Recap of Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night at Madison Square Garden

Tonight’s WWE Live Event at Madison Square Garden was billed as Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night, and the show featured numerous special guest appearances for the Hogan ceremony. The segment featured appearances by Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Jimmy Hart and Triple H. During the segment, Madison Square Garden revealed a Hulkamania banner which will permanently hang in the rafters of MSG, alongside the Championship banners for the Rangers and Knicks. Throughout the Appreciation night segment, Hogan was said to be very emotional, and he became particularly emotional when they unveiled the banner.

Video: The Kliq reunites backstage: Raw, January 19, 2015

Kevin Nash reinstated by WWE

WWE has officially reinstated Kevin Nash after he was cleared of all charges in his recent domestic assault case where authorities ruled he was not the instigator of the incident on Christmas Eve involvnig his son Tristen.

WWE issued the following statement tonight:

"Now that Kevin Nash’s legal matter has been resolved with all charges being dropped, his “legends” contract has been immediately reinstated."

Nash had been scheduled for Monday's Raw until his suspension.

WWE Suspends Legends Contract Of Kevin Nash, More

WWE issued the following statement to The Daytona Beach News-Journal in regards to Kevin Nash and his Legends contract with the company:

“Kevin Nash has not regularly performed for WWE since January 2004. He is currently under a non-wrestling ‘legends’ contract, which has been immediately suspended until this domestic dispute is resolved.”

Port Orange attorney Michael J. Politis released a statement on behalf of the Nash family late Wednesday afternoon: “It's an unfortunate situation. They're a good family. I'm hoping the State Attorney's Office will receive my information and dismiss the charges. The kid was out of control, and the father was defending his wife. I'm pretty confident we will have a resolution in the next couple of months.”

More from The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Kevin Nash Arrested for Battery Bloody Fight with Son

Wrestling superstar Kevin Nash was arrested early Christmas Eve morning -- after getting into a bloody fight with his teenage son Tristen ... TMZ has learned.

The 55-year-old legend -- who is currently under contract with the WWE -- was taken into custody in Volusia County, Florida after cops received a call about a domestic incident just after midnight.

When cops arrived to the scene ... they noticed blood on Kevin's face and arrested Nash.

Two hours later, cops received another 911 call from a person claiming 18-year-old Tristen attacked his mother. He was also arrested for battery.

Cops tell TMZ alcohol may have been a factor.

Update:

TMZ just got the two police reports. As for Kevin's arrest ... the report says he told cops his son came home wasted and belligerent toward him and Kevin's wife, then spit in his face and elbow-checked him. Kevin told cops he pinned Tristen to the ground and that's when Tristen scratched his face.

But Tristen said Kevin was berating him over his relationship with his girlfriend. He says Kevin then choke-slammed him to the ground and, just like Kevin's signature move, Tristen says he hit is head so hard on the ground he blacked out.

Cops arrested Kevin because they felt he was the "primary aggressor."

As for Tristen's arrest two hours later ... Tristen's uncle told cops the young man -- who is 6'5" and 200 lbs -- was drunk and had "slung his mom around the kitchen" and tried attacking him as well.

Kevin Nash Talks About The Kliq, Triple H In DX, Hulk Hogan's Heel Turn, John Cena

Kevin Nash recently spoke with The Miami Herald to promote Florida Supercon. Below are a few highlights:

Hulk Hogan's nWo heel turn and heels today:
"[Hulk] was watching the show, and he saw the momentum really shifting. He saw Scott and I as heel personas were perceived as being cool. He thought if there was a time to switch, it was now, because he could see the momentum going with Scott and I. So when he jumped, it was a shock, but it was a tsunami that pushed the thing for almost three years. It’s so hard. You look at John Cena. He plays the guy in the white cowboy hat,” Nash said. “Our society has gone with the anti-heroes probably since Brandon Lee in ‘The Crow.’ Times have changed. It’s no longer waving the flag as much as it was. There’s a lot of disgruntled people in society. When you look at the demographic, you ask, ‘Where’s the money at?’ Well, the money’s in this kind of tweener guy -- a bad guy with a cool persona. One thing about Hulk. If he smells dollar signs. it doesn’t take him long to make a decision. He saw the way it was going and made the decision."

