The residents of Detroit, Michigan have always prided themselves on being blue-collar hard workers. With that in mind, it's not surprising that a Detroit native like Kevin Nash would scratch and claw his way to the top of the wrestling industry. Nash wasn't dealt a winning hand early on in his career. As a matter of fact, he was dealt a few bad hands in a row.
However, Nash's perseverance and opportunistic nature would soon elevate him into positions of power and influence that only a few performers have ever enjoyed. Nash got to the top of the mountain for both WWE and WCW and proved he belonged there, but there were certainly a few bumps in the road on the way there.
10 Master Blaster Steel
Many future Hall Of Famers kicked off their careers by being part of a tag team. Kevin Nash was no exception. In 1990, Nash was dubbed "Steel" and was paired first with Iron, then Blade, to form the Master Blasters tag team. The character is a far departure from the Kevin Nash fans would eventually come to know and he sported face paint and an orange mohawk.
The team would receive a small push in its early days in WCW but it wouldn't be sustained. The Master Blasters were disbanded in 1991. Initially, Nash kept the gimmick and was simply known as "The Master Blaster" but it was dropped in the middle of 1991 when Nash was transitioned into his next character role.
9 Oz
It's hard to imagine having to get over a worse character than Master Blaster Steel. Unfortunately, in 1991, WCW was up for that challenge. Enter Kevin Nash's second persona, Oz. As if kayfabe wasn't already having a tough enough time in the '90s, WCW made the questionable decision to debut Oz just one week after The Master Blaster's last appearance. Wearing wizard-like attire, sporting silver hair, and managed by The Great Wizard, Nash portrayed a giant reimagining of The Wizard Of Oz.
Despite the character's underlying silliness, Oz was given a relatively strong push for about a month before losing to Ron Simmons at the 1991 Great American Bash. It would all be downhill from there. Oz remained on tv for the remainder of the year but was poorly booked before being fazed out completely heading into 1992.
8 Vinnie Vegas
In January of 1992, Nash would get one step closer to finding his place in professional wrestling when he stepped into the role of Vinnie Vegas. Vegas was WCW's loose interpretation of a wisecracking mobster. Much like Nash's prior incarcerations, Vegas was given a strong initial push. He was recruited by Harley Race to join Mr. Hughes and Big Van Vader as a part of Race's Half A Ton Of Holy Hell stable. After that stable dissolved, Vegas joined Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Mine stable. Nash and Page would also later form The Vegas Connection team.
Vinnie Vegas wasn't the game-changing character Nash was hoping for, but it helped him get noticed by the right people. It wouldn't be long before Nash was leaving WCW to step into his greatest role ever.
7 Kevin Nash: TNA
The twilight of a professional wrestling career is hardly a pretty picture. Unfortunately, fans have had to witness some of their favorite performers be lesser versions of their once-legendary selves. Kevin Nash in TNA was a perfect example of this. After taking some time off from wrestling, Nash arrived in TNA in late 2004. From the get-go, it was apparent that Nash was no longer the same performer. Furthermore, his presence, along with Scott Hall and Jeff Jarret's, made TNA seem like a bad continuation of WCW.
There were certainly some bright spots during Nash's multiple runs with the company, but overall, his time in TNA can't be viewed as much of a success. Nash would leave TNA for good in 2011.
6 Kevin Nash: WWE 2002
In 2002, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Hulk Hogan all returned to the promotion that made them megastars. Fans and critics alike were clamoring to see The nWo clash with WWE's most popular performers. Unfortunately, things didn't exactly go as planned. In Nash's case, he was inexplicably held out of WrestleMania while Hall and Hogan worked with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock respectively. Things got worse when Nash suffered a quad injury immediately upon returning from a biceps injury.
Nash would eventually return and be plugged into a World Title feud with Triple H. Nash would fail to defeat Triple H on multiple occasions. He would go on to lose a Hair vs. Hair match to Chris Jericho before leaving the promotion after SummerSlam 2003.
5 Kevin Nash: WWE 2011
The Royal Rumble match typically has a few surprise entrants. With 2011 being the biggest iteration to date, it needed a big surprise that fans could remember. At entrant number 32, they got that big shock. The biggest crowd reaction of the night belonged to Kevin Nash as he entered as "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel. Diesel obviously didn't win the match, but his appearance that night sent a nostalgic chill down everyone's spine.
Nash, who had signed a WWE legends deal prior to his appearance, returned at SummerSlam 2011 to cost CM Punk the WWE Championship. He would then enter a feud with Triple H which culminated with a Sledgehammer Ladder match at TLC 2011. Nash would continue to make sporadic appearances for the remainder of his 5-year deal with WWE.
4 Kevin Nash: WCW's Final Days
The final days of WCW were pretty bad by any standards. What was once a proud thriving promotion had been mismanaged to the point of extinction. Kevin Nash was one of many performers who had to navigate the complicated landscape that was WCW from 2000 to 2001. Nash spent most of 2000 feuding with the likes of Mike Awesome, Terry Funk, and WCW Champion, Booker T.
During WCW's final calendar year, Nash would win the WCW World Championship, the WCW Tag Team Championships with Diamond Dallas Page, and be named on-screen WCW Commissioner. It was a fruitful yet hectic year in Nash's career.
3 Kevin Nash: Original nWo Member
When Scott Hall seemingly invaded WCW on behalf of WWE in 1996, he shocked the pro wrestling world. When Kevin Nash joined him a couple of weeks later, they permanently altered the pro wrestling landscape forever. Hollywood Hogan might've been the leader of The nWo, but Hall and Nash were undoubtedly the group's cool factor. Nash's box office status combined with his laid-back attitude drew fans to him in droves.
As one-third of the original nWo, Nash was a megastar without the need of a singles push. Nash's appeal with fans would eventually grow to rival that of The nWo's leader, Hollywood Hogan.
2 Kevin Nash: Wolfpac Leader
When The nwo spotlight became too small for Kevin Nash and Hollywood Hogan to share, the faction was split in two. Hogan headed nWo Hollywood, while Nash led the newly christened nWo Wolfpac. Unsurprisingly, when Nash left The nWo, he took the group's coolness with him. Scott Hall would eventually turn on Nash and join Hogan, but The Wolfpac maintained its edge in the coolness department.
As the leader of The Wolfpac, Nash would win his first World Championship in WCW and do the unthinkable by ending Goldberg's undefeated streak at Starrcade 1998. The role of leader was ultimately the right one for Nash.
1 "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel
It took some patience, but in 1993, after a few years of cringe-worthy gimmicks in WCW, Nash arrived in WWE. He was brought in to be Shawn Michaels' bodyguard and was given the name "Diesel" by Shane McMahon. While paired with Michaels, Nash won the WWE Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships. The duo would split at the 1994 Survivor Series.
Three days after that, Diesel would defeat Bob Backlund at a house show at Madison Square Garden to win the WWE Championship and start a year-long reign as champion. Nash would go on to accomplish even bigger things in the wrestling business, but none of it would have been possible without his run as "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel.