WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Oct. 20, 2003 – Kevin Nash’s right shoulder is constantly in pain. He points to an area above his collar bone and says that there’s a non-stop burning sensation, as if someone is putting out a lit cigar.
“I may be done,” said the former WWE Champion, who was visiting friends at RAW tonight. “Right now, I’m miserable.”
Nash’s spinal issues are due to years of wear and tear, but the excruciating pain he’s dealing with now is the result of a stiff kick to the head he took last May on RAW.
One doctor recently told Nash, upon examining his MRI, that his neck is worse than Stone Cold Steve Austin’s, which was said to be the worst of anybody’s, until now. Nash could have elected to have four vertebrae fused (Austin had two), which would have certainly ended his career.
Instead, one week from tomorrow, Nash will undergo surgery with Dr. Hae-Dong Jho in Pittsburgh. Dr. Jho also performed surgery on Kurt Angle and “Brooklyn Brawler” Steve Lombardi, as well as Nash’s good friend Scott Hall.
Thus far, the surgery has worked wonders for Lombardi and Angle, who was supposed to be out for a year, but returned successfully after just two months.
Nash will have two bone spurs removed from his spine, and Dr. Jho will unblock a nerve in Nash’s C-7 region.
“Hopefully that’ll relieve the constant pain,” Nash said.
As far as his in-ring future, Nash says, “I’ll see how I feel” after recovering from surgery, which is estimated to take six weeks. “I’d still like to be involved in the business in some degree.”
He says he could take on a role as something like a bodyguard, which would not require quite as much physicality.
The last time WWE fans saw Nash was at SummerSlam. Since then, he’s completed work on a feature film, “The Punisher,” starring Thomas Jane, John Travolta and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Nash plays a Russian assassin trying to kill the Punisher. The movie is due to hit theaters on April 14.
“Anybody who reads the comic book will know the Russian assassin,” Nash said.
Nash said he wasn’t in any scenes with Travolta, but “working with Thomas was fun. He’s a really good actor.”
As far as future movies, Nash, who also starred in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze,” says he’ll do them “if I get the roles.”