Dr. Chris Featherstone of Sportskeeda recently spoke with former WWE superstar Nailz (Kevin Wacholz) for their WrestleBinge channel. Nailz wrestled in the AWA before making his WWE debut in 1992. He was fired just a few months into his tenure at the company after choked Vince McMahon backstage over pay issues.
Here are the highlights:
On working with Big Boss Man:
“It was really interesting matches, especially with Boss Man. We had beaten each other from one corner of the ring to the other. We were outside, smashing each other with chairs and tables and choking each other with cables. We basically just beat each other up and both of us were pretty much bloodied and bruised after the matches. They were really good, intense, hardcore matches and it looked like people were thinking in the audience that these guys were for real. There was no fake and phony being yelled out. They were saying, ‘these guys are killing each other.'”
If Vince McMahon had other plans for him:
“I don’t know what he had in his mind as far as where the character was gonna go and what he was gonna do with it. All I found out was from the office was ‘we wan’t you to do this, we want you to do that.’ Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for a longer run because I believe that he basically missed the boat. He could have used me and the character for a long time. All the fans that come out say, ‘I wish you were there for a lot longer because we really loved your character, we really loved your intensity…'”
What he was looking for from Vince McMahon when he went to approach him:
“I just wanted to discuss the contract and the different monetary…basically the aspect that he owed me money and I wanted to get paid for the work. I wanted to get paid for the services rendered. He promised me that I’d make a lot of money in WWF and I believe that I fulfilled my part. I played the character well. I put people in the seats and he didn’t fulfill his part and that was what we discussed…”
How he feels about the situation now looking back in hindsight:
“You have to stand up for yourself. You’re not a man if you let some other person step on you and treat you like a bug and squash you like a cockroach. He owed me money. I believe if people don’t stand up for themselves, there’s nobody gonna do it. You have to do it for yourself. That’s the type of person I am. I stand up for myself and if I don’t believe in something, I’ll let you know. I’ll air my grievances. With him, people were afraid to talk to him. There were many many people that just wouldn’t go in and talk to him. He would run through them. He squashed a lot of people’s careers. He squashed a lot of people’s livelihoods and people just didn’t say what was on their mind. They were afraid to talk to him. He ran into the wrong guy.”
You can check out the complete interview below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
