Kevin Nash's Quad Knee Injury On WWE Raw, Explained

Aug 29, 2023

In 2002, Kevin Nash tore his quad live on WWE Raw, a moment that the Hall of Famer has been mocked for since.

Whenever Kevin Nash appears on a WWE screen, fans may be very familiar with a running joke in which comments can be made about Nash tearing his quad. In fact, Nash seemed to pay homage to this joke at WrestleMania 31, when he went down clutching his quad during an nWo versus DX brawl. This all dates back to an injury he suffered on an episode of Monday Night Raw all the way back in 2002 when he suffered a quadriceps tear. The story behind this injury is a bizarre yet interesting one, and some fans may not be aware of what went down on this unfortunate night.

After WCW was bought out by WWE and the lackluster invasion angle had come to an end, the three original nWo members; Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, signed with WWE, each making big returns to the company that first made them famous. WWE didn’t really do too much with the nWo, particularly when the WWE fans rallied to bring back the red and yellow of Hulkamania, in addition to Scott Hall’s issues outside the ring which resulted in his firing. Another contribution to what would be an unsavory end to the nWo was an injury suffered by Nash in March of 2002, which ruled him out for a few months.

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There wasn’t a clear time frame on Nash’s return to the ring, though when he did make a comeback in July 2002, it was far too early. Nash did appear on television during his injury absence from May, as he continued to be an on-screen member of the group, backing them up during leadership struggles and ringside during matches. On the July 8 episode of Raw, Nash was flown in at the last minute to compete in a ten man tag team main event, with someone else having to go to his house to retrieve his gear. It must be said though, that rushing him back to action was something that was not necessary in the slightest.

Prior to the match, Nash hadn’t yet had time to get back into in-ring shape, and was therefore not ready to compete. When he made his entrance alongside fellow nWo members, it was clear that he was moving a little gingerly anyway. For most of the match, Nash was on the outside, allowing the likes of Big Show, Eddie Guerrero, RVD, Goldust, Booker T, X-Pac, and more to do all the work inside the ropes, but eventually it was his turn to enter the fray. However, due to the fact that someone else had gotten his gear, Nash didn’t have his protective knee brace, and this is where things went south.

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He tagged himself in and took Booker T out with a big boot. He would run towards the corner to take out members of the other team, but in doing so, his leg gave out and he fell to the floor, shouting out in pain. Seeing him in that way was very concerning, and the pain he was in was evident. He had torn his quad almost instantly, proving that he shouldn’t have been in the ring in the first place. The finish of the match had to be improvised, with Big Show becoming the legal man in the match.

The nWo won whilst Nash awkwardly lay in the corner of the ring without any medical attention, and post-match he was helped to the back by Big Show, instead of on a stretcher. Nash was then ruled out for an entire nine months before he could make a comeback, adding another hurdle to his comeback run. On his Kliq This podcast, Nash described the pain. “It felt like a shotgun.” (h/t WrestleZone)

Andrew Kelly is a writer from The Wirral, England. He is an MA Graduate from the University of Manchester, and a BA Graduate from Liverpool John Moores University, both in Creative Writing. Can be found on Twitter @andrew_kelly0