The nWo and DX in WCW and WWE:
"They both had members of the Kliq. DX is what really made Triple H. He was playing the blue blood, and then Triple H went away from that persona and kind of took over DX, and that’s when Paul Levesque got to be himself. That’s when I think he really took off because he’s got an incredible sense of humor, a really fun loving guy. They kind of took our [nWo] formula. They [DX] were younger guys, and they made it a little hipper. Anytime WWE produces anything it’s going to be produced better.

The Kliq Members Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and HBK Discuss the MSG Curtain Call Incident

WWE.com has posted a new interview up with Kliq members Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall. The interview was conducted during the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, and below are some highlights of the interview, which focuses on the famous MSG Curtain Call incident in 1996. Click here.

The Kliq at the WWE Hall of Fame

Now that's a selfie........#kliqrules pic.twitter.com/sEHa8RLfVH

— Triple H (@TripleH) April 6, 2014

Rumor Mill - WWE Bringing in Big Names for Network Launch

According to F4WOnline.com, WWE is considering bringing in some big names, possibly Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and Shawn Michaels, for the WWE Network launch on the night after The Elimination Chamber PPV.

While there has been speculation that Hulk Hogan will return to WWE at The Royal Rumble PPV on Sunday, he is expected to make his return the night of the Network launch as well to help hype the launch.

Kevin Nash Talks Working With Triple H During His Last WWE Run, Differences With Hulk Early On, More

Former WWE and WCW World Champion Kevin Nash was interviewed on this week's edition of the Big WrestleShark Show, ahead of his upcoming appearances alongside Scott Hall and Sean Waltman on the UK Takeover Tour. In the near hour long interview, Kevin discusses who took him under their wing, the feeling in the locker room when he joined WWF, jumping to WCW, the early days of the NOW, his thoughts on TNA as competition for WWE, working a ladder match at 52 years old and more. Here are some highlights from the interview:

Stories from the road: "We spent 300 days a year on the road when I first came in, and we would spend a ton of time in the UK because we did so well there. I think it kept the WWF alive. I remember doing a 19 day tour, being home for clothes and going back for a 21 day tour; only setting foot in the states to do TV's. At the same time, those trips were the craziest because you had a driver …when you have a driver and you're on a bus, there isn't much to do but drink beer and play cards, and that's what we did.

"We were all young guys, we knew we had to do this together, we were a team, and it was just like stone by stone, we had to build this thing back to what it once was. I think that group of guys on that bus, those 12 – 18 guys… I've got a picture of that group in the back of the bus; it's Taker, the Kliq, Stone Cold, the only person who's really not on that bus is The Rock. It's like the Attitude era and the NWO Era combined in the back of that bus (you can check out the photo here). It makes me feel good that I was fortunate enough to be part of that group of guys. It was the perfect storm."

His last run in WWE against Triple H: "If you would have told me at 50 years old, that at 52 I'd be in a ladder match [laughs]. I think it was a rib. I think they booked it, they called me up, put me on speaker and were waiting for me to start cursing and then I said 'alright fine I'll do it,' I think they just thought 'oh my god he's going to do it.' Visit Wrestling Inc. I knew it was against Paul, and I've always said I'll work against anyone good enough to carry me! I can't ballroom dance on my own. Gimme someone who can dance and I can do my part.

"He's so busy from a running the company stand point, we basically called it on the fly because we didn't have time to do anything. I got out there, picked up the ladder and I'm like, 'oh my god this thing is heavy.' I'm waiting for him to get up, and I know when he does I'm gonna swing it at him and I know just from the physics of it, I'm not gonna be able to stop this ladder once I swing it... so it's comin. That's the thing about working with your friends; you'll take real good care of somebody you don't know, but you'll beat the hell out of your friends."...More?

Scott Hall Comments on the MSG Curtain Call Incident

"I had already given my notice, I gave 90 days written notice to Vince (McMahon) that I didn't want my contact to run over. I didn't say I was leaving, more on the line of lets talk about new terms and then later Kevin Nash gave his, Kev left a week after me. I figured I'm leaving anyway but I'm still wrestling in the semi main event every night, Kev is in the main event.

"It was Diesel and Shawn in the main event and I was wrestling Triple H because Goldust was injured, so they moved Triple H up to that slot, he was brand new to the company and was still kind of doing that rich boy thing and we saw he was a really talented guy and we liked him straight away. We snapped him up really quick because we needed a designated driver.

