Kevin Nash Recalls Being 'Pounded' By Sheamus And Drew McIntyre During WWE Royal Rumble

Kevin Nash's return as Diesel at the 2011 Royal Rumble is one of the more re-playable Rumble moments on YouTube, since it was the first time Nash had performed under that moniker since 1996. By the time Diesel entered the ring he found himself surrounded by an unfamiliar group that included two of the hardest-hitting men on the roster at that time: Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. On "Kliq This," Nash recalled what it was like to step into the ring with those two performers, who gave the WWE Hall of Famer a "snug" welcome back during his Rumble return.

"Those two guys pounded me like I owed them money," Nash said. "And the whole f***in' place is chanting 'Diesel, Diesel.' And I mean, they're just relentlessly just f***in' chewing me alive. And I'm thinking, like... you know what, man? I'm too old to f***in', like, fight from underneath. I'm just, like– I'll just take the beating. I'm getting eliminated here in a minute."

McIntyre and Sheamus have a reputation within WWE as aggressive performers. Their WrestleMania 39 match (which included Gunther) received acclaim for its brutality. 

Meanwhile, beyond the return pop, Nash's performance in the 2011 Royal Rumble match was unmemorable, lasting less than 3 minutes with no eliminations. He made another appearance at the 2014 Royal Rumble under his own name and eliminated one. His greatest Royal Rumble success came in 1994, in which he eliminated seven consecutive opponents, the first time that trope had been used. It's since been referred to as the "Diesel spot," which is sometimes used in Rumbles to make a particular wrestler look dominant, a role that's subsequently been given to the likes of Steve Austin, Kane and Roman Reigns.