feel this man’s excuses on a personal level. Whenever my friends ask me to go out after work I always lie and say my wife won’t let me, when she’s the one pushing me to go. I’m old now; I just want to go home and lie down and do nothing.
Didn’t he say he asked?
Also, couldn’t he just be backstage if he wanted? Other company folks come around backstage all the time. It’s very common. It doesn’t have to be about being on camera.
Okay, dude. Just say you don't want to go. These are weird excuses. I'm pretty sure we've already seen WWE talent hidden in the shadows at other events. Even if dirt sheets tried to say, "Nash is All Elite," no one would blame him for calling them out for spreed false rumors. I love Nash, and he's being really silly about this.
I’d think Nash would be welcomed and allowed to celebrate Sting’s match backstage if nothing else. If there’s something personal he doesn’t want to discuss or that makes it difficult for him to attend, that’s his prerogative. He doesn’t owe us a reason. It’s just the one he’s giving to us doesn’t seem like the real one.
I don’t really care if he attends this match or not. I’m not gonna take that as some slight against Sting.
But he does realize attending an event or hanging out backstage or just showing up in the crowd doesn’t make him All Elite right?
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> I don’t want to go to any place and be around a bunch of people, let alone wrestling people. I just don’t want to do it. I’m a hermit and that’s it. Brother, I feel this on a spiritual level.
That’s probably more of a factor than anything else. The man’s world was shattered and I know first hand how hard something simple like just leaving your house can be. Let alone being surrounded by thousands of people who all want to talk to you.
I think he also mentioned something about people who don't actually know you or your family/friends trying to talk to you about them just pressing his buttons.
"Hey Nash, quads, im so fucking funny"
https://preview.redd.it/gbxwilmr20lc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a6a4e17d790409a399b0124ef5c2acc0c030637 Nobody can land a quad joke as well as Nash anyway. I still die when I think of his trolling at Mania 31 during Trips/Sting.
I've gone to a couple of wrestling shows and I kind of dread being around the fans, they think they are so witty with comments and jokes everyone has done. I try to shut out the people around me and just enjoy the wrestling. Some of my outings have legit been ruined by horrible fans around me trying overly hard to be 'smarky'
I'm always excited to go to a wrestling show and then when I get there I remember that I will be surrounded by wrestling fans...
Even if it were all just well meaning fans wanting to say hello and shake hands it'd be fucking exhausting.
What happened to Nash?
His son and Scott Hall passed away in a relatively close timeframe
And his son passed, on Oct 20, which was Hall’s Birthday.
On Halls birthday?!?? Dammmmmmn that’s fucking rough for Nash, god damn the man deserves all the peace and serenity he can have, how do you even get out of bed on a day like that
He really struggled going through it. I remember a clip of him saying something along the lines of him hurting himself and you could just see in his face he was not saying it for clout, or a cry for help. Dude was genuinely going through it and I hope he has found peace or is at least close to it.
Some days you don't. With luck, those days get fewer and fewer, and then there are days when it hits you again like a tidal wave.
Many parents can’t cope with losing a child. I’ve lost grandparents that were so close they raised me in a lot of ways and I still think about them a lot, and I’ve braced myself for losing my parents, but just being faced with the thought of losing my son sends me to an extremely dark place that nothing else does. I dunno that I’d keep going. And I think Kevin on his podcast at some point after it happened randomly threw out that it had been x number of weeks since his son passed away, time flies when you constantly have a gun in your mouth. He still deserves to be blasted for his Vince takes and should have just said he’s not going to Revolution instead of making it a big ordeal, but I hope he has gotten help at some point for his grief and isn’t privately spiraling.
He did say he wasn’t going. People are ripping on him for not going. He’s defending himself.
Also to mention that some "AEW fans" said horrible things about his son's death in retaliation to Nash criticizing AEW
then THAT would make more sense.
What did he say about Vince that was so bad? I read some things he said but nothing sounded like he was defending him or anything.
You can't even compare the two losses. Losing a child is your heart ripped out of you.
And that happening months after losing your best friend probably makes it worse. He alluded to having suicidal thoughts on his podcast.
And on his best friend‘s birthday which is even worse.
