Why is Kevin Nash not as cool in WWE?

[Dave at the Movies]

Seriously I don't get it. In WCW and TNA he was always awesome and cool.

In his last two WWE runs though he just seems very off on the mic and I'm speaking more to this run.

Some people say Punk is just that much better and I like Punk but I don't believe that for a second.


So why do you think Nash's mic work in this WWE run is so awkward? I've heard he doesn't like to use a script and that may be the problem since WWE is heavily scripted.

[lemonyellowson]

cos he looks like randy the ram now?

[Threadkiller [Classic]]

I think it's because a person can only keep pushing back time for so long (re-dying his hair and make passive-aggressive digs in promos) before it clearly becomes time to walk away for good.

The one thing Nash could contribute was his mic skills, and those seem to have largely disappeared. Hell, he sounded drunk last Monday. His words were kind of slurring and coming out like that idiot yelling at the screen in the Bucky Larson commercials. Not saying that he actually was drunk, but he just doesn't seem to possess that superstar delivery that made him such a fantastic mic worker.

He just comes across as kind of desperate, saying all this mess about what he's done in this business and how if it wasn't for him, guys like Punk wouldn't have guaranteed money (as if guaranteed contracts didn't exist before Nash left for WCW). Today's audience doesn't seem to care about any of that. Nash appears painfully out of touch, in this respect, contributing to the heightened "old" factor and the reduced "cool" factor. He doesn't give off that "Big Sexy" vibe anymore. He just seems more like Old Man Nash.

[Cam]

Probably because WWE are telling him what to do and because he's naturally cool, not aggressive like he is currently.

[juvijuiceisloose]

Because he's an old man. It's easy to look cool when you're around guys who are even older like Hogan, Flair, Sting, Bischoff, etc.

Going back to the WWE, he's working with guys he's at least 20 years older than.

He seems to be stuck in the year 1998. I think I saw him wearing the exact style shirt he wore when he powerbombed Bischoff through the stage when during the Hostile Takeover in WCW.

He's a relic.

[comahan]

Because hes 10000x better when hes a laid back, smarmy, sarcastic ass like he was in WCW and TNA (particularly his run in the X Division, which completely negates most of the age arguments imo, as he doubled most/all of them in age and was still the coolest and best part of the show at that point). In WWE, he's overly serious, yells a lot, and plays much more of a "Im a badass!" type character. It just doesnt work that well.

[molson5]

He was booked opposite Punk, and by design I think, he couldn't possibly be cool in that type of scenario. Cool would be not really caring what Punk thought, cool would be Nash being confident in his own place. Instead, Nash comes off like a desperate, bitter old man who wants the younger WWE fans to know that he used to be a big deal too. Again, I think that was by design - though they didn't have a match, Nash was very much "fed" to Punk.

And c'mon, if Nash was acting "cool", and no-selling Punk's attacks on him, and hitting him back with meaningful attacks, people here would be up in arms. Nash did the job.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Because this angle is about putting over CM Punk, and an angry old man who rambles ineffectually about how kids these days don't have enough respect for him is the perfect villain to represent the impotent status quo that CM Punk is supposed to be overthrowing.

[Paco]

Generic angry WWE Nash sucked in 2002-2003 and it sucks now.
Cool laid-back Nash ruled in WCW and ended up ruling in TNA.

He's a good example of talent that the WWE cookie-cutter style hurts instead of helps.

[Dean-o]

In WCW he often played a laid back guy, who kicked ass but always had time for a joke.

In current WWE he was simply a bitter old man, who was obviously a fraud and lying to his close friend to push his agenda.

[thecrocksays]

Because unless you're The Rock or Hulk Hogan, you can't reappear on WWE television after being gone for nearly a decade and expect the fanbase (which is constantly evolving) to give a damn. Remember when Jericho came back in 2007? He was only gone for two years, and still struggled to get over again for awhile. Nash is too old and broken down to remind people why he matters. You're not a "legend" just because you did something big 15 years ago. That's why guys like Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and even HHH have a special status in WWE. They stuck it out for the long haul.

