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Maxx Payne, known in WWE as Man Mountain Rock, believes Kevin Nash’s backstage influence may have played a part in his exit from the company.
Payne worked for WCW between January 1993 and May 1994 before joining WWE. After debuting on WWE television in February 1995, he received his release in October 1995 following a European tour.
Speaking on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Payne said German fans reacted positively toward his guitar-playing at his final live event. However, upon returning backstage, Nash made a comment which he thinks summed up how much power the former WWE Champion’s Kliq group held backstage.
“Here stands Kevin Nash, and he says, ‘Yeah, that’s not really working, Maxx.’ I’m like, ‘What? Am I not hearing that… or? What do you mean?’ ‘It looks not good.’ ‘Well, f***, Kevin, I guess I’m deaf because everything I’m hearing, they’re going nuts.’ And I knew right then that The Kliq had won. I knew I was done,” Payne said. [59:30-1:00:05]
The Kliq, a backstage group of friends in WWE, consisted of Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. It is often said that the five men “had Vince McMahon’s ear,” meaning the WWE Chairman trusted their opinions regarding other superstars.
Maxx Payne took Kevin Nash’s remark as a sign
Maxx Payne’s final WWE event took place during the Full Metal tour in Koln, Germany on October 10, 1995. He defeated Rad Radford and played music for the crowd.
The ex-WCW star reaffirmed that he could not believe how Nash responded when he returned backstage:
“When Kevin said that to me on the last night and the crowd’s still f***ing chanting for me, it’s pretty tough to go, ‘Really?’ I took that as the sign it was, and that was it.” [1:00:06-1:00:22]
Payne also said in the interview that another two-time Hall of Famer, Hulk Hogan, tried to prevent him from joining WWE in the first place. He claims Hogan warned Vince McMahon not to do business with him, but the WWE Chairman decided to go against that advice and hire him anyway.
Please credit the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.
