The Curse of the Royal Rumble IV: How Kevin Nash ruined everything

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

For the last several years, we’ve documented the ways in which the 14th entrant to each Royal Rumble is cursed. Then came 2014. And then came Kevin Nash. And then he didn’t do much else.

Was that the curse in action? Is it now so powerful that it simply wrote Kevin Nash’s entire wrestling career out of existence? No. It’s much worse than that. When talking about the number 14, we’ve failed to mention there is an even greater, even more powerful, even more destructive curse in professional wrestling, and it’s name… is Kevin Nash.

The number 14 didn’t destroy Kevin Nash, Kevin Nash destroyed the number 14, and, in commemoration, we’ll use this opportunity to take a look back on everything else the curse of Kevin Nash has irreparably ruined.

The Curtain Call: The Entire Point of Pro-Wrestling

The year is 1996 and, for all intents and purposes, kayfabe still basically exists. We’re out of the area of angry old ladies in the front row and un-patriotic heels getting shot, but we’re also still pre-Vince Russo. In short, people were aware the Wizard of Oz probably wasn’t a real wizard, but they hadn’t entirely figured out he was just some old guy in a back room either.

Then, speaking of Oz, Kevin Nash arrived.

By the spring on 1996, Nash and Hall were already destined for WCW, the first seeds of what would eventually become the NWO (more on that later), whilst their good friends and fellow psychopaths Triple H and Shawn Michaels were going to be remaining in the WWF. At a non-televised WWE event in New York City, Triple H, as a heel, wrestled Scott Hall, as a babyface, whilst, later on the card, babyface Shawn Michaels wrestled against heel Kevin Nash. So far so good, and the it was time to end the show; the curtain call.

As soon as the Michaels vs. Nash match ended, Scott Hall entered the ring and hugged Michaels goodbye. It was off script, but, whatever, a babyface saying goodbye to a babyface isn’t much of an issue. Then, however, Triple H came out, and hugged Hall, the man he’d just wrestled earlier that night, and his supposed enemy. Then the icing on the cake; Kevin Nash joined in. Two babyfaces, two heels, two on-going feuds, all hugging each other, in public, at an official event, in the middle of a WWF ring, in Madison Square Garden.

As could probably have been expected, WWE management wasn’t exactly pleased. At the time, the company had a rule banning babyfaces and heels from interacting socially in public, out of the fear that it would expose the business as “fake” and damage the effectiveness of feuds and storylines. Things went from bad to worse when Vince McMahon was informed that a pair of fans had managed to sneak camcorders into the otherwise un-televised event, and what became known variously as “the curtain call” or “the MSG incident” had not only been recorded, but was now being shown to the public (eventually, this tape was bought by the WWF itself and is part of their extensive video library).

With Michaels as one of the WWF’s biggest draws, it was up to Triple H to receive the brunt of the punishment, which including a change of plans that eventually resulted in Steve Austin’s career-making victory in the 1996 King of the Ring tournament (Triple H was originally planned to be the tournament winner, but was written out of his victory as punishment for the MSG incident).

Hall and Nash, however, went entirely without punishment, as they almost immediately left the WWF for arch-rivals WCW, bringing the curse of Kevin Nash with them.

Goldberg: WCW’s Only Ever Genuine Achievement

Fast forward two years to 1998, specifically December 27th, 1998, in Washington D.C. at the Starrcade WCW pay-per-view. After eleven minutes and twenty seconds, Kevin Nash has just won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to end the show. Little could anyone have know at the time, but WCW would never recover.

To understand exactly why, we need to go back just over one year, to September 1997, and the televised debut of Bill Goldberg. If WCW every truly created anything, it was Bill Goldberg. Hogan, Luger, Savage, Piper, even the NWO were WWF inventions, Sting and Flair owed their careers to the NWA, but Goldberg was WCW through and through. Originally from Atlanta, trained from scratch in WCW’s own training facility, and having never wrestled anywhere else, Goldberg was WCW’s poster boy, it’s Steve Austin, it’s saviour, and the only real glimmer of hope that WCW could possibly outlive the careers of it’s ever-ageing roster of main event talent, all of whom were stars from the early 90s, if not the 1980s, who had been in the exact same position for years without a hint of evolution, change or freshness.

But, in Goldberg, WCW had something young, exciting and self-made, and the company rallied behind their new star who was pushed into an eventually ridiculous and almost entirely made-up 173 match winning streak that lasted from September 22, 1997 until, you guessed it, December 27th, 1998.

As part of his winning streak, Goldberg had won the US Title in April, and then the World Heavyweight Title, from none other than Hulk Hogan, in July. At the same time, however, behind the scenes, WCW’s rather liberal contract negotiation policy was coming back to haunt them. As a way of snatching up disgruntled WWF talent, the company had offered several rather ludicrously generous amounts of personal power and autonomy to stars like Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and, of course, Kevin Nash. This had already manifested itself in bizarre incidents like putting pressure on referees to change the endings of matches without telling anyone else involved, including the writers and booking team (like the notorious and infuriating finish to, ironically, Starrcade 1997).

The exact power structure of WCW is a hazy one, like concentration camp guards all claiming to have only been following orders. Exactly when Kevin Nash’s backstage power in WCW reached it’s peak will probably never be confirmed, but, many will point to Starrcade 1998 as perhaps it’s most public display. As far as the facts go, it’s generally accepted that Kevin Nash did everything in his power to make sure he was the man who first defeated Bill Goldberg. Exactly why he did that is up for debate. According to Nash himself, much of Goldberg’s hype and popularity was a farce created by WCW using fake audience dubs and piped in chants, and Kevin Nash was just as, if not more, popular, particularly in the north-eastern territories most commonly associated with the WWF. Others, including former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan, believe it was simply a way of stroking Nash’s ego and assuring himself a bigger part in wrestlings history books. The third, and perhaps most cynical (and, thus, most likely) scenario, is that the destruction of Goldberg by an older, established guy like Kevin Nash was designed specifically to stop his rising popularity and, as such, stop any threat of him destabilising Nash’s world of guaranteed contracts and creative control. If WCW started creating stars of it’s own, like the WWF was at the time, why would they need to keep giving old WWF veterans like Nash and his friends so much power and money to stick around?

Thankfully for (and because of) Kevin Nash, that question was never answered. Bill Goldberg was defeated, Kevin Nash was champion, the streak was over, and WCW had two and a half years left to live.

But the curse wasn’t done just yet.

WCW: Competitiveness in the Pro-Wrestling Industry

What’s better than having the ability to influence the writing team? Being the writing team.

Around February 1999, WCW made one of the most bizarre decisions it ever made (which is a competitive field for a company like WCW) and made Kevin Nash the head of their creative team. The previous head, Eric Bischoff, who had officially booked Nash’s title victory at Starrcade, effectively walked out on the company to go to Europe with his family, leaving Nash in full control.

Unfortunately, Nash’s time in charge is particularly vague in terms of what he did and didn’t do, mostly because Nash’s promotion did nothing to clear up the murkiness of exactly who was in charge of what in WCW. Roughly speaking, Nash lasted from Bischoff’s departure in February 1999, to Vince Russo’s arrival in October 1999. These dates, whilst unconfirmed, would suggest that Nash was responsible for at least okay-ing a performance by the band KISS on an August episode of Nitro which was, according to Dean Malenko, the least-watched episode of WCW Nitro ever.

Nash’s tenure as booker also involved the coining of the notorious term “vanilla midgets”, Nash’s label for wrestlers he considered to be too small and too boring to ever succeed. Among the vanilla midgets were the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Lance Storm, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Raven and Chris Jericho, with the latter two both eventually leaving WCW under Nash’s leadership, and immediately joining the WWF.

But perhaps Kevin Nash’s most well known and controversial nail in WCW’s coffin came, amazingly, before he was “given the book” by Eric Bischoff.

All together now; The Fingerpoke of Doom.

The story’s so well known that it’s barely worth repeating, but, just as catch-up crash-course, on the January 4th, 1999 episode of WCW Nitro, in Atlanta, Georgia, babyface Kevin Nash defended the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against heel Hulk Hogan, with each man representing rival splinter groups of what had once been the NWO. When the match started, Hogan poked Nash in the chest, Nash threw himself onto his back, Hogan made the pin, Hogan and Nash hugged and laughed, the NWO reformed, and, in one finger poke, the Monday Night Wars were over. WCW had lost.

