How Good Was Kevin Nash Actually?

2. Drawing Power

Drawing power is a tricky subject when it comes to Kevin Nash. Nash is someone who was involved in the main event scene for WWE and WCW for a respectable six or seven years during arguably the business' hottest period, but his 'hit and miss' success as a major attraction is a lot more complicated.

As discussed, his time as a main eventer as Diesel was one of the major failings of WWE’s New Generation. Alongside names like Lex Luger and Sycho Sid, these years are seen as a period in which WWE struggled financially and artistically. All of these guys were given the task of replicating the heights of what came before them, but nobody met the high standards of Hulk Hogan (or even The Ultimate Warrior) before them or Stone Cold and The Rock after them.

As discussed, Kevin Nash's move to WCW made the company a bigger draw than ever before. His move and Hogan’s heel turn were the catalysts for the most successful era in company history. He was rarely the focal point of the main event scene, but his presence was large throughout this incredible boom period for WCW and the business as a whole. Nash's Starrcade '98 main event against Goldberg had the third biggest PPV buy rate in WCW history.

When Nash returned to WWE in 2002, he wasn’t booked on WrestleMania 18 in his own right and only headlined one WWE PPV in singles competition during this whole run. This could be put down to Vince McMahon’s pettiness, but if we know anything about Vince, it’s that if he thought it made dollars, he’d make it make sense. He had clearly decided that Nash was not a lead attraction, and that has to be a factor when talking about his reputation when it comes to drawing money.

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