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117-684: Some reigns were held by champions using a ring name , while others used their real name . There have been a total of 70 recognized teams and 164 recognized individual champions, who have had a combined 90 official reigns. The first champions were Sean "Shocker" Evans and Vince Charming who defeated The Wrong Crowd (Brian Anthony and Paul Atlas) in a tournament final held at the Eastland Mall . Four teams - The Enforcers (Crusher Hansen and Maxx Daniels), Da Munchies (Dick Trimmins and 2 Kool Abdul), The Premiere Players (Dash Bennett and Daron Smythe) and The Wrong Crowd (Brian Anthony and Paul Atlas) - are tied for

234-580: A disqualification victory (as the signature move of both men, the Jackknife Powerbomb, had been ruled an "illegal" move by WCW leadership due to its high potential for injury). This rivalry culminated in a tag team match at Bash at the Beach in July 1999 which pitted Nash and Sting against Savage and Sid. A stipulation was added that whoever got the pin in the match would become WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Nash

351-575: A draw due to interference from several wrestlers, including Shawn Michaels. Michaels was irate about his former bodyguard having beaten him to the WWF Championship and was sufficiently motivated to win the Royal Rumble match later that evening, earning himself a title shot at WrestleMania XI . At WrestleMania XI on April 2, Nash, accompanied to ringside by actress Pamela Anderson (who was supposed to valet for Michaels), defeated Michaels to retain

468-519: A wheelchair , Nash was helpless as he watched Shelley lose the match to Sabin. Nash remained out of action due to the injury, but returned prior to Bound for Glory , and announced The Kevin Nash Open Invitational X Division Gauntlet Battle Royal . Austin Starr won the match. Nash took an interest in Starr, which seemed to be at the behest of Shelley. Nash then worked with the X Division stars in

585-464: A $ 250,000 challenge to Bret Hart for its May 24 program. However, Bret's brother, Owen , died in a wrestling stunt just as Bret was flying to Los Angeles ; this immediately canceled their match and the feud. Nash then entered a feud with the returning Randy Savage, who was later joined by a returning Sid Vicious at The Great American Bash in June when he powerbombed Nash during the match, thus giving Nash

702-462: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

819-585: A five-year WWE Legends contract. On April 2, Nash, along with Sean Waltman , was on hand to celebrate the induction of Shawn Michaels into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011 . Triple H inducted Michaels, and after Michaels gave his speech, Nash and Waltman joined the two on stage to celebrate. Nash, no longer billed as Diesel, returned at SummerSlam in August, attacking CM Punk after he became WWE Champion , which allowed Alberto Del Rio to cash in his Money in

936-524: A handicap match, after Hulk Hogan, who was scheduled to team with Jarrett and Joe, was forced to pull out due to back surgery. At the end of the match Jarrett abandoned Joe and left him to be pinned by Nash. At the end of the event it was revealed that Nash and Sting had been right about Hogan and Bischoff all along, as they aligned themselves with Jarrett, Abyss and Jeff Hardy. On October 13, 2010, Nash's contract with TNA expired and he announced his retirement from professional wrestling. His last TNA appearance

1053-604: 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 and 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

1170-442: A match between Hall, Nash, Sting and The Giant (who had recently rejoined the nWo after being kicked out two years prior), Hall turned on Nash by hitting him with his tag team title belt and leaving the ring. The Wolfpac, however, was not down for long as Lex Luger joined Nash's team. Sting would eventually become a member as well, after being recruited heavily by both sides towards the middle of 1998. After Sting won Giant's half of

1287-476: A match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory on October 23. In the weeks preceding the event, Nash and Jarrett had several heated confrontations, on one occasion brawling with one another and with guest referee Tito Ortiz . On October 22, one day before Bound for Glory, Nash was hospitalized with chest pains . At Bound for Glory, a battle royal was held to determine

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1404-622: A new gimmick could be developed. On October 27, he lost to Bill Kazmaier at Halloween Havoc . Nash wrestled as Oz throughout the remainder of 1991 and went on a lengthy losing streak, suffering defeats by Kazmaier, Rick Steiner , Dustin Rhodes , and Arachnaman . He later used the gimmick for New Japan Pro Wrestling as the Great Oz in May 1992. On January 21, 1992, at Clash of the Champions XVIII , he

1521-607: A one-on-one match on Impact! with the winner qualifying for the Three Ways to Glory match at No Surrender . On the September 11 episode of Impact , prior to No Surrender, he seemingly parted ways with Joe on good terms. One month later, Nash returned at Bound for Glory IV and in a swerve , struck Joe in the back with Sting's bat, helping Sting win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship , turning heel once again in

1638-576: A part of a loosely organised "creative team" which also included Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Sullivan. The following month at World War 3 , Nash entered the 60-man, three ring battle royal that was a staple of the pay-per-view, with the winner getting a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade the following month. Nash survived to the end after literally clearing his ring out and big booting Lex Luger, who had Scott Hall in

