More often than not, success in the wrestling business comes after paying a considerable amount of dues. Kevin Nash is one of the biggest stars to ever come out of the business. However, to reach that status, Nash had to be very patient and endure some truly terrible gimmicks before catching his big break as "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel.
In his over 30-year career, Nash has had the pleasure of teaming up with some of the most gifted performers of his generation. Unfortunately, he's also had the displeasure of teaming with some pretty bad performers who weren't even close to being as over as he was.
10 Best: Kurt Angle
Many wrestling fans still have a bad taste in their mouths from the whole TNA experience. That is part of the reason why despite improving its product dramatically, Impact Wrestling still struggles to grow its audience. There are just too many bad memories associated with that promotion for some fans.
TNA wasn't all bad though. In fact, many fans enjoyed Kevin Nash's years spent in the promotion as well as one of his best partners ever, Kurt Angle. In TNA, Nash was past his in-ring prime. Kurt Angle, however, was arguably at the peak of his powers while in TNA. The two would team a few times during their careers but mostly while they were part of The Main Event Mafia together.
9 Worst: Sid Vicious
Size has always been coveted in the wrestling business. In past eras, having size and mass made for a great heel. In the 90s, thanks to the changing perception of steroids, WWE, and other promotions, were forced to seek out size in terms of height rather than bulky mass. That's what opened the door for guys like Kevin Nash and Sid Vicious to become main event stars.
Despite their massive size, neither Nash nor Sid were ever considered incredible in-ring workers during their careers. To be honest, most matches involving both Nash and Sid as either opponents or partners, are hard to sit through.
8 Best: Diamond Dallas Page
Patience and persistence are key in life and the pro wrestling business. Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page are two great examples of that. Both Nash and Page spent the early part of their careers drowning in WCW's lower mid-card. At one point, they were drowning together as tag team partners. That's not where either man's story would end though.
Through hard work, both Nash and Page were eventually able to make themselves huge stars in the business. When the former partners reunited in WCW, their second run was a lot more fruitful than the first. As The Insiders, Nash and Page would win the WCW Tag Team Championships twice and be one of the few highlights of WCW's final days.
7 Worst: R-Truth
Sometimes in pro wrestling, two different generations can crossover and intertwine for a bit. Many times, it makes for a great story that both older and newer fans can equally enjoy. Other times, randomly throwing performers from different generations together can have unimpressive results. The random pairing of Kevin Nash, The Miz, and R-Truth is proof of that.
In 2011, Kevin Nash made an unexpected return to WWE. In November of that year, while on a European tour, Nash teamed with The Miz and R-Truth on five consecutive nights. They would go on to lose all five matches, proving that some styles don't mesh well together at all, legend or not.
6 Best: Sting
In the late 80s and early 90s, while still in his surfer gimmick, Sting was WCW's "Franchise." As the 90s went on, The Stinger would begin transitioning into a much darker, brooding character. As Crow Sting, WCW's golden boy was able to combat the villainous New World Order.
When that storyline drew to a close, Sting found himself as a member of Kevin Nash's Wolfpac. While in The Wolfpac, Nash and Sting would team up several times and even have a run as WCW Tag Team Champions. They'd continue to team later in their careers but their peak as a unit came in WCW.
5 Worst: Brian Adams
There have been many instances throughout wrestling history where seemingly undeserving performers get shot after shot to become a star. Brian Adams is perhaps the greatest example of that. In WWE, Adams was given golden opportunity after golden opportunity to become a star. He couldn't do it.
So, naturally, WCW decided to bring him in and give him yet another opportunity at stardom. Adams would be placed in The nWo upon arriving in WCW. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't able to get himself over. During his WCW run, Adams teamed with Nash very sparingly. Whenever they did tag together, it wasn't very memorable.
4 Best: Shawn Michaels
In every pro wrestling megastar's career, there's a moment in time that completely changes everything for them. For Kevin Nash, that moment came when he jumped to WWE and joined up with Shawn Michaels. From the moment "Big Daddy Cool" stood by Michaels' side, he became a star.
The two would enjoy great success together as both partners and opponents. As partners, the "Two Dudes With Attitudes" would capture the WWE Tag Team Championships twice. As opponents, they'd headline WrestleMania 11 as WWE Champion and challenger.
3 Worst: Mike Sanders
To be brutally honest, the last year and a half of WCW's existence was tough to watch. At the time, the promotion was attempting to overcorrect its previous mistake of investing too much money and television time on aging performers by introducing a lot of new faces. In theory, it was an okay idea but they rushed the process horribly.
This resulted in a bunch of no-name performers playing a big role in WCW programming. One of those performers was "Above Average" Mike Sanders. Many of Sanders' detractors would say he was certainly not an above-average performer. Regardless, Sanders found himself teaming with Kevin Nash a couple of times at the tail end of WCW's existence. It probably wasn't the way Nash saw his WCW career playing out.
2 Best: Scott Hall
In WWE, Kevin Nash grew extremely close with a few performers. In time, this close group of friends would grow to include, Nash, Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, and Triple H. The group would collectively be known backstage as "The Kliq." In 1996, two prominent Kliq members made the jump to WCW, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.
Hall would make the jump first and soon be joined by his massive friend. As The Outsiders, Nash and Hall helped reshape the wrestling business alongside Hollywood Hogan. The Outsiders would dominate WCW's tag team division to the tune of six WCW Tag Team Championships, making them one of the greatest tandems in WCW history.
1 Worst: Master Blaster Blade
Kevin Nash's success in the wrestling business didn't come overnight. On the contrary, Nash had to endure some of the worst gimmicks ever before finally stepping into the life-changing role of "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel. Nash had to play a Las Vegas wise guy, a giant wizard, and perhaps worst of all, a Master Blaster before landing his big break.
Nash's first gimmick as Master Blaster Steel has to be his worst gimmick. The role was that of a tall, post-apocalyptic mad man with an orange mohawk. Nash's partner, Master Blaster Blade, didn't fare much better. He had the same gimmick except he was on the shorter side. Thankfully, Nash's time alongside Blade didn't discourage him from continuing to pursue a career in pro wrestling. If it would've, nobody would've blamed him.