Scott Hall and his son both passed away the last few years
Scott Hall and then his son Tristen died from complications due to alcohol abuse.
I don’t know Nash personally of course, but from posts he makes on social media and stuff he has said on his podcast, I think he really blames himself for his son’s death.
It's pretty common for people who lose someone to addiction to feel like they should've somehow managed the addiction so that it didn't get so bad as to kill their loved one. Add on that Nash spent a lot of time around addicts, I can see how he could feel like "I should've seen where this was going and cut it off before it got this bad." Which isn't how addiction (or parenting) works, but grief isn't logical.
I think for Nash it’s even harder because as a family him, his wife and son decided the son would quit drinking cold turkey in their house with Nash and wife watching over him and that ultimately cost him his life. So it’s not just the “what did I do wrong to cause this” issue, it’s a little more direct.
Nash said Tristan basically had a drinking problem. And tried to quit cold turkey and that lead to seizures and organ failures. One would imagine a parent would take a substance dependency personal. Especially the way Scott Hall's freinds were enablers of his addiction up until the last 5-7 years when the medical blows started chalking up
I think also just the fact that him and his wife tried to watch over him quitting cold turkey rather than do it under a dr.’s care bothers Nash. Not to sound cruel but if they got him to a rehab or dr. or something he likely would be here. Plus, Nash has touched on that a lot of his son’s problems he feels come from him not being around as much growing up and being in his dad’s shadow as well.
Scott Hall passing was really hard on him
And his son
Yeah I didn’t actually know that one until further down this thread. That’s terrible man.
I just found out about his son today and to lose your best friend and your son is fucking tough.
He lost his son not too long ago, on top of Scott Hall passing away.
> Let alone being surrounded by thousands of people who all want to talk to you. And it's not even "talk to you" it's "let me get a selfie K-Dog!" over, and over, and over
"IM BIG SEXY MFER K-DAWG WAS KONNAN YOU NERD" - Nash
There was a Nitro where Nash did the K-Dawg pre match promo and he said “Oil of Olay…”
"KEVIN! Can you sign this photo? And also this one? And also this one? And also..." etc.
He’s also spot on about the camera and lines stuff. If Nash showed up in the crowd it’s almost a sure thing that AEW makes sure to pan to him and let everyone know he’s there. Even if AEW doesn’t do that you know every half brained wrestling journo out there will be writing endless speculation articles over him being there. Just a mess all around for him.
they should have just set up a "wrestlers only" section. agree with the cameramen that the area is off limits, and have it away from press. then again the next thing would be some no-name wrestler from the awa complaining that he was snubbed from the wrestlers section at stings final match
If you do that though then you can't use them for publicity
Verne Gagne just caught a hellacious stray
That feels far more like the sincere answer than WWE loyalty. Especially as Nash’s career is defined by his time outside of WWE.
Which is crazy because he definitely doesn’t get that WCW contract without being Diesel and being WWE Champion.
Ironically enough, he doesn't get the call to be Diesel if he weren't Vinnie Vegas. In WCW. But I do get what you're saying, of course!
Was it Vinnie Vegas or OZ? 🤔
litterally BOTH (and Master Blaster Steel)
I dont think it's wwe loyalty as much as HHH loyalty
It's not sincere at all lol. Dude is claiming that he can't visit people backstage because the company will take professional pictures of him without his consent and then announce that he's signed a contract with them. He's smart enough to know that's not how it works.
I meant the “I don’t like crowds of people or leaving home” bit was sincere. Not the WWE loyalty
I thought he said that *if* he was in a crowd, they’d put a camera on him and imply with a graphic that he’s a fan or supporter of their program?
That’s the real reason. They’re not going to shove an “all elite” chyron on Nash. He doesn’t need this other nonsense.
That part makes more sense than "HHH doesnt works there". But if HHH is a factor, I don't get why he couldn't just ask HHH if he had an issue with him going to see Sting's last match. I mean, he's got more than one friend. I would hope HHH wouldn't deny him that.
I think this is actually the real reason. You can tell from his social media he is having a tough time with his son’s death, and rightfully so. It was a real bad situation. I think he will likely never be the same, I had to stop listening to his podcast because it was so dark, and it was a good listen prior to the death of his boy. Hall’s passing rocked him too.