1755-464: A private interview to Alex Shelley one week later. The interview saw Nash claim to be the most profitable WWF World Heavyweight Champion of all time and describe the X Division as "basically filler". Nash went on to announce that he intended to destroy the X Division in order to reassert his position within TNA. He began his campaign at Sacrifice on May 14, powerbombing Puma and continued his campaign on

1872-456: A quadriceps tear in a tag match on the July 8 episode of Raw . On the July 15 episode of Raw , the nWo was officially disbanded by Vince McMahon as Eric Bischoff became Raw general manager. After a nine-month injury, Nash returned as a face on the April 7, 2003 episode of Raw , much to the delight of both Shawn Michaels and Triple H, who were feuding with each other when Nash returned. As part of

1989-447: A rematch from Bound for Glory, and Nash had a ringside seat. After the match went on a bit, Angle and Sting were out of the ring and when Angle pushed Sting onto Nash, Sting turned around and hit Nash in the face with a right hand shot, leading to Nash interfering on Angle's behalf, even though earlier he said he was not going to help Angle. Following the match, which Angle won, Nash offered a hand shake to Angle only to be " flipped off " by

2106-471: A returning Goldberg until Road Wild , where Hogan defeated Nash in a "retirement" match. On October 4, 1999, Nash returned to WCW along with Scott Hall, which was later revealed to be a new version of the nWo involving Nash, Hall, Bret Hart, and Jeff Jarrett called 'nWo 2000'. This would not last long either due to the injury of Hart, and Nash spent most of 2000 feuding with the likes of Terry Funk , Mike Awesome , Scott Steiner , and Booker T . Nash won

2223-484: A reunion of D-Generation-X and Nash was awarded the title of being an honorary member of the stable. Nash then helped DX take down Damien Sandow . Nash competed in the 2014 Royal Rumble match as the 14th entrant, eliminating Jack Swagger before being eliminated by Roman Reigns . He inducted his real-life close friend and former tag team partner, Scott Hall, into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2014 . Nash appeared on

2340-493: A scheduled Lethal Lockdown match at Lockdown on April 24 pitting Nash, Waltman, and Diamond Dallas Page against Jarrett, The Outlaw, and "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown . Nash, however, was removed from the card and replaced with B.G. James after contracting a staph infection , which left him sidelined for much of 2005. Nash returned to TNA on October 1 for the first episode of Impact! on Spike TV , attacking and powerbombing Jarrett. Nash went on to challenge Jarrett to

2457-527: A spot in the Band, claiming that what happened in Destination X was just business and nothing personal. Young refused the offer and in the main event of the evening, teamed up with Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy to defeat the Band in a six-man tag team steel cage match. Nash gained a measure of revenge on Young by defeating him in a steel cage match at Lockdown . Later in the night, Nash replaced Syxx-Pac, who no-showed

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2574-751: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

2691-565: A weekly segment known as the Paparazzi Championship Series (a play on the "Bowl Championship Series"). He also began continuing these skits along with Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal , in a segment called "Paparazzi Idol". Nash became a manager of sorts for Lethal, helping him adopt a gimmick where he impersonated "Macho Man" Randy Savage. At Sacrifice , Lethal and Dutt had an altercation. Nash broke it up, but Sonjay kicked him. Sonjay apologized, and Nash forgave him. Dutt then became

2808-499: A win against Road Dogg and Billy Gunn. On September 23, 2012, Nash made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling , teaming with Keiji Mutoh in a tag team match, where they defeated Seiya Sanada and Taiyō Kea with Nash pinning Sanada with the Jackknife Powerbomb for the win. Nash briefly signed with Global Force Wrestling as a "Legend" to help promote events and tours, making appearances at two GFW events on August 28 and 29, 2015. On August 10, 2018, Nash defeated Flex Armstrong for

2925-405: Is a chronological list of teams that have been PWX Tag Team Champions by ring name . General Specific Ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler , mixed martial artist , or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting

3042-637: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

3159-490: Is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer , as he was inducted individually into the class of 2015 and in 2020 as an nWo member alongside Hogan, Hall and Waltman. He headlined numerous pay-per-view events for WCW , WWF/WWE and TNA , including WCW's flagship event, Starrcade , where he ended Bill Goldberg 's undefeated streak after 173 wins in 1998 . Nash was born on July 9, 1959, to a devout Christian family in southwest Detroit, Michigan . Nash's father, Robert, died of

3276-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

3393-511: Is an American retired professional wrestler and actor currently signed to WWE under a legends contract . He is also known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Nash first gained exposure in the professional wrestling industry by performing for WCW from 1990 to 1993 under multiple ring names. In 1993, Nash signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under

3510-613: The Diamond Mine , a stable led by Diamond Dallas Page that also included the Diamond Studd and Scotty Flamingo . In the summer of 1992, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable (Studd leaving for the WWF and Flamingo striking out on his own), Page and Vegas began teaming together as the Vegas Connection . The tag team split in late 1992 after Page was fired by Bill Watts . Nash spent

3627-554: The Gießen 46ers ) when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament . With his basketball career over, Nash enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 202nd Military Police Company in Giessen , West Germany . He served in a secure NATO facility for two years, during which time he was promoted to the rank of specialist . After the Army, he worked on an assembly line at Ford Motor Company and as

