Thanks to Dr. Keith Lipinski for sending along the following partial transcript of his interview with Kevin Nash at WrestlingObserver.com…
Kevin Nash appeared on the Free Edition of the Dr. Keith Lipinski Show at WrestlingObserver.com this week, to discuss the huge HD debut tonight live on iMPACT on Spike TV from Las Vegas. Below is a transcript of parts of the interview.
Interview begins at 27:05 of the program.
Question: Why did you turn on Samoa Joe at Bound for Glory, was it because of a lack of respect?
“I think without a doubt the seed was planted in my mind when he basically just disrespected Scott (Hall) to the point when Scott no-showed the pay per view. My concern was that night, I was worried, yeah we were having a wrestling match but my buddy didn’t show up, I was more concerned about his health and his wellbeing then having a wrestling match that night. He (Joe) pushed my buttons, the resentment has been there. I tried to overlook it. He is what he is. I think I taught him a lesson. I wanted to teach him a lesson. To lose a match is one thing; to lose a championship; I don’t think he will forget that. Its like anything else, as a champion you sometimes take that for granted and you never know when that is going to come back your way, if ever.”
Question: As a mentor, what is the best piece of advice for young wrestlers listening to the show?
“Even when I broke in, one of our road agents was Chief Jay Strongbow, and I watched Chief work and stuff, his style wasn’t what was current, but he knew the intangibles of the business. He was smart with his money. When you talk to him, it wasn’t so much – You have to look beyond the differences in styles, because the style of the work is always going to change. But there is what you call it ‘the it factor.’ When the guys who have success, there is a reason they have success. You have to be able to play the politics. There are so many aspects to be successful in this business. I think when somebody takes the time to sit you down and tell you ‘these are the things, this is the abcs of how to have connectivity, of how when your done you have money, you have security. I think it’s important, if someone, I remember Rick Rude another guy, he was the first star guy to take me under his wing. He was the first one to say ‘You have the ability to do this; you just need someone to teach you when to do what you do.’ Rick was my mentor. The two and a half years I spent with him was invaluable. When I went to New York and actually got a push, I understood with Scott (Hall), and Shawn (Michaels) kind of taking me under their wing there. I learned even more as a bodyguard spot by watching them put together matches and knowing where the match was going and watching things break down and watching them correct things on the fly. I really got some incredible on the job training with two great workers and kind of adopted their style and have had success. When a person comes to me and says ‘watch my match’ and I say ok, and I’ll watch the match and they will come back and they will ask ‘what did you think?’ The first thing I will say is ‘What story were you trying to tell?’ They will say ‘what do you mean?’ I will say ‘You just went out there and did a bunch of spots. What were you trying to prove, what story were you trying to tell me? That you’re athletic? What are you trying to accomplish? Did you move your storyline forward, or did you regress.’ It’s a different way to look at the business, as a business. Yeah, you got all your stuff in. Yeah, you are athletic and the crowd liked it, but you are not moving the storylines – there are things that you have to do to become successful, its pretty proven the guys who have been successful all have pretty much gone on the same pattern.”
Question: There was a lot of talk in the last two months about your contact status with TNA. What made you stay in TNA?
“A lot of things. The comfort level. I’ve been here. My wife was probably the biggest…my wife sat me down. At one point I was 99.9% sure I was going back to the WWE and finish up. I talked with Shawn and we were trying to work out some storyline things of what we wanted to do. My wife looked at me and said ‘Why would you want to go back on the road when we live in Florida, you are ninety minutes away from work five days a month. If you do go on the road it’s only a couple days a month. You’re home, you saved your money, you’re beat up, I just can’t see you going on the road being on the road and doing 12-14 days a month with say Batista or someone like that working every night. I don’t see how you are going to last. The guys you work with know your limitations, they take care of you, and it’s not like that up there. It’s just the situation. You are going to cut your career way short.’ I said, ‘yeah but WrestleMania this…’ that’s when she said ‘I’ve been married to you when you were on top of five WrestleManias, you were miserable. I don’t want to hear it.’ I was just like ‘okay.’ She then said ‘When do I get a vote? For twenty years I’ve sat around here and not had a vote on what to do with your career. When do I get a vote? I said ‘you have a vote. You are 50% of this.’ She said ‘you’re an idiot if you want to go.’ Then the kicker was they wanted me to dye my hair, and my wife loves my hair grey. She said ‘If you dye your hair you are the biggest sellout of all time. You always said you wanted to be the first wrestler to actually age on television.’ Guys dye their hair all the time, and I’m like why can’t you just, go grey? I’m sure if I died my hair, I’d look younger, but at the same time if god intended me to have pigment in my hair, I’d have pigment in my hair. This is how I’m supposed to look. It’s (my hair) going to be gun metal grey in high definition (laughs).”
Question: How much longer do you see yourself wrestling?
“Until they drive a stake in my heart.”
Plus details on the Normal Rockwell existence of the musical Nash family, a possibly create role in TNA, locker room litigation, missing Alex Shelley, a possible intervention for Sonjay Dutt, and a question Dr. Keith has been waiting ten years to ask (three words: hair care tips).
Check out the show at www.wrestlingobserver.com, www.f4wonline.com, www.drkeithshow.com!
