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In the old days of professional wrestling, physique and size were everything and your placement on the card hinged upon how you looked. Hulk Hogan became the biggest star in WWE just by hulking up and dropping a leg. The Ultimate Warrior was even more limited than Hogan, but for a period of time, he was the hottest act in the company and slated for greatness.
Despite the in-ring limitations, Warrior and Hogan were top stars because they looked like superheroes straight out of comic books. For the entirety of the 80s Rock 'n' Wrestling boom, larger than life characters dominated the industry, but in the early 1990s, the status quo shifted and wrestling promotions allowed smaller guys an opportunity to shine as well.
In The Early 90s, Bret Hart And Shawn Michaels Replaced Hulk Hogan And The Ultimate Warrior
Bret Hart was not as big or muscular as Warrior, but the guy was a marvel inside the ring and once he was given a chance, he was so good that he became the face of the company. Same for Shawn Michaels. He was such a good performer in the ring that his stature didn’t matter and people just liked watching him wrestle. The steroid scandal in 1992 led to this, but all worked out well and professional wrestling evolved, incorporating technical and high-flying matches.
After the success of Michaels and Hart, wrestling companies were more willing to give smaller guys a chance. Over the years, superstars such as Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan emerged as popular superstars. While fans were more willing to accept them and what they brought to the programming, some people felt that wrestling died when smaller guys were given the spotlight. One man in particular referred to his smaller contemporaries as vanilla midgets.
Kevin Nash Was Not A Fan Of Smaller Wrestlers Getting Big Pushes
Kevin Nash was right there when this revolution passed him by. This was around the NWO days, and despite the faction dominating the industry, some fans were more interested in what the smaller guys were doing. Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko wrestled their hearts out on the undercard, putting on a show better than the big guys did. In response to this, Nash coined the term vanilla midget.
By his definition, vanilla midgets are smaller wrestlers that are able to wrestle but are not larger than life and do not possess an entertaining personality or gimmick. This term floated around the wrestling business and on online wrestling forums for years, but in 2012, Kevin Nash was finally asked to explain what he meant by vanilla midget. In response, Nash went on a long rant about how smaller guys killed the industry. He clearly had a lot of frustration to get off his chest.
Kevin Nash Claimed That The Likes Of Eddie Guerrero, Daniel Bryan, And CM Punk Killed The Business
Nash claimed that the wrestling business died on the night of WrestleMania 20, as the show came to an end with two small guys as world champions. He admitted that Guerrero was a great worker, but it didn’t matter because he was the same size as a referee, hence he was a vanilla midget. The guy then took aim at CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, two top “internet darlings” at that time. To Nash, Bryan and Punk were no different.
According to Nash, people wouldn’t know who Punk and Bryan were unless they wore merchandise or had their belts. This was because they were not larger than life like he was, hence vanilla midgets. Funny how he omitted the name of Shawn Michaels, his best friend who was also the same size as Punk and Bryan. Regardless, Nash got a ton of criticism and in response, Nash said that comments were worked shoots, sort of.
Fans And Wrestlers Hit Back At Kevin Nash's Comments
To pacify the criticism, Nash claimed that he took aim at Punk because he wanted to work with him on TV, and maybe he was looking to build heat? Regardless, he praised Punk as an anti-hero and said he would fit right in with NWO. More surprisingly, he claimed that he was friends with Punk and liked hanging out with him.
Other wrestlers brought up Nash’s comments on Twitter. Jericho was the first one to comment and Chavo Guerrero followed it up with a burial on Nash, labeling him a “moron idiot” and stating that Nash had no idea what professional wrestling was. Wrestling fans echoed the same sentiment, especially considering that Nash had brought up a legend like Eddie Guerrero.
In response to these attacks, Nash said that he was the puppet master pulling the strings, and all of us, as well as the wrestlers who took offense to his comments, were the puppets.