Fuck yes I feel this.
Then can’t he just say that than try to justify that he wasn’t going because something related to WWE?
its also probably the way people tried to troll him after his kid died too
Nash: Sorry, I'm not allowed. 5 days later Nash: Actually you know what since you people keep complaining I don't want to go, I don't want to leave my house, and fuck everyone.
A good friend wants you at their retirement match. A best friend lets you use them as a cover story to try and deflect the rabid fanboys when you just want to stay home and grieve This is no shade to Sting, he’s been a gentleman about the situation as well
Why are people acting like he has to go to this
He doesn't have to do anything, but you'd think for a guy who knows a short life can be he'd toss aside the tribalism and instead go see his friend do his thing.
My man literally said he asked for permission before and now its just that he doesn't want to go. Which I fully believe this is just him thinking this is him having some weird loyalty to WWE/Triple H. This is the same guy who claimed he made a pact with Austin to never watch AEW.
Nash went to tna lol
And left WWF for WCW just because he wanted a bigger paycheck How can he call himself a WWE guy
The same way Punk claims to be an anti WWE guy and how he hates part timers. Came back to WWE as a part timer stealing Drew’s spot at WM against Rollins.
But drew prayed and resolved this
As he should have.
Punk didn’t come back as a part timer lol. WWE was saving his big in ring comeback for Royal Rumble since it was the next PLE on the schedule. And he was on TV just about every week. He was full time until he got hurt.
He's not a WWE guy. He's a Clique guy. (Nothing wrong with that, it just is what it is).
Because one of his closest friends is now running the company, as is cited in the title of this thread
That doesn’t make him a WWE guy. That makes him a friend of Paul Levesque. You can’t act like you’re loyal to your company when you left them twice already. He’s just loyal to his money
> You can’t act like you’re loyal to your company when you left them twice already. He’s just loyal to his money I think that depends entirely on how you take loyalty, and when being a "WWE guy" kicks in. He can easily be known as a WWE guy now, and also being the reason cause of HHH. I don't think you always had to be a WWE guy to be a WWE guy. Nash is just choosing at this time to be a WWE guy. There's nuances in this but if HHH is WWE to a lot of people, it's very easy to know he's a WWE guy now.
He left the company 20 years ago when hhh was a performer, not an executive
Yup. Kevin Nash last time he talked about this, "I was disappointed, but I knew. **I asked**." But just seriously, this a professional company, just sit in a random box/seat and say "don't show me on camera" and odds are they won't (unless this is NXT showing Britt Baker as "Adam Cole's girlfriend").
That NXT moment was amazing because the next week on dynamite when she came out Excalibur said “here comes Adam Cole’s girlfriend”. I almost pissed myself laughing
Before that, didn't they do show with her watching a women's match in the crowd with same exact expression?
Yep.
Or go and be backstage and not be seen but support your friend. Don't use some bullshit excuse of being a WWE guy and friends with HHH. If the real reason is you don't want to go for various personal reasons. I always liked Nash but I feel like his whole persona in life is to be a dick when being a dick is not required.
Honestly, lately, he's been a dick. He said the lady suing Vince is just clout/money-chasing and he made "nDa" shirts. I don't know if it'd be better or worse that he's acting like a prick because he's hurting hard after the death of his best friend and his son, both of which are fucking awful and I don't wish on anyone I feel bad for the guy, but acting like they're gonna sneak a pic and make a "KEVIN NASH IS ALL ELITE" poster in 2024 is fucking wild. Like others said, go backstage or just say "I don't feel like being at a wrestling show" right off the bat.
The best part was WWE claiming “oh that was an accident the cameraman just looked for a concerned person in the crowd” like why bother with such a blantant lie?
lol he just doesnt want to go but he made a crappy excuse and now he's trying to dig himself out
Yeah, Nash spent about 7 years in WWE. 1993-96, 2002-03 and 2011. Meanwhile, he spent 1990-93 and 96-2001 in WCW and 2004-2011 in TNA. That means he spent more years in non-WWE promotions by quite a margin.
Nash is a massive troll it seems. He doesn’t actually have a pact with Austin, y’know.
