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The latest episode of "After the Bell with Corey Graves" podcast is now available.
Corey Graves welcomes us to the podcast. He is stoked for today's episode. Graves talks about moments throughout the business. And people could talk about the favorite ones, but his guests this week definitely changed the business.
With no delay, we get into the interview with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Corey talks about this being the second induction for both of them. He asks why Kevin Nash winning under his real name and Scott Hall winning under Razor Ramon. Nash states that the reason that he when under Kevin Nash and not Diesel was that someone else playing the character, that was his reasoning. As for Hall, when he got the call from Triple H, he just said it sounded great. He didn't ask whether it was Scott Hall or Razor. Scott jokes that if that means they were going to celebrate him being better than other guys, hell Yeah. Corey asks if this induction is more special as it celebrates the accomplishments of nWo and they will be inducted with Hulk Hogan and Sean Waltman. Hall puts over "The Kid" as being the first back-to-back Hall of Famer being inducted last year for contributions to DX. He mentions that Waltman has been tearing it up with the young kids at the PC. Scott states that Waltman has a vast knowledge for the business. And any time he spends down there with the PC, trainees are better for it. Corey talks about the expansion of the nWo throughout the years and asked the two who else would they have on stage with some at the Hall of Fame. Hall answers that this might not be popular because he was more behind-the-scenes but Eric Bischoff. He states if you are a fan. You may not see it that way but that's how he sees it. Kevin Nash says he would like to have Kevin Sullivan because he was the one that booked the faction got the right amount of heat amid backstage politicking. Scott Hall agrees with Nash's sentiment. Hall talks about how the nWo was before everyone had cell phones and the Internet was what it is now. Fans legitimately thought that Vince was invading WCW with his top stars. Hall mentions leaving the WWF in Madison Square Garden with him being a semi-main event and Nash being on top. So that believability helped him understand that the idea of the nWo was going to work. Kevin Nash interjects, saying that really, he should be going in as Diesel this time as he's already been inducted as himself as the angle would've worked if he came in as himself. Hall states Nash would still mean something as he came in as a 7-foot tall badass. Nash jokes that he came into WCW in a tracksuit. Hall thought that was tremendous. Kevin says he still had the money from Oz back in the day.
Corey asks if Nash and Hall think the nWo storyline would work in 2020 as fans are constantly wanting to know the inner workings of the business. Corey mentions fans who didn't watch wrestling knew about what was going on, the group was a pop culture phenomenon. Nash says there are a lot of different parameters. Kevin mentions the use of aluminum baseball bats on television. You can't do that now. He mentions Roman Reigns couldn't do that now. Moves on the outside concrete floor are now considered a little too much. Society is so much different now. They were incorporating the East Coast-West Coast rap war of the mid-nineties. Nash continues talking about incorporating the hip-hop style of the time and not many people were doing that on television. Corey asks if they asked to do that or they just did it. Nash says they just did it. Hall talks about the beauty of live TV and asking for forgiveness instead of permission. Scott says all you would do is apologize to the person knowing that you cut the time in half. Corey asks if they received any grief from Turner regarding their actions. Hall mentions that he was being sued by WWE for five years. But it was taken care of. But Scott took it as a sign he was working for the best. Graves talks about how the nWo expanded adding everyone. Corey asks if there was someone that they wanted to be excluded from induction. Scott Hall says he's mad that Horace Hogan won't be included. Corey laughs and this leads into Hall, mentioning Graves's in-ring career was over and WWE took care of him. Nash and Hall give Corey a hard time before Hall exits the interview.
