Jim Ross addresses former WWE Champion's "horrible booking"

Jim Ross was a WWE commentator when the company struggled financially in the mid-1990s. In a recent podcast episode, the veteran announcer gave his thoughts on people criticizing Kevin Nash's Championship run in the Stamford-based promotion.

Nash, fka Diesel, held the title for 358 days after defeating Bob Backlund at a live event in November 1994. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer went on to feud with Mabel, Shawn Michaels, Sid, and several others before losing the gold to Bret Hart.

Around that time, WWE held some events in high school gyms due to a lack of demand for tickets. On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross explained to host Conrad Thompson why fans were wrong to blame Nash for the low attendance in those days:

"[Backlund vs. Nash] wasn't gonna draw a dime. No, it wasn't [Nash's fault]. Kevin's a very bright guy but he endured it and went with it because that was his job, but it was a horrible booking. It didn't do him any favors whatsoever and certainly didn't do the business any favors whatsoever. He's a seven-foot babyface, and we had the same conundrum with Undertaker." [1:10:42 – 1:11:16]

Nash was one of the top names in the wrestling business in the 1990s. In 1996, he and Scott Hall joined forces with Hulk Hogan to form the iconic nWo faction in WCW.

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Jim Ross compares Kevin Nash and The Undertaker

Shortly before leaving WWE for WCW, Kevin Nash lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 12. Later in 1996, The Deadman began a legendary feud with Mick Foley's Mankind character.

While Jim Ross believes Foley was the perfect opponent for The Undertaker, he thinks Nash's feud with Bob Backlund highlighted WWE's booking flaws:

"We all remember how Mick did with Undertaker. They drew a lot of money, Conrad, and things turned around immensely at that point in time, so you got a good dancing partner for your guys, and if you wanna take care of that babyface and get him or her over, they gotta be threatened, they gotta have somebody that poses a legitimate threat to them, and we didn't have that ongoing. We just had wrestlers." [1:12:06 – 1:12:35]

In the same episode, Jim Ross gave his thoughts on a WWE Hall of Famer's impressive 100-pound weight loss.

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What are your thoughts on Kevin Nash's WWE Championship reign? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Jim Ross' quotes from this article.