PWX Tag Team Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-841: The Insiders . They feuded with the Perfect Event ( Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo ) and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship at Mayhem on November 26, 2000. Shortly after, they were stripped of the title by Commissioner Mike Sanders in mid-December. Weeks later, they won the title back at Starrcade . In 2001 (WCW's final months), the Insiders continued their feud with the Natural Born Thrillers. Nash lost another "retirement" match to Scott Steiner at SuperBrawl Revenge , but it would not be long before WCW announced

3861-532: The Legends Championship , his first title in TNA. However, Nash lost the title only three days later to Mick Foley . Under a month later at Hard Justice , Nash defeated Foley to reclaim the Legends Championship. At Bound for Glory Nash lost the Legends Championship to Eric Young in a 3-way match, which also included Hernandez . On the following episode of Impact! , after Angle announced

3978-688: The Steiner Brothers , but were defeated in two occasions. They were squashed on television in 52 seconds by the Steiners in a match that aired on Worldwide on February 2, 1991. Following this loss, their momentum dissipated as they lost to the Southern Boys and Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich , and they disbanded at the end of the month. Nash was then rebranded as the Master Blaster in February 1991, who

4095-465: The Torture Rack , over the top rope, and earned his shot at the title. At Starrcade , Nash won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Goldberg (who had an officially given 173–0 win–loss record before the match) after Hall shocked Goldberg with a stun gun . In doing so, Nash broke Goldberg's long running undefeated streak. On January 4, 1999, Nash and Goldberg were set to meet in a rematch, but

4212-414: The promotion in a bad financial situation, he simply could not afford it. Nash signed his contract shortly thereafter. Diesel lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XII on March 31, after which he finally turned heel and went on to feud with Shawn Michaels once again after he turned on him at a Madison Square Garden live event. In his last televised WWF appearance until 2002, Diesel challenged Michaels for

4329-482: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

4446-653: The " Feast or Fired " match and won the briefcase containing a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship . On the January 4, 2010, special live, three-hour Monday night edition of Impact! Hogan made his debut in TNA, and Scott Hall and Sean Waltman made their return to the company to greet him. Nash, Hall and Waltman quickly reformed their alliance, but Hogan kept himself out of the group, claiming that times have changed. At Genesis in their first match back together Nash and Syxx-Pac, who replaced Scott Hall in

4563-728: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

4680-411: The 1900 children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . Oz, managed by The Great Wizard , was pushed strongly for about a month, he squashed several wrestlers before losing to Ron Simmons at The Great American Bash on July 14. In reality, all plans for Oz were immediately scrapped when Nash refused to sign a $ 300/night guarantee as WCW was cutting costs. A decision was made to retain Nash until

4797-783: The 2004 Punisher film. His last match in WWE was at SummerSlam in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Goldberg, Chris Jericho, and Randy Orton . He was the first to be eliminated after Jericho pinned him following Sweet Chin Music from Michaels. Before leaving, however, he executed a Jackknife Powerbomb on Jericho and Orton. Nash then stepped away from in-ring action and underwent neck surgery. Nash debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) alongside

PWX Tag Team Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-536: The August 11 episode of Raw to reunite the nWo with Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall as part of Hogan's birthday celebration. Nash was suspended by WWE on December 24, 2014, following his arrest, but was quickly reinstated when the charges were dropped. On the January 19, 2015 episode of Raw , Nash appeared with X-Pac and Scott Hall to reunite the nWo, and along with The Acolytes Protection Agency and The New Age Outlaws , they beat down The Ascension , who had been insulting legends from past weeks. On March 23, 2015, it

5031-752: The August 26 episode of Impact! , Nash defeated Jarrett in a singles match, after an interference from Sting. The following week Nash helped Sting defeat Jarrett. After the match Samoa Joe aligned himself with Jarrett and Hogan and drove Nash and Sting away. At No Surrender Jarrett and Joe defeated Nash and Sting in a tag team match, after Jarrett hit Sting with a baseball bat. On the September 16 episode of Reaction , Nash and Sting were joined by D'Angelo Dinero , who claimed to have gotten inside information from Bischoff's secretary Miss Tessmacher , that would suggest that Nash and Sting were right about Hogan and Bischoff being up to something. At Bound for Glory Nash, Sting and Dinero faced Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe in

5148-453: The Bank briefcase and win the title, thus turning heel. The following night on Raw , Nash claimed Triple H, on-screen chief operating officer of WWE, had instructed him by text to attack the winner. Punk verbally berated Nash on the microphone, so Nash attacked him the next week. He also distracted Punk in a match, making him miss out on a championship match. Nash was signed to an on-screen contract

5265-574: The Big Time Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. This would become his last match, confirming his retirement on January 5, 2020, to heal his body. On January 30, 2011, at the Royal Rumble , Nash, billed as Diesel for the first time since 1996 , returned to the promotion, taking part in the Royal Rumble Match. He entered the match at number 32, but was eliminated by Wade Barrett . It was announced that he had signed

5382-538: The Blasters upended the Southern Boys and began to move up the WCW tag team ratings. Their winning streak ended on November 22, when Tom Zenk and Brian Pillman handed them their first defeat with Pillman pinning Blade. They rebounded to go on another undefeated streak by defeating the Southern Boys as well as Alan Iron Eagle and Tim Horner, and earning a NWA United States Tag Team Championship title shot against then champions

5499-678: The Guru with Nash humming mantras backstage. He then began managing The Motor City Machine Guns , but this was short-lived before he next appeared in the role of Dr. Nash, psychiatrist and adviser to Kurt and Karen Angle . Nash then engaged in a brief program with TNA Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, which eventually culminated in Nash aiding Angle. Nash warned the Angles about how dangerous Sting can be based on Nash's experience feuding with Sting in WCW. At Bound for Glory , Nash interfered on Angle's behalf during his World Title defense against Sting. However, it

5616-493: The Intercontinental Championship back to Ramon the following night at SummerSlam . The alliance between Diesel and Michaels dissolved after Survivor Series , when Michaels accidentally performed a superkick on Diesel. Diesel then chased Michaels, and despite failing to catch him, the reaction from the crowd turned him babyface . However, Nash was no longer a tag team champion, as Michaels' actions resulted in

5733-399: The June 15 episode of Impact! , where Nash wrestled a comedy match against a midget Shelley dubbed a "Sabin-type wrestler". Nash defeated Sabin at Slammiversary in his second televised match in almost a year, albeit with the assistance of Shelley. Around this time, Nash and Shelley formed a stable known as Paparazzi Productions, with Johnny Devine as a cameraman. Nash then decided to go for

5850-500: The May 19 episode of Impact! by attacking Chris Sabin shortly after he had defeated Petey Williams to win the TNA 2006 World X Cup Tournament for Team USA . Nash continued to attack X Division wrestlers over subsequent weeks, leading to Sabin challenging him to a match at Slammiversary . Nash's attacks were also coupled with pre-taped segments with Shelley (some appearing only on the internet website YouTube ) and his "X Division debut" on

5967-535: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Nash received a title shot against Jarrett on February 13, 2005, at Against All Odds , but lost following interference from the debuting Outlaw . Following the defeat, Nash joined forces with Sean Waltman and began feuding with the newly formed Planet Jarrett . At Destination X on March 13, Nash lost to The Outlaw in a First Blood match following interference from Jarrett, who struck Nash with his title belt. The rivalry between Planet Jarrett and Nash and his allies culminated in

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6084-547: The Royal Rumble match, 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 30, 1994 episode (taped April 13, 1994) 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. However, Diesel lost

6201-784: The TNA World Tag Team Championship. Nash later named Young one third of the champions under the Freebird Rule . At the June 14 tapings of the June 17 episode of Impact! , The Band was stripped of the Tag Team Championship, due to Scott Hall's legal problems. The following day it was reported that Hall had been released from his contract with TNA. On the June 24 episode of Impact! , Nash and Young decided to part ways, as Nash intended to go after Hogan, whom he blamed for what had happened to Hall and Waltman, and did not want Young to get into trouble for it. After Nash

6318-605: The WCW World Heavyweight Championship again from Booker T on the August 28, 2000 episode of Monday Nitro in Las Cruces, New Mexico . He eventually lost it to Booker T later on at Fall Brawl . He even had a stint as WCW Commissioner , and he served as a coach/mentor to the Natural Born Thrillers , who would eventually turn on Nash. Nash aligned himself with Diamond Dallas Page, reuniting the Vegas Connection, but renamed

6435-416: The WWF Championship (which he had won from Hart at WrestleMania XII) at In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies on April 28. He wrestled Michaels for the title once again in a steel cage match at a house show on May 19, but was again defeated. After the match, Diesel, Michaels, Razor Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley , a group of off-screen friends known collectively as " The Kliq ", hugged one another in

6552-566: The WWF Championship by defeating King Mabel , who had won the King of the Ring tournament. On September 24 at In Your House 3 in Saginaw, Michigan , Diesel and Michaels challenged the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna . The match had a winner-take-all stipulation, as in addition to the tag belts, Diesel's WWF Championship and Michaels' recently won Intercontinental Championship were also on

6669-469: The WWF Championship from Hart in a steel cage match , losing after The Undertaker attacked him in retaliation for his actions at the Royal Rumble. Shortly before WrestleMania XII , Nash's contract status was in a state of flux. At the time, WCW was offering large amounts of money to the WWF's talent by Eric Bischoff , WCW Executive Vice President, to jump ship. In fact, Bischoff had succeeded in convincing several high-profile WWF stars to sign with WCW over

6786-705: The WWF and returned to WCW in 1996, where he performed under his real name, partnering with Hall as the Outsiders and founding the New World Order (nWo) with Hulk Hogan . As the nWo storyline became one of the most prominent of the Monday Night War , Nash maintained his status as a top star, winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times and the WCW World Tag Team Championship nine times. After WCW went out of business, Nash returned to

