Wrestling veteran recalls how Vince McMahon killed former WWE Champion's character (Exclusive)

Former WWE writer Vince Russo recently spoke about how Vince McMahon's changes impacted Diesel's character during the 90s.

Back in the New Generation Era, Kevin Nash became one of the biggest names in the wrestling business as Diesel. His dominating physical presence and vicious in-ring style made him an instant hit with the fans. However, he turned babyface after winning the WWE Championship, and fans somehow lost their connection with him.

This week on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW, Russo claimed that Nash was a tough dude, but Mr. McMahon wanted to make him a babyface. The former writer recalled that fans saw through all the fake smiles and magazine covers, and that immediately killed the Diesel character, affecting Nash's ability to draw as the WWE Champion.

"I mean bro, I'll never forget, Diesel was such a bad, as my friend Scott Smith would say, ar*e. Then I will never forget bro, once Diesel won the championship, there was Vince McMahon putting him on the cover of the magazines smiling like a Cheshire cat, trying to make Diesel a babyface. As soon as he tried to change Kevin, the character died. That guy was not a babyface, he was a bad you know what. Vince was just trying to mold him into the typical babyface and that did not work for Diesel." [7:22 - 8:06]

You can watch the full video here:

You can catch the full results of Monday Night RAW here.

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Russo mentioned Shawn Michaels spoke to Vince McMahon about Diesel

During the discussion, Russo explained why Kevin Nash did not oppose Vince McMahon's ideas. He mentioned that Nash had just come out of WCW, where he had gimmicks like Oz and Vinnie Vegas. Russo mentioned that Nash was happy with what he got in WWE and ran with it.

"You gotta understand, Kevin was just coming over from WCW where he was Oz and Vinnie Vegas and all that stuff. So, Shawn was the one that suggested Vince bring Diesel in. Kevin wasn't gonna rock the boat. This is early on in his career. This is not the Kevin Nash of today." [8:12 - 8:32]

Russo also explained that Nash was not into politicking during the early part of his career, and so he did whatever Vince McMahon told him to do.

What do you think of Russo's opinion on the incident? Sound off in the comments section below.

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