"As far as the infamous curtain call it wasn't planned, I had my match with hunter and it was one of the best matches I had in my career. Pat Patterson was the booker at the time and he pulled me and Hunter aside, gave us some ideas and we followed them and the match was great. There was an intermission when they set up the cage for Kev and Shawn's match and Vince told me to meet him in his office in Madison Square Garden and when I was in there talking to him Shawn came strolling in and said after the match he wanted Hunter and myself to come out, and Vince went along with it.

"We had permission, it wasn't some kind of outlaw renegade move to hurt the company, which is what everybody seems to say. For me, I felt the responsibility to go out there and say good bye to the fans at MSG, and thank you for supporting me all of these years. That is the last time the four of us have ever been together at one time."

This Day In Wrestling History - The Birth of Austin 3:16

It's somewhat odd to think of but in a roundabout way, The Kliq -- and Triple H, specifically -- are indirectly responsible (at least partially) for the booming success of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Back in early 1996, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, two of The Kliq's members, were leaving the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) for the larger contracts and guaranteed main event slots being offered by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Shawn Michaels and Triple H, however, were staying behind. During a house show at Madison Square Garden in May, the four orchestrated a small ceremony to say goodbye, in which each member got into the ring at the end of the night and hugged each other before giving a curtain call.

This was a major breach of kayfabe, as the group consisted of both heels and babyfaces, and showed enough lack of professionalism that someone had to be punished. With Hall and Nash leaving the company and Michaels the WWF champion at the time, that left Triple H to take the fall. This was unfortunate timing, too, for him, at least. That's because he was penciled in to win the King of the Ring tournament the very next month to begin a big push.

Instead, that push went to a rising star in the company, Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Last we left "The Rattlesnake," he was losing a Caribbean Strap match to Savio Vega at In Your House: Beware of Dog 2, which served to rid Austin of his manager at the time, Ted DiBiase. He entered the King of the Ring tournament immediately after and advanced by defeating Bob Holly in the first round and getting his win back on Vega in the second.

That led him to the pay-per-view (PPV) and a match-up against Marc Mero in the semifinals, which he won after a damn fine 17-minute match that saw him get his lip busted open. Because of this, he had to go straight to the hospital while the event continued on before returning later to meet Jake "The Snake" Roberts in the final.

Stone Cold made it back in time and the two had a mostly underwhelming match. Roberts had his ribs busted up earlier in the night by Vader after their match ended and he was selling that injury all throughout the match. Austin, of course, used it as his focal point before ending it just under five minutes in with the Stone Cold Stunner, a finisher he had just started using at that time.

The match itself was quickly forgotten but the promo Austin cut during his coronation will live on forever in the annals of pro wrestling lore.

Roberts was using a born again Christian gimmick at that time, as he had recently converted to as much in his real life. So Austin used it for inspiration in his promo and created one of the most famous catchphrases in pro wrestling history

source: cagesideseats.com

Kevin Nash on HHH & X-Pac Joining The Kliq, Their Backstage Influence

On X-Pac joining The Kilq: "Pac did that angle when he was the 1-2-3 Kid. It was his 21st birthday, Kid's, Hennig and the Smoking Gunns took him out, Bart and Billy Gunn. The next day he shows up at TV and he's missing an eyebrow. They got him all f***ed up and shaved his eyebrow. Now Kid makes the decision to shave both his eyebrows. So he gets to TV and lo and behold, they're going to shoot his 8x10. So that son of a b**** on his 8x10 has got no eyebrows. Back then there wasn't no money in the WWF so I think that photo followed him for about two years. The funniest thing was he knew it was either the Smoking Gunns or Kurt. And because him and Kurt were buddies for many [years], he made the calculation that it had to be the Smoking Gunns. We're in El Paso, and I look over and see Kid's over there and he's got super glue and he's putting it around the brim of the cowboy's hats. I'm like what the f***. The Kid's like a buck 70, Billy and Bart are two big ol' raw bone dudes. That's one thing people don't realize. Until you shake hands with Billy Gunn, look him in the eyes, you have no idea how big that dude is. That's a grown man. Bart was the same way.

We go to the curtain, Smoking Gunns, they put their hats on, they go out there, shoot the pistols and go to pull off their hats and the s***'s glued to their hair. I about p***ed myself. We looked down at Kid, he was standing there, he watched it, he turned, looked at us and smacked his hands together like f*** you, job well done. We said dude, you're going to need some protection. You need to get in our car. He jumped in [with the Kliq] on that there. I want this mother f***er in our car. The thing was, that mother f***er could go. He's been going since he was 17, you know, so he was a working mother f***er. He was another one of the people that loved to talk the business."