In his book “WrestleCrap”, RD Reynolds cited the finger poke of doom as the beginning of WCW’s decline into oblivion in the minds of fans. In his book “The Death of WCW”, Bryan Alvarez called in the most important single event that eventually lead to WCW’s collapse. WWE themselves called in the most “scandalous title change of all time”. Even the New York Daily News called it the “beginning of the end of WCW”.

As ever with WCW, people have been quick to jump ship. Kevin Nash has always protested his influence, accusing others, including Bill Goldberg, of spreading the rumour that he was involved the planning the match. On the other side, however, Goldberg, Reynolds and Alvarez have accused the match of being almost entirely the work of Nash and Hogan as part of an ongoing “plot” which had begun with Nash winning the title in December to place both of them back at the top of the WCW main event hierarchy in the fans eyes.

Whoever’s fault it was, the ball was rolling, the decline was unstoppable. WCW was dead. The curse of Kevin Nash, however, wasn’t…

COMMENTS

Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

1 Comment

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Henry Higgins III

5 years ago

That was a good read, but I would like to say that Raven didn’t leave WCW and go to WWE, he left and went back to ECW, where he was a surprise return. On that night, he and Tommy Dreamer won the tag titles from The Dudley Boys (ironically on their last night in the promotion). He had a no-compete clause stating he couldn’t go straight to WWE, so went to ECW in August 1999 and left again in April 2000, before appearing at WWE’s Unforgiven PPV in September 2000. Also, Raven left when Eric Bischoff went into the locker… Read more »

Cookie	Description
_pxvid	This cookie is used for detection of the browser and distinguishing whether it is a real user or malicious bot.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	This cookies is set by GDPR Cookie Consent WordPress Plugin. The cookie is used to remember the user consent for the cookies under the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-non-necessary	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Non Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	This cookie is used to keep track of which cookies the user have approved for this site.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-preferences	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Preferences".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-uncategorized	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Uncategorized".
CraftSessionId	This cookie name is associated with the Craft web content management system, where is functions as an anonymous session identifier.
csrftoken	This cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks
DSID	To note specific user identity. Contains hashed/encrypted unique ID.
JSESSIONID	Used by sites written in JSP. General purpose platform session cookies that are used to maintain users' state across page requests.
PHPSESSID	This cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
viewed_cookie_policy	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Description
b30msc
btc
CMST
cref
d
gpl
i
icts
ig_did
mdata
na_rn
na_sc_e
na_sr
na_srp
session_depth
visitor-id

Cookie	Description
__gads	This cookie is set by Google and stored under the name dounleclick.com. This cookie is used to track how many times users see a particular advert which helps in measuring the success of the campaign and calculate the revenue generated by the campaign. These cookies can only be read from the domain that it is set on so it will not track any data while browsing through another sites.
__stid	The cookie is set by ShareThis. The cookie is used for site analytics to determine the pages visited, the amount of time spent, etc.
_ga	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, camapign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assigns a randoly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_gtag_UA_60765351_1	Google uses this cookie to distinguish users.
_gid	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
ad-id	Provided by amazon-adsystem.com for tracking user actions on other websites to provide targeted content
demdex	This cookie is set under the domain demdex.net and is used by Adobe Audience Manager to help identify a unique visitor across domains.
DigiTrust.v1.identity	Registers data on visitors’ website-behaviour. This is used for internal analysis and website optimization.
dmvk	This cookie is set by DailyMotion who display videos, it registers statistical data of visitors' behaviour on the website.
gid	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
GPS	This cookie is set by Youtube and registers a unique ID for tracking users based on their geographical location
is_unique	This cookie is set by StatCounter to determine how people are using the website
is_visitor_unique	This cookie is set by StatCounter to determine how people are using the website
sc_is_visitor_unique	This cookie is set by StatCounter to determine how people are using the website
v1st	This is set by DailyMotion to display videos.

