WWE News: Bret Hart Compares Roman Reigns To Kevin Nash


WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart compared current WWE superstar Roman Reigns to his former in-ring adversary Kevin Nash in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.

During his career as a wrestler, which spanned five decades, Hart faced a litany of opponents. From Ric Flair to The Undertaker, Hart squared off against all of the elite performers of his time. With that history, Hart gave his view on how Reigns’ ascension up the WWE ranks is similar to that of Nash.

“Reigns is just like Kevin Nash. If you look back at Reigns, his character was getting over really good on his own. Then they rushed him into a babyface turn and crammed him down everybody’s thoughts, and people rejected him. It wasn’t his fault. It was kind of like with Kevin Nash. He was slowly getting over, and I wrestled him at [the 1994] King of the Ring and we had a really good match. All of a sudden, by August, they were ready to make him the new champion.”

[Image via WWE]
[Image via WWE]
Despite the company’s reaction and intended direction, Hart says that he urged them not to make a rash decision. At that point, Nash, under his “Diesel” gimmick had only been with the WWF for less than two years. But thanks to his cosmetic appeal as a near seven-foot tall monster, the company seemed set on pushing Nash to the moon.

“And I’m going, ‘He’s not ready yet. Give him a little time and let him get even more over.’ Why is there a rush?”

That’s why Hart see’s similarity between both men, but he does state that it’s not Reigns’ fault for the situation he’s in. Hart says that Reigns is a talented performer.

[Image via brethitmanhart/Instagram]
[Image via brethitmanhart/Instagram]
“Reigns got dealt a bad set of cards. It has nothing to do with his work rate–he’s a really good worker and his style is really good. He just needs to be himself,” said Hart.

As Survivor Series approaches, rumors are running rampant as to who will be the next WWE World Heavyweight champion. Reigns has been rumored to win the championship, possibly turning heel in the process. Several past wrestlers and bookers, including Hart’s Wrestlemania 13 opponent “Stone Cold” Steve Austin have given their reasons as to why Reigns should turn to the dark side.

In fact, during the same interview, Hart mentioned Austin as somebody that WWE wanted to rush, but did not due to Austin’s own convictions and demands.

“They tend to rush guys too soon, and that makes me think of Steve Austin. Vince wanted to turn him baby face much sooner than he did. I remember Steve stopped it. Austin said, ‘No, let me get over more.’ And it paid off to be a little smarter and not rush. Some of the mistakes have more to do with the bookers instead of the actual wrestlers.”

At Wrestlemania 31, the intended plan appeared to be Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to become the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. But a severe backlash from the audience changed those plans. Many fans felt that Reigns was being “rushed” because of the WWE allegedly handpicking the former member of The Shield to be one of the company’s top superstars.

However, Reigns did not leave Santa Clara, California, as champion and the winner of the 2015 Royal Rumble floundered on the main roster for a while.

Now, he enters Survivor Series looking to win his first major singles championship in the WWE. Dean Ambrose, Alberto Del Rio, Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens, and Reigns are the final four competitors left in the tournament to crown a new champion.

While all the previous decisions can become mere footnotes in Reigns’ career after this Sunday, Hart has a simple reason for why Reigns’ climb to the top has been a rocky one.

“Reigns is a victim of bad booking,” Hart tells Sports Illustrated.

[Image by Steve Haag/Getty Images)

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