Kevin Nash reached the top of the wrestling industry with main event runs in both WWE and WCW. The biggest success of Nash’s WWE run came as the character Diesel. WWE pushed him right up there with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and The Undertaker as the faces of the New Generation. WCW signed Nash away in 1996 during the Monday Night Wars. Nash immediately shined there as a leader of the New World Order faction.
We will look back at the best overall matches from Nash’s career. The in-ring skills of Nash may not have been impressive as Michaels or Hart, but he could pull off a great performance when needed. Nash’s best matches showed his peak potential as a talented big man. Find out just which ones stand out above the rest. These are the top ten matches of Kevin Nash’s career officially ranked.
10 Kevin Nash vs Goldberg (Starrcade 1998)
The match between Kevin Nash and Goldberg at Starrcade wasn’t a mat classic, but it still provided strong entertainment. Both wrestlers were the two top popular stars in WCW at the time. Nash was red-hot as the leader of the Wolfpac and Goldberg’s undefeated streak was still going.
The crowd reacted huge to the entire match. Nash and Goldberg did a good job creating a big fight atmosphere for the main event of WCW’s biggest annual show. The finish saw Scott Hall stun Goldberg with a cattle prod and Nash hitting a powerbomb to end Goldberg’s undefeated streak.
9 Diesel vs Bret Hart (King of the Ring 1994)
The first huge chance for Kevin Nash in a singles WWE match as Diesel came at King of the Ring 1994. Diesel was still the heel bodyguard of Shawn Michaels getting his chance to challenge Bret Hart for the WWE Championship.
The match was quite entertaining with Hart helping lead the limited and less experienced big man. Diesel technically even won the match when Jim Neidhart interfered for the DQ finish. This helped prove to Vince McMahon that Nash had main event potential on his own.
8 Diesel vs The Undertaker (WrestleMania 12)
Kevin Nash’s run as Diesel came to an end in 1996 when his WWE contract expired. Following his WWE Championship loss, Diesel remained on the WWE roster for a few more months before heading to WCW. One of the final programs came against The Undertaker.
The newly turned heel Diesel made Undertaker one of his biggest enemies. Both big men faced off at WrestleMania 12 in the semi-main event. Undertaker won the solid match giving him one of his bigger victories of the year.
7 Kevin Nash vs Triple H vs Goldberg vs Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho vs Randy Orton (Summerslam 2003)
The WWE return of Kevin Nash saw him have his final relevant stint in the company in 2003. Nash had a short program with World Champion Triple H and remained in the title picture moving forward. Summerslam 2003 would have the Elimination Chamber main event for the World Championship.
Nash, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Goldberg were the six men involved in the dangerous match. It was quite the entertaining spectacle. Nash didn’t contribute as much as the others, but he was still involved in the successful Elimination Chamber main event.
6 Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Syxx vs Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and Kevin Green (Slamboree 1997)
The New World Order rarely took part in great matches since they usually cheated or controlled the action with a numbers advantage. One unique attraction match would see the trio of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Syxx face off against Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and Kevin Greene.
WCW told a great story here in the build to this match with the new school nWo trying to squash the tradition of the sport represented by the three faces. Slamboree 1997 saw this highly entertaining match end with the faces getting a rare victory over the nWo.
5 Diesel and Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon and 123 Kid (Action Zone)
An underrated match in the history of WWE featured four members of the Kliq facing off on the secondary show titled Action Zone. Shawn Michaels and Diesel continued their run as a heel team in 1994 against the faces of Razor Ramon and the 123 Kid.
They decided to deliver a surprise standout match on the show most fans forgot existed. The duo of Diesel and Michaels retained the WWE Tag Team Championship in front of a hot crowd. This Kliq tag match was the peak of the Action Zone show.
4 Diesel vs Bret Hart (Royal Rumble 1995)
The first major WWE Championship defense of Diesel came against the face of the company. Bret Hart was looking to recapture the title he lost to Bob Backlund in controversial fashion. This was a rare instance of two faces having a match against each other with the audience having to choose sides.
Diesel and Hart delivered a classic as Bret helped lead Kevin Nash to one of his first great matches. The finish would see the great match end in disappointing fashion. It was ruled a draw when many members of the heel roster attacked the two faces before a winner could be crowned.
3 Diesel vs Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania 11)
Diesel continued to move forward in his WWE Championship reign with a showdown against Royal Rumble winner Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 11. Despite being obligated to accompany Michaels to the ring, celebrity Pamela Anderson chose to walk with Diesel adding a memorable start to the match.
Michaels helped Kevin Nash deliver one of the best performances of his career. The audience was into every second of Nash’s win on the biggest show of the year. WWE star Kevin Owens has revealed on many occasions that this match inspired him to become a wrestler.
2 Diesel vs Bret Hart (Survivor Series 1995)
The WWE Championship reign of Diesel ended in grand fashion against Bret Hart at the Survivor Series 1995 event. Diesel started showing signs of turning heel during the match as Hart had an answer for all his powerful moves.
This match even gave us one of the first table bumps in WWE history creating a surreal buzz. Bret had one of the best performances of his illustrious career with Kevin Nash keeping up. The win for Hart was a huge moment returning to the top of WWE. Diesel officially turned heel attacking the new champion after the match.
1 Diesel vs Shawn Michaels (In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies)
The best match of Kevin Nash’s career was the final appearance of his first WWE run on television. Shawn Michaels’ first defense as WWE Champion came against his former friend Diesel in a No Holds Barred match at In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies.
The action saw them tear apart the ringside area using various weapons. WWE fans weren’t used to this and it added even more to the already great match. Diesel tried to use the prosthetic leg of retired wrestler Mad Dog Vachon before Michaels intercepted and used it to his advantage. The classic match sent Nash off to WCW in the best way possible.