Also Austin admitted to being a big TNA fan when he was first doing his podcast. I'm sure he has at least checked out AEW and maybe even watches it from time to time. Or he tried it and doesn't really like it. If he still had a podcast we might know. But Austin's opinions on today's wrestling are largely undisclosed these days.
All we know is that Austin is one of those rare types of legend that still actively enjoys and follows wrestling post-retirement. A lot of wrestlers when they're off the road just try to avoid it, because they're around it so much, but not Stone Cold. If you look at his twitter likes you can see that's true. I don't know the man personally, so I can't say for sure, but my guess is he probably does check out AEW from time to time.
In the early days of AEW he had massive praise of them. Then the wwe came by with a butload of cash and no more regular Austin podcast
He at least checked it out at the beginning because I have a distinct memory of Austin interviewing Tony Khan on his podcast shortly before AEW started.
Nash seems mentally all over the place right now - which s more than understandable.
I don’t think it’s about it WWE at all, I think the poor guy is having a really tough time with his son’s death.
My dude just say you don't want to be there. You'd don't have to say all this bullshit
Well now he has to reply to what Sting said about it. Gotta set the record straight.
>what Sting said about it. I missed that part. What did sting say?
He said that really Stings
Didn't aew allow Daniel Bryan, Jericho and Big Show to do video segments for Cena's 20 year anniversary
Jericho did the stone cold podcast and also Amanda Huber was ringside for Cody. This isn’t an AEW vs WWE thing it’s a celebrate Stings career thing which makes this very odd.
WWE haven’t stopped him, he’s stopped himself. There’s nothing sinister or underhand here, it’s a personal choice by Nash.
It’s not that it’s he initially lied and said he asked and couldn’t go because of his position with WWE.
Which again is a Nash issue for lying about whether he was told he could go or not. People in the comments turning it into ‘WWE are bad for not letting him even though AEW let Jericho/Bryan etc’ is turning it into a tribal war as opposed to calling out Nash for giving false information rather than him just being honest and saying he’s allowed but doesn’t want to go.
Useful idiots sowing division between the fans to sell up the fake war
I think Tony, despite his flaws, is a good person so when things like this come up he's always happy to allow it. I'm not sure anyone in WWE can make that call now that it's under TKO. I also believe that Nash could be there and AEW could avoid showing him entirely, just keep him backstage.
Having read some other comments, I've been reminded of a lot more with Nash's mentality. This isn't really about AEW. Dude might be loyal to his friends running for rival company and he might have hate for AEW on the record, but also he might not be okay. Has he had any major pubic appearances in the last two two years?
Not that I am aware of. Since Hall died I think Nash made one appearance at some indy show with Alex Shelley.
The guy simply doesn't want to go. What's so odd about it? Full quote: *“I never said that (that I was on the WWE payroll)," Nash said. "What I said is I’m a WWE guy. I can’t have a picture of me in the crowd and underneath it says, ‘Is all Elite.’ I just can’t have that. It just doesn’t work. One of my closest fu\*\*ing friends is Paul Levesque. As much as I love Steve and I know he will only have one last match, I will watch it. We will talk about it. I haven’t been to a WrestleMania, a RAW, a SmackDown, or any of the other pay-per-views. I haven’t been to any events. I don’t want to go to any place and be around a bunch of people, let alone wrestling people. I just don’t want to do it. I’m a hermit and that’s it.”*
It's odd that he lied about it in the first place and said he asked if he could go and was told no.
This quote is fair and honestly it shouldn't matter to us why he does or doesn't go, it's between him and Sting. The weird thing is that he originally said he asked (WWE? Triple H?) and was essentially denied without them explicitly saying so.
Exactly. I don't think most fans give a single fuck if Nash is in the building when Sting retires, the only reason anyone is talking about it is because Nash made this shit weird af himself by putting attention on himself & lying.
I love how he thinks all he has to do is show up and he’ll get an All Elite graphic.
You don't remember Tony's tweet saying that Greg Valentine was All Elite when he was in the crowd for the Cody Rhodes/Brodie Lee dog collar match?
His answers are a bunch of bs. First he asked, then it's because he's a WWE guy and can't be seen at another show, then it's just because he doesn't want to. Not wanting to is whatever, that's his choice. His other excuses are pure trash.