6903-579: The WWF in 2002, where he briefly reformed the nWo and feuded with Triple H over the World Heavyweight Championship . He then performed in TNA for seven years, and he held their Legends and Tag Team championships once each. In 2011, Nash returned to WWE under a legends contract and he continues to make sporadic appearances for the promotion. During his in-ring career, Nash won 20 major championships , including six world championships and twelve world tag team championships . Furthermore, he

7020-516: The World Elite, while also hinting at the return of the nWo once Hulk Hogan arrived in TNA, as when a paranoid Mick Foley came to him for information on who Hogan would be coming with, he facetiously suggested names such as Syxx-Pac , Scott Steiner , Buff Bagwell , and Scott Hall. Further suspicion was aroused to Hall's return when Nash said that he was getting "the band" back together, hinting at an nWo return. At Final Resolution Nash took part in

7137-399: The X Division championship. He got penciled into a Number One Contendership match for the title against Sabin at Hard Justice . He claimed that he had developed an 840° somersault splash that he would unveil in the match. However, over the weekend, he suffered a mysterious neck injury, supposedly while practicing it with Tito Ortiz , and named Alex Shelley as his replacement in the match. From

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7254-453: The announcer's table with a Jackknife Powerbomb. The next month, they fought again in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood with Mick Foley as the special guest referee, but Nash lost the match. In August 2003, Nash feuded with Chris Jericho and was forced to cut his hair after losing a hair vs. hair match against Jericho on the August 18 episode of Raw . This was made to cover Nash having to cut his hair for his role as The Russian for

7371-499: The company, Nash also returned alongside his friend on June 10, 1996, after Hall interrupted Eric Bischoff. The duo were known as The Outsiders, and the storyline originally pushed them as "invaders" from the WWF (which WCW eventually had to scale back due to legal concerns from the WWF). At Bash at the Beach , Hall and Nash fought the team of Lex Luger , Sting , and Randy Savage and promised to add one more man to their entourage. After Luger

7488-477: The death of The Main Event Mafia and turned face , Nash also became a face as he began feuding with Eric Young and the World Elite. However, the following month at Turning Point Nash helped World Elite members Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus retain their TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of Impact! Nash congratulated Young on outsmarting him at Bound for Glory and aligned himself with

7605-417: The event, and teamed up with Hall in a St. Louis Street Fight, where they were defeated by Team 3D . On the May 3 episode of Impact! , Eric Young turned on Team 3D and joined The Band. On May 4, at the tapings of the May 13 episode of Impact! , after TNA World Tag Team Champion Matt Morgan had been attacked by Samoa Joe, Nash cashed in his "Feast or Fired" contract, teaming with Hall, and pinned him to win

7722-581: The first half of 1993 teaming with Big Sky . In June, he decided to depart for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and had his final WCW match on June 3, teaming with Big Sky in a losing effort against The Cole Twins , this match would air on Worldwide after his WWF debut. In June 1993, Nash left WCW, signing a contract with the WWF at the request of Shawn Michaels . He was given the stage name of "Big Daddy Cool Diesel" ("Diesel" or "Big Daddy Cool" for short), with an alpha-male gimmick. For

7839-407: The first to sign with the company and was offered a contract that paid him "above Sting money" (at the time, Sting was one of the highest paid wrestlers in the company and although Ric Flair , Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage had been making more, Sting's contract was used as a measuring stick). Hall also informed Nash that he had been given " most favored nation " status, which meant that if someone new

7956-720: The floor manager of a strip club in Atlanta, Georgia . He then decided to try professional wrestling. Nash debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as the orange- mohawked "Steel", one half of the tag team known as the Master Blasters . He was initially partnered with Master Blaster Iron, with whom he made his debut at the Clash of the Champions XII on September 5, 1990, defeating Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner . At

8073-579: The following Worldwide taping on September 7, the Masters Blasters began a feud with Tim Horner and Mike Rotunda . They beat Horner and Rotunda on several house shows . On September 22, Nash's partner Master Blaster Iron was replaced by " Blade ". The reconstituted Master Blasters continued their undefeated streak in October. Meanwhile, Steel had his first singles match on September 28 by defeating Tom Zenk . At Halloween Havoc on October 27, 1990,

8190-457: The guest Match Commissioner for the night, a title given to him at the request of Dusty Rhodes. After announcing this to the crowd, Nash was interrupted by Heath Slater to whom he promptly delivered his finisher, effectively turning face. Nash later again appear on the January 20 tapings of NXT to reunite with members of The Kliq , allowing him to effectively settle all issues with Triple H , embracing him once again. The reunion also turned into

8307-427: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

8424-438: The line. When Hart did not show up at the event, he was replaced by Davey Boy Smith . In the course of the match, Hart arrived at ringside, entered the ring and was pinned by Diesel for the win and the title, making him and Michaels holders of all three major WWF championships. The reign did not last long, however, as Hart and Yokozuna had the titles returned to them the next night on Raw due to Hart not being an official part of

8541-500: The main event of the evening, helping Chris Jericho retain his Undisputed WWF Championship against Austin. At WrestleMania X8 , Nash continually interfered in the match between Hall and Austin to the point where he was forced to return backstage. Later that night, he and Hall turned on Hogan after he had offered congratulations to The Rock for defeating him. In March, Nash suffered a biceps injury that put him out of action for several months and almost immediately upon returning, suffered

