Kevin Nash "Knows" What Killed the Wrestling Business

[EmpireWF]

and Jericho took exception.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8241536/wrestling-star-kevin-nash-making-headway-hollywoo

Here's one reason Nash will never be an Internet darling: He called Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero — small-statured, gifted technical wrestlers that lacked big in-ring personalities but were beloved by fans — "Vanilla Midgets." He now claims the comments were a double work. It drew heat from the marks that cheered for Benoit and Guerrero because they were baby faces. It drew heat from the smart marks that cheered for Benoit and Guerrero because they were great wrestlers. Even though both are gone now,12 he still thinks they never belonged in the main event.

"When Benoit and Guerrero hugged [at the end of WrestleMania XX], that was the end of the business," he says. "Has business been the same since that WrestleMania? Has it come close to the Austin era? Has it come close to the nWo or the Hogan era? You put two fucking guys that were great workers that were the same height as the fucking referees, and I'm sorry, man. Are you going to watch a porno movie with a guy with a three-inch dick? Even if you're not gay, you will not watch a porno movie with a guy with a three-inch dick. That's not the standard in porno films. So you put a 5-foot-7 guy as your world champion."

He has the same problem with today's Internet heroes, Phil "CM Punk" Brooks and Bryan "Daniel Bryan" Danielson.

"They are not bigger than life," he says. "I bet they could both walk through airports and not be noticed unless they have a gimmick shirt on and the belt."

Jericho tweeted Nash back...

Funny how @realkevinnash says wrestling “died” when Benoit and Guerrero were champs-Yet the worst year for WWE biz was 95 when he was on top

Hope @realkevinnash doesn’t tear his quad tweeting! #typicalbigman #nwothirdwheel

Nash hit back lol

Once again the puppet master pulls the marks strings .Knew Jericho was a closet mark.First one eliminated on a bullshit sing show...REALLY!!

[FedEx227]

That is absolutely one of the worst articles I've ever read. Not for the writing, it's fine but for Nash's shit spewing, false content.

[Tailback U]

Yeah cuz guys like Brett Harr, Shawn Michaels, Roddy Piper and Ric Flair are real behemoths.

Nash is an idiot. Razor Ramon and Hogan carried him.

[FedEx227]

Fuckers like him blabbling about how you need to be big to be a main eventer in wrestling largely led to those "vanilla midgets" like Eddie and Benoit abusing steroids to the point of death.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Yeah cuz guys like Brett Harr, Shawn Michaels, Roddy Piper and Ric Flair are real behemoths.

Nash is an idiot. Razor Ramon and Hogan carried him.

I was going to say 'Ric Flair' & 'Roddy Piper', and you beat me to it.

Also, Eddie Guerrero had 1000X more charisma than Kevin Nash, and Nash is very charismatic himself.

And like Jericho said, 1995 was the worst year for business in Vince McMahon's history of promoting wrestling, and that's the year they built around Nash. Nash was also one of the key people responsible for WCW being out of business.

[MrBill]

For me, pro wrestling started to decline when there were no real super stars to replace Steve Austin or The Rock. Sure there are tons of impressive athletes but wrestling is about showmanship and charisma as it is about what actually happens in the ring. Ric Flair and others in previous generations transcended wrestling and were known by mainstream audiences in addition to wrestling fans.

I lived and breathed pro wrestling growing up (Mid-South) on Saturday afternoons and up until 10 years ago could spout off all of the belt holders in just about every major promotion. Today I can not even tell you the WWE Champion.

[Senser81]

Jericho's tweet was awesome. Nash's comeback was as lame as an Iron Mike Sharp "wrist lock".

#nwothirdwheel

[FedEx227]

I understand the article really was a Nash fluff piece by a guy who doesn't really watch wrestling, but there's no excuse for not taking Nash to task for A) his 1995 year as being the least profitable in Vince McMahon's history or B) not going into more detail the absolute awfulness that was his booking in 1999 (aka the year WCW lost more money than ever before).

I understand Nash is a worker and he's probably just trying to get a rise out of internet wrestling fans, but there's a certain level of discourse and honesty that somebody at some point has to grasp.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

If that comment came from Hogan...it might have validity...but Hogan's got a 5-foot-9 with shoe lifts guy as champion right now. Coming from Kevin Nash, one of the lowest drawing champions of All-Time, these comments are simply a guy trolling.

btw - John Cena...not mentioned by Nash, and the most profitable wrestling in this era...only 6'1"...and that's exaggerated. Cena is a hair taller than me and I'm 5'11" and change.

[FedEx227]

Also WWE is making more money then ever, so not really sure the business died when those flippy vanilla midgets hugged.

[IamMedellin]

WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper is the latest wrestler to address Kevin Nash's recent comments about the wrestling industry "dying" at WrestleMania 20 when Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero ended the show as WWE's top champions. Piper tweeted on Wednesday:

"I love all the real deal boys in biz. Fact, I'm one of the smallest. Fact I out drew almost everyone. Fact,Without ALL the boys, I'm nothing."

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Steve Austin was like what...6'0"-6'1"?
Flair was probably 6'1".
Piper was like 5'11"

[FedEx227]

Austin was between 6'1-6'2. 220-250 lbs. at his peak. GIANT!

[EmpireWF]

Don't even get me started about Mysterio. WWE flushed millions of dollars down the drain when McMahon refused to give him a serious push aside from the Eddie Guerrero RIP stuff they did. Pat Patterson tried to get them on board but those fuckheads (only 1 matters) refuse to evolve.

Ironically, the only reason Bret and Shawn got their opportunity in 1992-94, was because Vince was facing serious prison time. For all the talk about Vince being a renegade genius (debatable), he's as much a coward when it comes to this kind of stuff.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The out of whack billed heights and weights do no service in this day and age of wrestling.

Hogan used to be billed as like 6'7"-6'8"...but he's really like 6'4"...probably like 6'3" and change...with his bow-legs now, he's shorter than that.
Nash was always billed as a 7-footer, but was more like 6'7".
The Rock was usually billed at 6'5"...he's really like 6'3"...the more yolked up he is, the bigger he looks, but back when he deflated a bit, he looked like a normal guy...6'3" on a good day. I've seen him stand next to A-Rod, who is a legit 6'3" and he wasn't taller than A-Rod.

The best wrestlers these days, and the most marketable are guys that are like 6'1" or under. So, when you compare these guys to the exaggerated heights of the past, it just doesn't hold up even though there isn't a significant height differential between the wrestlers.