Kevin Nash Says WWE Paid Him Like A Manager During His First Year As Diesel

Kevin Nash has opened up about the financial reality of his first year in WWE, explaining that he received a manager’s pay while working as Shawn Michaels’ bodyguard under the Diesel character. Nash joined WWE in 1993 after previously working for WCW as characters including Oz and Vinnie Vegas. WWE introduced Diesel on the June 7, 1993 episode of Raw as Michaels’ ringside enforcer.

Although Diesel was physically involved in Michaels’ matches and eventually began wrestling, Nash said his original position determined how WWE paid him. Speaking on his Kliq This podcast, he recalled struggling financially despite appearing alongside one of the company’s leading performers.

“That sh*t, man, when I first started there and I was getting that Diesel pay—I mean, that was second to the top of the card, Intercontinental Championship,” Nash said. “But I was basically Diesel. You can say he’s a manager, but pay-scale-wise, I mean, you can say he’s a bodyguard. Pay-scale-wise, I’m a manager.”

Nash explained that he was also new to the company, meaning he was receiving the lower end of the manager pay scale. “So, you’re getting paid manager’s pay, and green manager’s pay at that,” Nash continued. “That first year was rough. God damn, it was a teaching.”

Diesel’s position changed quickly after WWE began presenting him as more than Michaels’ bodyguard. Nash eliminated seven wrestlers from the 1994 Royal Rumble Match, helping him receive a favorable reaction from the audience. He then defeated Razor Ramon to win the Intercontinental Championship in April 1994. Diesel and Michaels captured the World Tag Team Championship later that year, making Nash a double champion.

The partnership ended at Survivor Series 1994 when Michaels accidentally struck Diesel with Sweet Chin Music. Three days later, Diesel defeated Bob Backlund in eight seconds at Madison Square Garden to capture the WWE Championship on November 26, 1994. WWE’s title history lists Diesel’s reign as lasting 358 days.

Nash’s rise meant the low-paying bodyguard role did not last long. Within approximately 18 months of arriving as Michaels’ enforcer, he had won the Intercontinental, Tag Team and WWE Championships. Diesel held the WWE Championship until Bret Hart defeated him at Survivor Series on November 19, 1995. Nash later left WWE for WCW in 1996, where he joined Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan to form the New World Order.

Looking back, Nash described his first year as a difficult introduction to the financial side of WWE. He was regularly appearing around the Intercontinental Championship story, but his pay still reflected the manager and bodyguard role WWE initially gave him.