When Kevin Nash tore his right biceps muscle last spring, many thought that he and the nWo were finished for good. His critics claimed that he was too old to return from such a devastating injury, and that hte nWo, leaderless for the first time in its history, would fade into obscurity. Nash, of course, had other ideas. He had come back from serious injuries before, and in his mind, it was not a matter of if, but when he would return. As for the nWo, it struggled mightily without its leader. But just when it appeared that the renegade group might implode abd disappear forever, Nash reappeared on the scene and breathed some much needed life into the organization. Today, both he and the nWo stand atop WWE. Why anyone would doubt that Nash's prowess is puzzling. After all, he's a five-time World Champion, eight-time World Tag Team Champion, and former Intercontinental titleholder. Among his more impressive records are winning the WWE World Championship in the shortest championship match ever (eight seconds against Bob Backlund), and being the only man to win the Intercontinental, Tag Team and World Championships in the same calendar year.
This month, Big Sexy sat down with WWE Magazine and offered his thoughts on the state of the nWo, the role he played in Stone Cold Steve Austin's departure, his relationship with Shawn Michaels, and several other interesting subjects. In typical Nash fasion, he pulled no punches and made a point to inject his own lethal brand of "poison" into every comment he could.

WWE Magazine: When the nWo first arrived here, it promised to wreak havoc throughout the entire organization. While the group did have an immediate impace, you didn't get off to the start that everyone was expecting. Several months into your run now, how do you feel the nWo is doing?

Kevin Nash: I think like a lot of corporations in today's society, we were in a restructuring phase during our first few months. Nobody could predict that Hollywood Hulk Hogan was going to abandon us for the fans. He left us and wanted to do his Hulkamania thing, and that's fine for him, I guess. He said he was "nWo 4 life," but I guess that was just talk. One he left, it disrupted the synergy we had going.

WWE: Were you upset that he dumped you guys?

Nash: We dumped him, he didn't dump us. The rest is history. You can't really replace a Hollywood Hulk Hogan, but we'll be fine.

WWE: Shortly after Hogan left the nWo, you tore your right biceps muscle and found out that you were going to be out of action for several months. At that point, did you think that the faction might be finished?

Nash: Well, I think we pretty much were. We were on the ropes.

WWE: Did seeing the nWo beginning to fall apart motivate you to come back sooner than the doctors thought you could?

Nash: I knew it was going to die if I didn't get back. I'm an incredible leader. I knew I could get the band back together if I got there in time. So I made sure I got back before it was too late.

WWE: How big of a blow was losing Scott Hall?

Nash: It was huge, without a doubt. He was the guy who was there the whole time. We've been buddies for so long, and he's someone I can really trust. But getting X-Pac really helped us. He goes back with me as far as Scott does.

WWE: What about Big Show? Are you glad he joined forces with you guys?

Nash: Definitely. I trust him, and I still think he might the guy with the most potential in the entire industry. He's still young. Most guys in this business don't hit their peak until their mid-30s, and he's still a few years away from that.

WWE: How did you fel about Ric Flair taking charge of the nWo and inserting Booker T into the group?

Nash: One thing we learned from the past was that numbers don't necessarily guarantee success. Having more people can just mean more trouble. If you keep your team small and elite, you're going to be more effective. So we did what we had to do to Booker T. I think we showed Flair that he had no business meddling with the nWo.

WWE: It seemed as if some members of the nWo were enamoured with Goldust. Was that the case?

Nash: I know I wasn't, but X-Pac really wanted him to be part of the team.

WWE: Was Shawn Michaels joining the group in the cards all along? How did it come about that he came back as a member of the nWo?

Nash: Shawn and I stayed in contact for the six years that we were apart, which is rare in this business. When you leave one organization to go to another, no one stays in touch with each other, but Shawn and I did. If you stay in contact with someone, it's because you're friends. And when the time was right, I knew that he'd be there for us.

WWE: Is there any chance of you two teaming up and once again winning the Tag Team Championship?

Nash: Well, I don't know if his back will allow him to wrestle on a regular basis. He's obviously got the tools and the skills.

WWE: Do you have any worries that he may try and take over the organization and kick you out?

Nash: No, I trust him. I trust him as much as I trust anybody in the nWo.

WWE: Did the nWo run Stone Cold Steve Austin out of the WWE?

Nash: Absolutely. He knew that he was going to have to face me.

WWE: So it wasn't so much the nWo as it was you specifically?

Nash: Yeah, it was me. He knew that was within weeks of being cleared, and he knew that I was coming after him.

WWE: Were you bummed out that he left before you had a chance to square off in the ring?

Nash: I was disappointed, but I wasn't surprised. He didn't want to face me; he didn't want any part of me.

WWE: Now that you guys have grabbed a foothold in WWE, what's your next step?

Nash: We took Flair out of his position in Raw, and I really don't think that Vince is going to have the time or capacity to run Raw. He brought us in as a cancer- well, maybe we're not a cancer, more like botulism, but we can make people sick for two hours, so I think we'd be naturals to run Raw.

WWE: What do you think about Brock Lesnar?

Nash: What about him?

WWE: Would you like to see him in the nWo? Are you worried about him?

Nash: He's got good physical ability; I'm not saying he doesn't. At the same time, he's got a long way to go.

WWE: Any truth to the rumors that Paul Heyman is trying to recruit some of your boys.

Nash: Heyman's always up to something, but I don't think he's got the stone to meddle with the nWo.

WWE: We just heard that Heyman may have some plan of his own?

Nash: I've heard he might be after X-Pac, but I don't know if that's true. There has been talk, but I've also heard that he might be after a lot of guys.

WWE: Everybody knows that you and Triple H go back a long way. Is there anything going on with you guys? Do you stay in contact?

Nash: I talk to him a lot.

WWE: What do you guys talk about?

Nash: We talk about business. We talk about life in general.

WWE: What's next for the nWo?

Nash: Just wait and see. I'm not going to let the whole world know now, but the nWo's going to be doing some big things in the months to come. We've shocked the world before, and we're going to do it again.