8658-454: The match did not happen because of Goldberg being arrested for stalking Miss Elizabeth . That night also marked the return of Hulk Hogan after his "retirement" two months prior. With Goldberg unable to wrestle, Nash challenged Hogan instead. Hogan simply poked Nash in the chest , who proceeded to fall down and willingly allow Hogan to pin him for the title. The gesture marked the reunion of the feuding nWo factions into one. The return, however,

8775-496: The match when he was pinned. Diesel's WWF Championship reign continued until November 19, when he was defeated by Bret Hart at Survivor Series . Following the loss, Diesel attacked Hart and began a tweener turn. At In Your House 5 in December 1995, Diesel defeated Owen Hart , who had injured Diesel's ally Shawn Michaels in a match the prior month. In January 1996, Diesel competed in the Royal Rumble , entering at number 22. Diesel

8892-467: The match, Nash interfered on Savage's behalf and jackknifed Hogan to the mat, signaling the breakup of the nWo into two separate factions (Nash's interference was not enough to prevent Hogan from regaining his championship, thanks to Bret Hart's interference shortly thereafter). Nash became the leader of nWo Wolfpac , alongside Savage, Curt Hennig , and Konnan . Hennig, however, shortly thereafter defected over to Hogan's nWo Hollywood faction. Then, during

9009-425: The match, he attacked Triple H with a Jackknife Powerbomb and attacked him again the following night with his sledgehammer, preventing him from receiving medical attention and taking him off television. The following Monday, on October 31, Laurinaitis again signed Nash to a new contract. He continued to appear on Raw SuperShow , attacking Santino Marella with a Jackknife Powerbomb and cutting promos about how Triple H

9126-468: The match, were defeated by Beer Money, Inc. On the February 4 episode of Impact! , Hall and Syxx-Pac turned on Nash. At Destination X Nash and Young faced Hall and Syxx-Pac in a tag team match, where The Band 's TNA futures were on the line. Nash turned on Young and helped the Band pick up the victory, which finally gave them contracts with the company. On the March 29 episode of Impact! , Nash offered Young

9243-455: The nWo in order to destroy the WWF – of which Ric Flair was now a co-owner, which McMahon could not tolerate. Billed as the original nWo, Nash, Hall, and Hogan returned to the WWF at No Way Out on February 17, 2002. In the course of the evening, the nWo delivered an interview in which they claimed to have reformed, gave a six pack of beer to Stone Cold Steve Austin (which he refused), and traded insults with The Rock . They interfered in

9360-497: The nWo, and became a sort of "second in command" alongside Hogan. Nash, Hall, and Sean Waltman distinguished themselves from the rest of the nWo, calling themselves the "Wolfpac" in 1997. After a while, however, the nWo began to fight within its ranks, with Hogan and Nash battling for control. The situation came to a head on April 20, 1998, during a match between Hogan and recent nWo inductee (and rival) Randy Savage for Savage's recently won WCW World Heavyweight Championship . During

9477-578: The name Diesel (nicknamed "Big Daddy Cool" and "Big Sexy"). While performing as Diesel, he achieved status as a top star in the company, winning the WWF World , Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships (the WWF Triple Crown ). His 358-day reign as WWF Champion is the longest of the 1990s. While in the WWF, Nash was part of The Kliq , an influential backstage group that included Shawn Michaels , Triple H , Scott Hall and Sean Waltman . Nash left

9594-417: The new champ. An enraged Nash demanded a match with Angle, but TNA Management 's public face, Jim Cornette , instead booked Nash into a tag team match as Angle's partner against Sting and a partner of his choosing, with the stipulation being that the person gaining the pinfall or submission would be crowned the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. After a red herring that Scott Hall was the mystery partner, it

9711-491: The next week by John Laurinaitis and demanded a match against Punk. After Triple H booked himself in the match against Punk instead, Nash attacked them both at a contract signing and was fired on screen. At Night of Champions , Nash interfered in their match, alongside The Miz and R-Truth . Triple H then attacked Nash with a sledgehammer before winning the match. Nash returned at the following pay-per-view, Vengeance to help The Miz and R-Truth defeat Punk and Triple H. After

9828-432: The number one contender; Rhino won and then defeated Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Nash was later discharged from the hospital, having suffered a mild cardiac episode. He made a partial return to the ring in December 2005, wrestling several matches on a tour of South Africa . Nash returned to TNA once more on the April 27, 2006 episode of Impact! , announcing in a pre-taped segment that he would give

9945-649: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959)

10062-458: The previous two years, including five-time former WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and his on-again, off-again friend and two-time former WWF Champion Randy Savage , and was in the process at the time of talking to Nash's friend Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall about a contract as Hall's too was set to expire. Nash explained on the WWE Classics on Demand exclusive series Legends of Wrestling that Hall had been

