Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash (Diesel) came together via an assist from Rick Steiner. They would go on to help WWE forge a new identity after a rocky start to the ’90s. Here’s the story of their formation (and eventual demise).
Before finding wrestling, Kevin Nash was the floor manager of an adult establishment in Atlanta, Georgia. And it was Barry Windham, then in WCW, who first suggested that Nash give this new career a try.
In the years following his WCW debut, Nash would be saddled with a handful of gimmicks. The first of these, Oz, cast him as a fantastical character from the same universe as the classic L. Frank Baum children’s novel The Wizard of Oz.
In 1992, Shawn Michaels shocked the world by super-kicking his former best friend and Rockers tag team partner Marty Jannetty through a barbershop window on Brutus Beefcake’s Barber Shop.
Shawn Michaels, now without Sherri’s services, suggested that he would benefit from the employment of a bodyguard. That man turned out to be Kevin Nash.
As time went on, Nash was given more license to be himself, and he would eventually win the WWF Tag Team Championships alongside Michaels, a feat which marked the first time HBK had held the belts in question.