After a short break, the interview resumes with Kevin Nash. Corey asks Kevin that if two or three guys from WWE would jump ship somewhere else, would it make a difference like the nWo? Nash says absolutely not. The Hall of Famer goes on to say that the competition is so rotten it wouldn't even matter. Graves asks what is missing from the business today. Nash states it's hard to surprise people anymore. He says he was surprised about Seth Rollins turning. Nash says there's so much that can still be done. Especially with all the coverage with things like WWE Network, Nash talks about the ability to pull up NXT at your convenience. Graves asks what Kevin thought was the crescendo of the nWo. Nash says Hulk Hogan turning he thinks there's no bigger moment than that. It was the tsunami. After that. How far does the wave go? He talks about before they got there the creative was not great, mentioning The Giant being pushed off of Cobo Hall and the Yeti. Nash says they knew they were going from the Queen Mary to the Titanic but they were going for the money. Hall and Nash had been there before they knew what the deal was. Nash talks about seeing the Nitro debut in thinking it was cheesy. But he points out that WWE was a different company back then too. Corey
Graves asks what does Nash thinks would've happened if he stayed with WWE. Nash answers he would have not dropped the title to Bret Hart and Diesel would have beaten the streak at WrestleMania 12. He doesn't think Vince for the booked in that way, but he could've seen it. Graves asks if there's anything he missed being a part of WWE while he was in WCW. Nash talks about Shawn taking the ball and running with once he left. Nash talks about the creative process becoming more organic going away from the more occupational based gimmicks of the mid-nineties. He says Vince McMahon got smart to everything going on. And he pushed boundaries, mentioning Val Venis being shown on camera with Jenna Jameson, all while WCW was dealing with standards and practices. The WWE was guys being guys with very few factions. Nash talks about how the creative for nWo started to dwindle with the black-and-white and the red and black factions splitting off. Kevin says the two sides never really were at war with each other once the split happened. The original idea was for the faction to take over Nitro and guys would slowly defect back to WCW but never really happened. After a while, you just began cashing the paychecks every two weeks and not really caring. Nash talks about not really spending his money and getting the right people to invest. Big Sexy says he has the same cars he's had for years. He stopped spending his money. Guys his size can't fit in exotic rides. And they're only good to park in front of the valet stand. Corey asks what is the thing that Nash notices different from today. Kevin says the pace of the action. Graves says he is watching a clip of Johnny Gargano and studio and it's insane. Kevin Nash talks about how the sizes out of the guys have changed, but they have such a buzz saw style that it's believable. Unlike back in the day where everything was slower and more plotting. Nash talks about being down at the Performance Center watching some matches and being very impressed. Corey asks about entering the Performance Center as an elder statesman along with Shawn Michaels and Triple H, he says that when you turn 40 people want to be like you and that's weird. But, in regard to the relationship with Shawn and Triple H, he talks about running the roads hard with them back in the day and they were admittedly ass holes, but they paid attention. They stuck together, and cannot be broken up. Kevin talks about Hunter telling him about the initial idea regarding NXT seeing the business needed to evolve. The big man talks about while finding future talent is important. It's almost more vital to find more production people. Kevin Nash talks about how WWE would out produce them. In regard to video packages. And they are still the best. He says that walking into WrestleMania is like the Super Bowl meets Cirque du Soleil meets a Cecil B DeMille film and the Sistine Chapel. Corey agrees that it is the biggest spectacle in sports entertainment. Graves mentions that's why the partnership with Full Sail is so important because they train camera people, production, etc. Nash mentions back in the days of WCW how the production people would be shooting their show and then NASCAR constantly missing shots. He also discusses the complexities of production not knowing anything about camera placement.
After a short break, Corey asks Nash if he is still trying to get acting roles. Kevin says he's trying but his size is a hindrance. They talk about the challenges that come with the height of a 7-foot tall man in Hollywood and the lack of roles. Graves talks about his role in the John Wick film. Nash jokes, he is one of the guys that doesn't die. Graves then asks what else he's been up to and mentioning he's been using stem cell therapy. Nash mentions the reason why he wore long pants was his knees were destroyed. But things have been going well. Nash mentions that he's going to Qatar in a few days. Corey says he's heard good things. Nash talks about the length of the Hall of Fame, stating, mentioning Hillbilly Jim's speech curtailed Goldberg. Nash mentioned Corey and he met eyes in the back but had nothing really to say. Graves states he will run it up the flagpole Nash wants the show to be as long as possible. Corey mentions he will once again be a host for this year's festivities and he will see Nash in Tampa.
After a moment of Zen, Corey closes out the podcast.
**
80’s Wrestling Con 3 takes place on Saturday, April 18th at iPlay America in Freehold, NJ from 10 AM to 3 PM featuring appearances by Honky Tonk Man, Zeus, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Lex Luger, Rock N’ Roll Express, “Dr. D” David Schultz, The Haiti Kid, Teddy Long, Dutch Mantell, The Conquistadors (Jose Luis Rivera & Jose Estrada), Sean Mooney, Larry Zbyszko, Sam Houston, “Polish Power” Ivan Putski, Tony Garea, Mike McGuirk, Ted Arcidi, and the daughter of Andre The Giant Robin Christensen-Roussimoff. Also appearances by Dean Malenko, The Ascension, Bill DeMott, Terri Runnels, and more! Tons of vendor tables, attractions, Q&A’s, and more! For more info visit 80sWrestlingCon.com and Email 80sWrestlingPics@gmail.com. Be a part of the biggest 80’s Wrestling Party ever!
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