10179-438: The process. On October 23, he formally joined Sting, Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Kurt Angle to create a villainous stable called The Main Event Mafia . He explained that he never forgave Joe for his scathing comments directed at his best friend Scott Hall's no-show almost a year prior, and befriending him was all part of a long-term plan to screw him out of the title. He then went on to defeat Joe at Turning Point . Nash, however,

10296-443: The record of most reigns, with three each. Paul Atlas and Gator have the most individual reigns with seven each. Only one tag team has held the titles for 365 or more days: The Order of Total Oblivion (Shirley Doe and Apollyon), whose second reign set the record at 385 days. The Wrong Crowd is the team with the longest combined reign at 455 days, while Paul Atlas has the longest combined reign as an individual at 900 days. The following

10413-664: The returning Scott Hall on November 7, 2004, at the inaugural monthly TNA pay-per-view , Victory Road , with the duo helping NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett retain his title in a ladder match with Jeff Hardy . In subsequent weeks, the trio identified themselves as the Kings of Wrestling and began feuding with Hardy and A.J. Styles . At Turning Point on December 5, the Kings of Wrestling were defeated by Hardy, Styles, and Randy Savage. Hall left TNA in early 2005, and Nash and Jarrett separated after Nash made clear his desire to win

10530-463: The ring and wished each other farewell. This incident, later referred to as the " Curtain Call " or "MSG Incident", was a serious breach of character, as it showed heels and babyfaces consorting with one another. Shortly thereafter, with his obligations to the WWF now completely fulfilled, Nash left for WCW. After two weeks of Scott Hall returning on WCW programming and taunting announcers, wrestlers, and

10647-434: The role, he grew long hair, taking on the appearance and demeanor of a cocky thug from Detroit , sporting 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". His initial entrance music was a series of truck engine and horn noises. Diesel started out as the bodyguard /best friend of Shawn Michaels, with

10764-443: The sale of the company to the World Wrestling Federation. As he had a guaranteed contract with AOL Time Warner , Nash elected to wait out the remainder of his contract, which expired on December 31, 2001. Following the expiration of his AOL Time Warner contract, Nash, along with Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan, were rehired by the WWF. Their rehiring was announced several weeks before their debut, with Vince McMahon claiming to have hired

10881-429: The storyline, Nash was given a choice to remain friends with either Michaels or Triple H. After Nash would not make the decision, Triple H made the decision for him and turned on him with a low blow . This led to Nash and Triple H feuding with one another. Nash teamed up with Michaels and Booker T against Triple H, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match at Backlash which ended with Triple H picking up

10998-536: The tag team title at the Great American Bash that June, Nash became Sting's partner. They defended the championship until July 20, when they were defeated by Hall and The Giant. Nash then set his sights on his former partner, and the rivalry came to a head at Halloween Havoc on October 25. During the course of the match, Nash jackknifed Hall twice but, instead of pinning him, left the ring and lost via countout. In November 1998, Nash and Diamond Dallas Page became

11115-475: The team being forced to vacate the titles. On November 26, 1994, Diesel faced Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship he had won from Bret Hart three days prior at Survivor Series . In the match at Madison Square Garden , Diesel defeated Backlund in the first ten seconds of the bout. Diesel then promised Hart a match for his title, which they had the next month at the Royal Rumble . The match ended in

11232-749: 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 just one year later in 1981 in Germany (while playing for

11349-500: The title. After the match, he left the ring with both Anderson and Michaels' replacement for her, Jenny McCarthy . The next night on Monday Night Raw , Michaels was betrayed by his new bodyguard, Sycho Sid , prompting Diesel to come to his rescue and thus reunited the tag team. Diesel successfully defended the WWF Championship against Sycho Sid at the inaugural In Your House pay-per-view on May 14, and at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks on July 23. At SummerSlam , Diesel retained

11466-581: The two being known as Two Dudes with Attitudes . He made his WWF debut at a house show on June 6, 1993, by assisting Michaels in defeating Marty Jannetty for the WWF Intercontinental Championship . He first appeared on television the next night on Raw , June 7, as he was introduced as Michaels's bodyguard. In January 1994, Diesel appeared at the Royal Rumble , first as one of the many wrestlers who assisted WWF Champion Yokozuna in defeating The Undertaker in their casket match and then in

11583-428: The win for his team, pinning Nash after hitting him with a sledgehammer . Following Backlash, Nash was granted a shot at Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship , and the two squared off at Judgment Day with Michaels and Flair in their respective corners. Triple H would get himself disqualified and kept the title as a result, but this did not stop Nash from attacking Triple H following the match, putting him through

11700-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

11817-570: The wrong image. Since the advent of the Internet , it is relatively easy to discover a fighter's real name. Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

11934-486: Was a taped broadcast on October 14, 2010, when Nash and Sting both announced they were walking away from TNA rather than being a part of Hogan and Bischoff's regime. In January 2011 Nash signed a new contract with TNA, but was granted a release before reappearing on television, after being contacted by WWE. Nash along with Hall and Waltman made an appearance at the 2011 Gathering of the Juggalos . Nash teamed with Waltman for