On Triple H joining The Kliq: "Hunter, we were on the road so much we were watching the Saturday, it was called Main Event back then, the WCW Main Event. Me and Shawn's favorite wrestler was Terra Ryzing, who was Hunter's deal when he was in WCW. He was Terra Ryzing. We were in Wooster or some place like that, Kowalski came in and Hunter came in with him. He had a sports coat and slacks on and we were like look at this mother f***er, but we knew he was Terra Ryzing, with that long Fabio hair. So he had his tryout match and we all sat there at the monitor. Scott looked back at me and said mother f***er's money. He walked out of the ring and Scott was walking step for step, maybe three feet behind him. Kind of being a goof. Paul turned around and looked at him, he said who do you ride with? He said Walters, he said not next week. Next week, he said, you ride with us. Then we found out that he didn't drink or do anything. He didn't drink, he didn't take pills, he didn't do s**. It was like f*** yeah, designated driver because my big ass had been driving those guys around for like two years. "

On their backstage influence: "We had pull because the spots we were in. The Intercontinental Championship spot was always the precursor to the World Title. Between Scott, myself and Shawn Michaels, we had that mother f***er pretty much wrapped for about three years. I had a year run with the strap, with the World belt. Shawn and I popped in there a couple times as tag champs. We were always in the mix, upper echelon guys. Hunter hadn't lost, he was unbeaten. He was an up and coming star. Kid was always in the mix because he was so talented, he could have a match with anybody. When Bret debuted, Bret actually worked on RAW, which was a big deal. They put Shawn Waltman in there with him just because they knew they'd have an incredible [match]. They never gave s*** away for free back then and RAW was a one hour show and I think they did a two or three segment match that was just off the hook."

Interview with Kevin Nash

Q&A with Kevin Nash

Q&A with Kevin Nash

Kevin Nash is wrestling at the Big Time Wrestling show at the Maryland Theater in Hagerstown on Friday night. We were able to talk to him about what he's been doing since last being on WWE television, and as well as his memories of Wrestlemania over the years.

Last time most people saw you, it was at the TLC pay-per-view in Baltimore in December of 2011. What have you been doing since then?

Kevin Nash: I've been keeping busy. I've been making personal appearances as well as doing independent bookings. I've been working on a movie project locally with some writers and a production group. It has a good script, and a medium-budget of about $1-to-1.5 million. There's also a reality show that I've been in talks with.

I also have a legends deal with WWE, so I go in from time-to-time for DVD commentaries, and I sometimes go to developmental (NXT). It gives them an extra set of eyes who doesn't necessarily get to see the guys as often, and can give them a different perspective.

More?

This Day In Wrestling History

Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall return to the WWF(E) & re-form the nWo at No Way Out.
February 17, 2002

WWE 'Shooting Straight' Panels Recap

It wasn’t long after Michael Cole politely reminded the members of D-Generation X that WWE is now in a post–Attitude Era during their “Shooting Straight” panel that Triple H fired out a word that would have had network executives pulling out their hair had it been uttered during a live Raw broadcast.

From that moment on, it was clear that WWE’s new “Shooting Straight” panels were going to be every bit as uncensored as the advertisements promised.

Introduced to the WWE Universe as part of Royal Rumble’s Fan Fest weekend, the three sessions — which focused on 1997’s Montreal Screwjob, D-Generation X and WCW — gave an intimate crowd of WWE fans the opportunity to hear inside stories about some of the most pivotal moments in sports-entertainment history from the men who lived them.

“I think it’s something we should have done a long time ago,” Booker T told WWE.com shortly after participating in Sunday’s WCW panel. “Letting our fans get a chance to ask those questions they’ve been wanting to ask for years and getting a true answer from someone who was there — I think it’s priceless.”

It was early Saturday night when WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels, Bret “Hit Man” Hart and Jerry “The King” Lawler sat down with Michael Cole to discuss the infamous events of the 1997 Survivor Series. Although it has been nearly 16 years since the most notorious night in WWE history, it was clear that the controversies of that evening still resonate with WWE fans. As for HBK and Hart, both have matured considerably and have let go of any animosity. Still, The Excellence of Execution took pleasure in graphically describing the loogie he spit in Mr. McMahon’s face seconds after he was conned out of the WWE Title.

