Happy Birthday! Kevin Nash Turns 57 Today

. Being in WCW gave Nash a chance to restart his career again at the place where it all started. [...]

By Lan Pitts

Nash
(Photo: WWE)

Big Daddy Cool. Big Sexy. Diesel. Kevin Nash has had more than his fare share of gimmicks over the years with the likes of Oz, Diesel, Vinnie Vegas, but the best gimmick he ever pulled was playing himself.

Nash started out in WCW as one of the Master Blasters as "Steel", an orange-mohawked warrior, but that only lasted a year, same with his follow up gimmick, Oz, which was based off the description of the actual Oz from the Wizard of Oz book. He went undefeated for almost a year, but backstage politics with Nash, mainly him refusing to sign a deal that was significantly less than what he was originally paid as WCW was cutting costs across the board.

Nash would eventually find his first strike at success with playing Shawn Michaels' bodyguard, Diesel, the leather-wearing, motorcycle-loving bad boy. As Diesel, Nash would become a Triple Crown champion, and having the longest reign as WWF Champion of the 1990's with a 358-day reign. He was defeated by Bret Hart at Survivor Series '95, but the year was highlighted by how invincible Diesel was billed as.

With Nash's contract in flux in 1996, WCW offered huge amounts of money that Vince McMahon couldn't match (at the time, WWF had seen its less successful days).

Being in WCW gave Nash a chance to restart his career again at the place where it all started. He, along with Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan, formed the NWO, which soon became the hottest ticket in all of professional wrestling. Nash's profile in WCW grew as the company grew to its highest ratings ever and actually dominated their rival, the then-WWF in television ratings.

When WCW was bought in 2001, Nash waited out his Time Warner contract and was eventually rehired by the WWF in 2002 as part of a revitalized NWO with Hogan and Nash. Nash never quite reached the championship level again and soon after tearing a quad on live television, he left the now WWE for TNA Wrestling, where he would become a two-time Tag Team Champion and two time Legends Champion, now the King of the Mountain Championship.

Nash had sporadic appearances and even appeared in the 2011 Royal Rumble. He had then announced he had signed a five-year "WWE Legends" deal that granted certain royalties to merchandise and video games. In 2015 he was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame. Longtime friend Shawn Michaels did the honor of inducting his former tag team partner and fellow Kliq member.

Outside of wrestling, Nash had made some notable appearances in movies such as Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, The Russian in the 2004 Punisher movie with Thomas Jane, and as "Tarzan" in the Magic Mike franchise.

Whether you know him by one name or all of his famous characters, Kevin Nash has stood the test of time and remains of the most popular wrestlers of the recent era here's wishing him a very happy birthday.

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