[Dave at the Movies]

Sept 10, 2011 0:36:32 GMT -5 molson5 said:

He was booked opposite Punk, and by design I think, he couldn't possibly be cool in that type of scenario. Cool would be not really caring what Punk thought, cool would be Nash being confident in his own place. Instead, Nash comes off like a desperate, bitter old man who wants the younger WWE fans to know that he used to be a big deal too. Again, I think that was by design - though they didn't have a match, Nash was very much "fed" to Punk.

And c'mon, if Nash was acting "cool", and no-selling Punk's attacks on him, and hitting him back with meaningful attacks, people here would be up in arms. Nash did the job.

I think you may be right. They may just want people to hate him and its working because the iwc really hates him right now.

I'm hoping they put him on commentary on Smackdown with Booker T after this storyline. It would be hilarious. The Black Snow and Chet Lemon reunion needs to happen.

[Crappler El 0 M]

In 1994, he was cool. Now he's in his 50s with dyed hair (well, his hair was dyed then too, but it wasn't naturally grey and thinning). His face looks old. He doesn't walk well any more. He and the nWo theme song just seemed so empty in 2011. It's kind of sad. He was better off not coming back for this. That Rumble spot could have been a great way to end his WWE career, except for a few special appearance like HBK's Hall of Fame induction. Him having that brief run as a regular character exposed him because he didn't seem as quick and focused on the mic and he looked old and couldn't move well. Big Daddy just ain't cool any more.

[Hit Girl]

I don't think he's ever been cool

[Turd Ferguson]

His dirty sanchez mustache. He needs to grow it back fully. What he's got right now can be sold back to Michael Hayes at a loss, and he'd still come out ahead.

[HBL]

Although it's been said a zillion times,I'll say it again.SRS Nash doesn't work.

[Deleted]

Sept 10, 2011 1:27:13 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

In 1994, he was cool.

Nash wasn't cool in 1994, he was cool in 1996. I think it is a WWF/E thing with him. Someone on YouTube posted a video from WM 11 where Nash slightly flubs up one of his lines and then goes into super serious mode where he starts yelling and it sounded so fake and stupid. Then watch when he plays "intense" during his worked shoot against Flair and Piper on Nitro a couple of years later. He wasn't laid back which is his strength, but I bet not one line of that promo was scripted so it came off more naturally.

I think Nash is someone who can't work with a script and can't "act". Give him bullet points and let him play himself and that's probably the best you can get out of him.

[________ has left the building]

If Nash out smart ass Punk on the mic, people would riot. WWE stripped him down so Punk would have an easier target to ether. The point of the angle is to put over Punk not Nash.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

It really as simple as what kind of character he playing. Nash shouldn't be Mister serious. Which what the WWE had him be his last two runs. Nash is 100% better playing the laidback, cool guy, who tells a joke here and there.

That what made him great in TNA and WCW because he wasn't all business. He had cockness and attitude if you will. WWE should watch his TNA stuff honestly, and take note and that how you book Nash in a promo. And he can be seriously only if he was natural out of him and not a script. Which is what the WWE doesn't allow anymore really.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Sept 10, 2011 7:38:37 GMT -5 @conebone69 said:

Sept 10, 2011 1:27:13 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

In 1994, he was cool.

Nash wasn't cool in 1994, he was cool in 1996. I think it is a WWF/E thing with him. Someone on YouTube posted a video from WM 11 where Nash slightly flubs up one of his lines and then goes into super serious mode where he starts yelling and it sounded so fake and stupid. Then watch when he plays "intense" during his worked shoot against Flair and Piper on Nitro a couple of years later. He wasn't laid back which is his strength, but I bet not one line of that promo was scripted so it came off more naturally.

I think Nash is someone who can't work with a script and can't "act". Give him bullet points and let him play himself and that's probably the best you can get out of him.

You may not have found him "cool" in his run as Diesel, but WWE tried to present him that way with his moniker "Big Daddy Cool" and his tag team name "Two Dudes with Attitudes." In hindsight, these names are in themselves not cool, but I think Nash at least had a lot of appeal back then and youth and big size to play off of then. Certainly the Diesel character was never as "cool" as Kevin Nash in WCW when he was in nWo and the Wolf Pack.