Kevin Nash will miss about two months of in-ring time due to a torn bicep. He suffered the injury the day after WrestleMania, although at the time only thought he bruised his muscle. He had two sets of tests, the second of which revealed the tear. The first MRI on March 26 showed a bruise of the middle bicep which required just rest. The second MRI on April 2 showed a ruptured bicep tendon which required surgery. Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery; he had performed surgeries on Nash four other times. To explain Nash’s lack of in-ring action for the next two months, an angle took place at Raw this week where Ric Flair suspended Nash for his attack on Kane. Nash’s WWF contract is incentive-laden, so he will suffer financially from missing ring time. He will be back on television playing an active role weeks before he is ready to actually wrestle again.
Steve Austin, upon returning to active duty after a week-plus leave of absence, quickly put to rest rampant speculation that he was upset with the NWO. One of the first things Austin did was let Kevin Nash and Scott Hall know that his problem wasn’t with them even though that had been widely reported elsewhere. As reported here in recent weeks, Austin had no blow-ups with the NWO before his post-WrestleMania hiatus and that his beef was with Vince McMahan and how he was being portrayed on TV, although the specifics aren’t known. Although anti-NWO political forces within the WWF used the Austin absence as an opportunity to claim the NWO was causing locker room strife, Austin’s problems with McMahon predated the NWO’s arrival. Austin’s concerns with McMahon were worked out satisfactorily for both parties paving the way for his return, including a Raw main event match against Hall this week on Raw. The professional tension Austin developed with Triple H, by all accounts, is more business than personal.
X-Pac (Sean Waltman) defended his spot in the NWO against critics who say he is undeserving. He told WWF.com: “It’s a bunch of (B.S.). It’s a bunch of insecure guys saying a bunch of stuff and they don’t know what they’re talking about. We’re just doing our thing. We always do what’s right for business. People can say anything they want, but the past is the past, and what’s going on now is what’s going on now. And we’re all business. You’ve seen the matches; you’ve seen the stuff with The Rock and Hogan. I’ve read where some people say I jumped over the entire talent roster into a top spot. That’s a crock too. I’ve been in this business 15 years. I’ve been a main-event guy and I was kind of damaged goods for a while, but I took six months off and I’m back, and that’s all there is to it. I’m putting my money where my mouth is. A lot of guys think they know what they’re doing, and the fact of the matter is, they don’t really. They don’t know how to draw money. And until they get there, they need to shut up.”
Scott Hall missed the Saturday night house show because his nanny, who is battling cancer, was delayed due to treatment. Since Hall has sole custody of his children, he couldn’t leave them alone…. When Kevin Nash showed up at Raw, a lot of jaws dropped. Since he just had his surgery, most thought he’d take the week off. It helped make up for his tardiness to TV a couple of weeks ago. The NWO have been showing up on time, or at least within a half hour of the official 1 p.m. “bell”