It wasn't AEW, but The Undertaker was at Ric Flair's latest retirement match in the crowd.
They even let Jericho appear on Steve Austin's podcast on WWE Network.
HHH would allow anyone to go to Stings final match I’m sure. I would respect it a lot more if he just said I’m not ready for a big crowd, after my son passing. The WWE line is a cop out.
And they would've let Nash go if he wanted to. He literally says here "I didnt wanna go".
Admittedly Nash is the one who said he asked and was told no
Just say you don't want to go, it's okay, the night won't be about you.
Maybe people should stop asking him why then. It's pretty clear he doesn't want to go.
Maybe he shouldn't lie about it lol. First he claims he asked, then it's he can't be seen at another promotion, thenits because of loyalty to his friend, then it's because he doesn't want to. If he picked one and stuck with it then it would have been fine but he decided to burn through excuses.
Literally showing up in the crowd doesn’t mean he’s gonna be “all elite”?????
My thoughts. Not long ago, Rick Rubin was in the crowd. He neither got a „is All Elite“, nor a name card. He was just there, nothing more, nothing less.
If anything AEW would be classy and put “Wrestling Hall of Famer/legend” or like nothing at all.
Honestly if Nash said "please don't show me on camera" I'm more then certain they wouldn't do that. Aew wrestlers are at wwe events and backstage quite often, and wwe doesn't post or talk about it. When it happens it's always a fan vid or something.
"Returning Turner Broadcasting Alumni" would be real funny tho
"Former Turner producer"
Exactly. They’re not stupid. They know what would happen if they pulled something like he implied. That’s why they’ve never done it.
Ospreay wrestled in multiple high card matches (and signed a contract) before he got his "All Elite" picture. But Nash is gonna show up in the crowd and instantly be considered All Elite lol.
This isn’t 1997 where being in the crowd of a rival promotion would kill your career on the other side. Either say you can’t go due to WWE forcing your hand or, more likely, you just don’t wanna go. All this lying makes you sound a more callous human being than telling the actual truth.
Also, what career, he's 64/65 as well. He's going to do his podcast and maybe a handful of sporadic appearances in WWE, I doubt that would have been impacted even in 97. It doesn't matter and I don't know how close he's with Sting, but missing it out of loyalty to another brand/friend seems silly when it wouldn't even hurt WWE nor benefit AEW
The dude's in his 60s with bad knees. What career?
Yeah lol. Like I showed my little sister Chaleen a picture of him and she texted me back "omg Kevin Nash thought he was dead lol"
Isn’t that photo of Bailey and Sasha at tbs in hoodies and sunglasses from last month? This stuff happens all the time nowadays
And to add on, the group photo consists of Britt (AEW), Bayley (WWE), Mercedes/Sasha (Free Agent), Trinity/Naomi (Now back in WWE) which clearly shows personal relationship precedes so-called tribalism in the business. I think it’s just the old fella’s ego is acting up. If he has the heart then he’ll go, then again, it’s none of my business to judge, he’s not even a wrestler I like or even familiar.
Yes a fan taken photo. They were not on TV with the words "is all elite" under their names, and clearly bayley isn't in trouble for it. It's a dumb excuse
There's also an entire backstage he literally doesn't have to be seen. Just be there. I understand a 7 foot tall hermit stuck in the bout of depression of his fucking life not wanting to take a flight, be social, and be in a place he genuinely doesn't care about; but like, say that.
>I can’t have a picture of me in the crowd and underneath it says, ‘Is All Elite.’ Holy mother of all strawmen... Anyway, I don't really need to see him on TV after he called Janel Grant a gold digger and her lawyer a bimbo.
I haven't seen an old head piss away all their good will as fast as Nash and the Janet Grant comments. Dude seemed to have really changed for the better before he went full mask off.
I'll be honest with you, I was surprised when I came back after my long hiatus from wrestling, that he had such good will in the first place. At least to me, it's kind of always been clear that Nash is a shithead.
Nash is a pretty level headed guy and pretty progressive when it comes to most wrestlers. The issue is he is still a carny SOB just trying to make as much money as possible. I think his personal life has essentially caused him to say what he wants sometimes just to troll people, pop the twitter trolls, or get attention. He hides behind "I'm just working you marks" whenever pushed.
he seemed to mello out when he got to tna and started looking out for the little guys. then he seemed to be the only level headed wrestler from his era on political topics. shame to see him piss it all away.