“That was like a 10 egg white omelet,” the “Hit Man” said with a laugh.

The next panel got just as messy as D-Generation X members Shawn Michaels, Triple H, X-Pac, Billy Gunn and The Road Dogg got together with Michael Cole to reminisce about the most anti-authority group in WWE history. In between crude jokes and bouts of riotous laughter, The Game revealed that he was nearly paired up with The Honky Tonk Man before DX took off. Another untold tale aired out for those in attendance was how, following DX’s infamous “attack” on WCW in Norfolk, Va., a subsequent invasion of WCW’s Atlanta headquarters nearly got the boys thrown in jail.

“They called the police and told them they were under attack from a militia group,” Triple H said, still in disbelief. “A hundred cops came with riot squads!”

The weekend’s final panel got underway on Sunday morning when former WCW competitors Booker T, Big Show, X-Pac and Kevin Nash talked with moderator Matt Striker about the rise of The New World Order and The Monday Night War. As expected, nothing was left unsaid as Nash revealed that Sting was nearly the third man to join the original nWo and that the reckless Goldberg was his least favorite competitor to face. On the topic of Goldberg, X-Pac added that the former WCW Champion wanted to call himself “The Hybrid” before his impressive winning streak began.

By the time the WCW panel ended, it was clear that WWE had taken a revolutionary step in inviting the audience behind the scenes. For the traditionally guarded world of professional wrestling, it’s a major shift, but one that is welcome.

“Whoever came up with this idea is an absolute genius, because the goal of WWE is to grow and I saw children out there who don’t remember The nWo and now they’re going to go back and learn about them,” Striker told WWE.com.

If you weren’t able to be in Phoenix for the first “Shooting Straight” panels, don’t fret. Chances are WWE will be bringing these innovative sessions to your town in the near future.

“I think it was a hit,” The Game said during the final moments of the DX panel. “And I think it’s something we’re going to do more often.”

source: wwe.com

Rumor Mill - Potential WWE Hall of Fame Inductees

There has also been talk of inducting either DX or The Kliq (Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman) as one group, depending on who you talk to, but we can't confirm 100% which will happen - just that it's been discussed over the last week. My money is on DX.

Former WWF champion Bob Backlund was at WWE HQ in Stamford, CT last Friday as the company wants to induct him into their Hall of Fame. Backlund was actually scheduled to be inducted in 2004 but pulled out. We are told that Backlund has not yet accepted the honor for 2013.

WWE has reached out to James "Kamala" Harris about being inducted into the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame class Wrestlemania weekend. Kamala, worked as a main eventer in his house show run with Hulk Hogan in 1986 and 1987 as well as Undertaker's opponent at Summerslam '92 in Wembley Stadium. He was later turned into a comedic undercard babyface. Outside of WWF, he also had big runs in Memphis and several other territories and worked in WCW as a member of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom. He is a worthy inductee.

The word within WWE HQ over the last week is that they hope to again reach out to Bruno Sammartino to ask him to accept being inducted into the Hall. It was believed by one source that HHH was going to offer to personally travel to Pittsburgh to talk to Bruno. It should be noted that when they first asked Bruno and he turned it down, Sammartino noted during an interview with me that he couldn't see himself going in as long as Vince McMahon was around.

source: pwinsider.com

DX-Kliq Reunion at NXT

Shawn Michaels comes out to the ring and puts over the entire NXT roster. Shawn talks about the NXT Tag Team Championship, saying he was once a Tag Team Champion and it’s one of the biggest honors of his career. Fans chant for Triple H and Michaels says he’s busy right now. Triple H comes out moments later, but heads to the back and comes back out to Degeneration X music. Michaels and Triple H exchange stories and talk about their hair problems. Kevin Nash comes out followed by Billy Gunn and X-Pac. Damien Sandow interrupted the DX-Kliq reunion. Triple H eventually apologizes to Sandow on behalf of them all and asks him to do his cartwheel so they can apologize and then end the event. Sandow takes off his robe and Triple H asks that the audience do a drumroll. Sandow does the cartwheel and is immediately hit afterwards with a Sweet Chin Music from Michaels. Everyone but Michaels leaves the ring. Michaels closes things out by saying if you’re not down with that, we got two words for ya and fans say “suck it!”.