Cookie	Description
__asc	This cookie is used to collect information on consumer behavior, which is sent to Alexa Analytics.
__auc	This cookie is used to collect information on consumer behavior, which is sent to Alexa Analytics.
__qca	This cookie is associated with Quantcast and is used for collecting anonymized data to analyze log data from different websites to create reports that enables the website owners and advertisers provide ads for the appropriate audience segments.
_cc_aud	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_cc_cc	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_cc_dc	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_cc_id	The cookie is set by crwdcntrl.net. The purpose of the cookie is to collect statistical information in an anonymous form about the visitors of the website. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. These data are then used to segment audiences based on the geographical location, demographic, and user interest provide relevant content and for advertisers for targeted advertising.
_kuid_	The cookie is set by Krux Digital under the domain krxd.net. The cookie stores a unique ID to identify a returning user for the purpose of targeted advertising.
_px2	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
_pxff_tm	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
_pxhd	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
ab	This cookie is generally provided by agkn.com and is used for advertising purposes.
ad-privacy	Provided by amazon-adsystem.com for tracking user actions on other websites to provide targeted content to the users.
ayl_visitor	This cookie registers data on the visitor. The information is used to optimize advertisement relevance.
bafp	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bafp_t	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_pl	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_rf_8b2087b102c9e3e5ffed1c1478ed8b78	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_rt_8b2087b102c9e3e5ffed1c1478ed8b78	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_t_8b2087b102c9e3e5ffed1c1478ed8b78	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bfp_sn_td_2d31c94105a0aa6d1ceaea0c86c6b656	This cookie is from Media.net and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
bito	This cookie is generally provided by bidr.io and is used for advertising purposes.
bitoIsSecure	This cookies are generally provided by bidr.io and is used for advertising purposes.
bsc	The cookies is set by ownerIQ for the purpose of providing relevant advertisement
CMID	This cookie is linked to advertising and tracking the products users were looking at.
CMPRO	This cookie is linked to advertising and tracking the products users were looking at.
CMPS	This cookie is linked to advertising and tracking the products users were looking at.
dc_id	This cookie is used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator's permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers.
did	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
didts	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
dpm	The cookie is set by demdex.net. This cookie assigns a unique ID to each visiting user that allows third-party advertisers target that users with relevant ads.
eud	This cookie is from Rocket Fuel and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
euds	This cookie is from Rocket Fuel and is used to deliver targeted advertising across their network sites ensuring users see relevant advertising.
everest_g_v2	The cookie is set under eversttech.net domain. The purpose of the cookie is to map clicks to other events on the client's website.
evo5_popin_instance	Prevents an interaction from reoccurring for visitors not accepting 3rd party cookies.
id	This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to build a profile of the website visitor's interests and show relevant ads on other sites.
IDE	Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
io.narrative.guid.v2	This cookie is generally provided by io.narrative.io and is used for advertising purposes.
KADUSERCOOKIE	This cookie is generally provided by pubmatic.com and is used for advertising purposes.
KTPCACOOKIE	This cookie is generally provided by pubmatic.com and is used for advertising purposes.
matchliveramp	This cookie is provided by w55c.net and is used for advertising purposes.
mc	This cookie is associated with Quantserve to track anonymously how a user interact with the website.
mxpim	This cookie is generally provided by mxptint.net for advertising purposes.
na_tc	This is a Social Media sharing tracking cookie.
NID	This cookie is used to a profile based on user's interest and display personalized ads to the users.
nnls	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
pxrc	The purpose of the cookie is to identify a visitor to serve relevant advertisement.
pxvid	This cookie is set by PerimeterX who provide security analyst oversight.
rlas3	The cookie is set by rlcdn.com. The cookie is used to serve relevant ads to the visitor as well as limit the time the visitor sees an and also measure the effectiveness of the campaign.

Cookie	Description
__jid	Cookies set on the website by the third-party commenting platform Disqus.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
disqus_unique	These cookies are set by Disqus so that users can comment on website/platform.
G_ENABLED_IDPS	The cookie is used by Google and is used for Google Single Sign On.
mid	The cookie is set by Instagram. The cookie is used to distinguish users and to show relevant content, for better user experience and security.
na_id	This cookie is set by Addthis.com to enable sharing of links on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter
ouid	The cookie is set by Addthis which enables the content of the website to be shared across different networking and social sharing websites.
ov	This is a generic functional cookie that provides enhanced functionality and personalisation.
ts	This cookie is generally provided by PayPal and supports payment services in the website.
vuid	These cookies are used by the Vimeo video player on websites.

The Curse of the Royal Rumble IV: How Kevin Nash ruined everything

The Curtain Call: The Entire Point of Pro-Wrestling

Goldberg: WCW’s Only Ever Genuine Achievement

WCW: Competitiveness in the Pro-Wrestling Industry

You might also like

FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

Recommended for you