12051-451: Was announced that Nash would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015 . On March 28, he was inducted by long-time friend and Kliq member, Shawn Michaels . On March 29, Nash appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall, in their attempt to even the odds in favor of Sting in his match against Triple H, who had D-Generation X ( Billy Gunn , Road Dogg , Shawn Michaels, and X-Pac) in his corner. However, Sting lost

12168-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

12285-549: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

12402-547: Was for naught, as Sting captured the title from Angle via Scorpion Death Drop after fending off Nash and Angle's wife, Karen. The following Thursday on Impact! , Nash and Angle had an altercation because Angle blamed Nash for him losing the World Title. Angle eventually attacked Nash, who retaliated by Jackknife Powerbombing Angle in the middle of the ring. The following week, Sting defended the TNA World Title against Angle in

12519-437: Was hired for more money, Hall's contract would increase to match that contract. Bischoff ended up offering Nash a three-year guaranteed contract with a $ 1.2 million annual salary. Nash said to Vince McMahon that he did not want to leave the WWF and that if McMahon was willing to match the offer, he would stay. McMahon said no because, according to Nash, he would have had to offer matching contracts to other wrestlers and with

12636-521: Was more of a boss than a friend. On the December 5 episode of Raw SuperShow , Nash competed in his first televised WWE match in eight years, defeating Santino Marella. Nash went on to face Triple H at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs in a ladder match with a sledgehammer hanging above the ring which he lost by pinfall after a sledgehammer shot to the face, ending the feud in the process. In late 2012 and early 2013, Nash began appearing on WWE's developmental training show, NXT . Nash initially appeared as

12753-452: Was pinned by Junkyard Dog on February 27. He also lost to Brian Pillman in house show matches, while appearing in tag team matches with Stan Hansen and Arn Anderson . His final match in this guise was against Pillman at a house show on May 12. A week later, Nash reappeared under his new gimmick , having been repackaged as the silver-haired Oz, a character based on the Wizard of Oz from

12870-475: Was pinned by Savage and lost his championship, but would get his revenge the next night on Nitro in a title match between Savage and a returning Hulk Hogan, and in a similar situation to Savage's first title defense from the previous year, he used a Jackknife Powerbomb on Savage, preserving the victory for Hogan. The following week, however, Nash attacked Hogan during a match pitting Hogan against Vicious. Nash, Sid, and Rick Steiner then feuded with Hogan, Sting, and

12987-618: Was removed from the card for Genesis due to a staph infection , and was replaced by Cute Kip . Nash returned on the January 29 episode of Impact! when the Main Event Mafia took over the show. On Impact! on April 23, he began an on-screen relationship with Jenna Morasca , who subsequently began acting as his valet. At Slammiversary , he was reunited with Joe and helped Angle win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. At Victory Road , Nash defeated A.J. Styles for

13104-404: Was repackaged as Vinnie Vegas, a wisecracking pseudo-mobster based on Steve Martin 's character in the 1990 film My Blue Heaven . Vegas was quickly recruited into "A Half-Ton of Holy Hell", a stable of large wrestlers created by Harley Race which included WCW World Champion Lex Luger , Big Van Vader and Mr. Hughes . The stable separated in February 1992 after Luger left, and Vegas joined

13221-419: Was revealed to be Booker T. At Final Resolution , Nash and his partner Samoa Joe lost in a title match to TNA World Tag Team Champions A.J. Styles and Tomko after Nash abandoned and seemingly betrayed Joe. Yet on the following Impact, when Joe stormed into Nash's locker room looking for a fight, Nash was actually able to persuade Joe into accepting his Machiavellian mentorship. Nash lost to Kurt Angle in

13338-418: Was short-lived, and by May 1999, the nWo reunion was over due to injuries to Hogan, Hall, Luger and Steiner. Meanwhile, backstage, Nash became WCW's head booker in February 1999 and helped write some of the later angles for WCW. In May 1999, Nash won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the second time by defeating Diamond Dallas Page at Slamboree . He then appeared on The Tonight Show and put up

13455-471: Was taken out of the match, Hulk Hogan came out to make the save, only to turn on Savage and reveal himself as Nash and Hall's third man. Immediately after this, they began cutting promos calling themselves the New World Order (nWo) . During his return, he had dyed his hair blonde. Through late 1996 and into 1997, Nash normally teamed with Hall as the Outsiders, and they held the WCW World Tag Team Championship . Nash also began to show his leadership qualities in

13572-415: Was the last man to be eliminated from the Royal Rumble, being superkicked over the top rope by the winner, Shawn Michaels. Following the match, Diesel teased attacking Michaels before instead giving him a high five . Diesel went on to interfere in the main event between The Undertaker and WWF Champion Bret Hart, costing The Undertaker the title. At In Your House 6 on February 18, Diesel attempted to regain

13689-434: Was unable to convince Hogan to re–hire Hall and Waltman and failed to secure a meeting with Eric Bischoff, he set his sights on renewing his feud with Jeff Jarrett, who claimed that Nash had tried to hurt TNA by bringing Hall and Waltman in. On the August 5 episode of Impact! , Sting, who had feuded with Jarrett prior to his 30-day suspension, returned to TNA and, together with Nash, beat down Jarrett, Bischoff and Hogan. On

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