100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

71. Kevin Nash Reverts To Diesel Power (2011)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE.com

By the time of the 2011 Royal Rumble, it’d been over eight years since Kevin Nash competed in a WWE ring. However, given that Big Sexy made various appearances on WWE programming, documentaries, and specials during those years, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise to see Nash eventually make another Rumble appearance.

What was surprising, though, was that Nash returned to his old Diesel persona when he turned up in 2011.

For full context, the Diesel moniker had last been used 15 years prior when Kev wrestled his final match under the then-WWF banner before departing to WCW. Of course, that match - against Shawn Michaels at Madison Square Garden on 19 May 1996 - was followed by the infamous Curtain Call incident.

Ultimately, this 2011 outing as Diesel wasn’t quite as successful as Big Daddy Cool’s previous two Royal Rumbles - scoring seven eliminations in 1994 and another five in 1996 - with Wade Barrett eliminating the WWE Hall of Famer after just a couple of minutes.

Still, for those New Generation fans among us, it was all kinds of awesome to hear that Diesel theme, see the Diesel gear, and see Kevin Nash roll back the years - even if it was extremely brief.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.