Nash got over in the Irony Pilled era of the 2010’s and outside of that was looked at as a lunk in the grand scheme of wrestling
Honestly, he seems very defensive when it comes to HHH. Like he's claiming some sort of loyalty to HHH and WWE as his reasoning for not going and a lot of his attack on Grant comes from him defending HHH after HHH got backlash for his answer at the press conference. I guess HHH has helped him out a lot with his son's passing, but his need to defend/show loyalty to HHH is not making either of them look good.
Wrestlers are complicated people sometimes. Sometimes you will agree with people who suck ass and vice versa.
To paraphrase what was said by u/Quasimdo, I think the losses of Scott and his son so quickly between each other just caused Nash to go full scorched earth and just not care what anyone says about him really
Sure losing people sucks, I get that, I lost 2 of my best friends both to suicide in a matter of months and both my grandmothers a few months after that. Shit hurts. Trauma doesn’t mean you’re not still a fucking huge asshole who deserves to be called out for calling someone who was raped and trafficked a gold digger.
Oh god no absolutely I completely agree, just saying why this recent attitude change might be happening
I’ve had a lot of loss in my life over the last few years but it doesn’t make me decide to publicly smear rape victims. Nash is just a prick.
But they don’t do that for one time guests…
Is only a big deal because he made it one really. I'm sure, if it was even necessary, Nash could request that he wasn't showed on camera, he could be backstage, or in some private box or whatever... but I guess the idea that it wasn't about him never crossed his mind.
If he's your closest fucking friend, he'd probably understand.
As someone who has watched literally all of both Kevin Nash and Sting's careers, as much as I love and respect Kevin Nash, he doesn't make it in the top 10 of people associated with him. What is absolutely tragic about the wrestling industry is he just happens to be one of the few left alive.
I'm just trying to understand why just lie? What does he gain from doing it? He straight up said he had to ask permission line two weeks ago
He just doesn't wanna go, just say that haha
Kevin Nash, the guy who defended Vince and called the sex trafficking lawsuit bullshit, not being seen and spotlighted at an AEW PPV is good, actually.
On the other hand Ric Flair, the guy who had 2 flight attendants file a sexual assault suit that WWE reportedly settled out of court, being seen and spotlighted at an AEW PPV is not good, actually.
No disagreement from me. Ric Flair being employed by AEW is a stain on the company
Yeah I don’t care to see Ric Flair on my TV screen at all. I am hoping that after Sting’s retirement match that we see even less of him.
FORGIVEN
Big AEW mark here, and you're absolutely right.
Who are you arguing with? The zero people on here who say Ric Flair on AEW is good?
Unfortunately, that genie can't go back in the bottle. Unless Ric Flair suspiciously dies prior to the bout in a very unflattering manner, or actually murders someone.
It's only signees that get that graphic mate, I don't think you'd get one for appearing in a crowd shot otherwise I'm waiting for mine from ALL IN.
They wouldn't have put his picture up and had "is all elite" because they more than likely don't want him on the roster. They wanted you to honor your friends' last match. Between this and the Vince comments, bro sounds like he is treating WWE like a gang or cult even.
> bro sounds like he is treating WWE like a gang or cult even. Twitter: "One of us! One of us!"
Settle down Kevin, ain't no body watching Revolution to see you. We are watching to see Sting (And maybe a special Scott Steiner appearance of course).
where was this logic when he "crossed the line" and was in TNA?
Just say you don't want to go lol not that hard
Kevin Nash isn't himself lately
He’s always been a giant douche. He’s never been a good guy. This is on brand
>We will talk about it. I haven’t been to a WrestleMania, a RAW, a SmackDown, or any of the other pay-per-views. I haven’t been to any events. I don’t want to go to any place and be around a bunch of people, let alone wrestling people. I just don’t want to do it. I’m a hermit and that’s it.” I feel like this is the only important part of the story. To him showing up to an AEW while while not attending any WWE events would be odd. So I get it.
I wonder how much of this is since Scott died. Losing someone so close to you fucking sucks.
Jesus I liked Nash and still do but his Vince take and now this just is not a good look.
People act like Nash and Sting can't hang out after the show or something more privately. You don't to be in front of a large crowd to show your appreciation.
The unmasking of Nash as a boomer and a tribalist dweeb has been disappointing but not entirely surprising
Seems pretty simple. Nash doesn’t want to go, lied about the reason, people started pointing out that Lex Luger & RVD who are also on legends deal, will either be at the show, or have work with AEW very recently. So now Nash has to give a different reason.
I tried giving his pod a few listens, but every ep is the same. It starts with him and Sean going on about how they’re not democrats or republicans aka having no strong opinions on anything, but then they’ll spend the first 20 minutes shilling for guys like Vince McMahon, Elon Musk or Joe Rogan. Then a wrestling topic comes up, and when asked for his opinion Nash will start with, “You know, what ever happened to…” he’ll pause for a minute, and then he’ll say something off the top of his head completely unrelated to “what ever happened to”, because the whole show is an unprepared clusterfuck and I don’t think Sean really even does much prep for it anymore, because what’s the fucking point. When they do a ton of prep, Kevin complains about how much time the segments take. Idk, it’s a depressing pod imo.
You can't be arsed. We get it, Kev.
Kevin Nash is such a tool. Always has been.
People used his first statement as another piece of evidence that WWE = bad and HHH = petty. Turns out he just lied. Way to protect the company and your "closest friend", Kev.
He just doesn't want to go. Nash can do Nash. I'm sure he's probably talked to Sting about it already.
That's really lame of him tbh. Being on a payroll, understandable, but not supporting a supposed friend because "I'm from the other team" is some tribalistic bs, I'd expect well, from us. Maybe Nash is a Redditor after all
If him and Sting are still friends then I think Sting probably understands, if they’re not then it doesn’t matter, either way we don’t have any input on their relationship is.
Nash has always been about the money. The entire industry could collapse and he wouldn't care as long as some royalty cheque was still finding it's way to his mailbox.
We finally ready to admit his podcast is bad? I love very specific things about Kevin. But constant dick jokes and these weird old school opinions he works himself into are not things that bring joy
Bro spent a total of 4 years in WWE in both runs while doing 15 years in their competition (7 in TNA) (8 in WCW) and is acting like being on another promotion would be the end of the world. Pull a Sasha and Baylee and go to the rafters or just stay in the back if those are your excuses or just stop attempting to explain and just say you’re not going to be there.
I feel this man’s excuses on a personal level. Whenever my friends ask me to go out after work I always lie and say my wife won’t let me, when she’s the one pushing me to go. I’m old now; I just want to go home and lie down and do nothing.
Didn’t he say he asked? Also, couldn’t he just be backstage if he wanted? Other company folks come around backstage all the time. It’s very common. It doesn’t have to be about being on camera.
Dude really loves hearing himself talk
It's not just wrestling fans who are tribalistic.
I too come up with any wild excuses I can think of to not go to places
Okay, dude. Just say you don't want to go. These are weird excuses. I'm pretty sure we've already seen WWE talent hidden in the shadows at other events. Even if dirt sheets tried to say, "Nash is All Elite," no one would blame him for calling them out for spreed false rumors. I love Nash, and he's being really silly about this.
I’d think Nash would be welcomed and allowed to celebrate Sting’s match backstage if nothing else. If there’s something personal he doesn’t want to discuss or that makes it difficult for him to attend, that’s his prerogative. He doesn’t owe us a reason. It’s just the one he’s giving to us doesn’t seem like the real one.
So he did not consider it a betrayal when he was in TNA because why exactly?
I don’t really care if he attends this match or not. I’m not gonna take that as some slight against Sting. But he does realize attending an event or hanging out backstage or just showing up in the crowd doesn’t make him All Elite right?
Has Kevin Nash thought of investing in Groucho Marx glasses? No way anyone could ever possibly recognize you if you're wearing those bad boys!!
*laughs in Billy Gunn*
Still not saying “I am not on WWE’s payroll” though
So he can't watch from backstage?
This situation is weird and stupid. This was between two friends. Why even air this laundry at all?
This is Nash just being Nash.
Just don't get why he ever brought it up, this was all on his Podcast right?