Mattel has recently released a new line of action figures from WWE’s “New Generation” era. One of the company’s biggest stars of that era was Kevin Nash’s Diesel character. Nash recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about what his time as Diesel meant for his career.

“That was only three years of my life. It seemed like so much more,” Nash said. “I came from basically nowhere. There were so many times during my first run in WCW that I was going to leave and go back to the bar scene. It didn’t seem like it was going anywhere, until I came to WWE.”

Diesel held the WWF Championship from November 26th, 1994 until November 19th, 1995.

“People don’t realize that during my run in WWE as champion, not only was I green and I barely had 300 matches, but my mom died almost 30 days to the date of being crowned champion,” said Nash. “I was dealing with that on top of everything else.”

“I just remember soldiering on. I buried my mom and went to Winnipeg and worked. That’s kind of the way it was.”

Nash is a 2x WWE Hall of Fame inductee. He was first inducted in 2015 as a singles star. He went in under his real name rather than as Diesel, however. Nash was then inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame a second time when he went in as part of the New World Order.

With all the things you can criticize WWE for these days, the company should be commended on doing an excellent job in elevating their secondary championships.

If you flashback to around this time last year, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was virtually ‘on ice,’ only being defended on major pay-per-view events due to the champion at the time — Brock Lesnar — working under a special, limited-date contract.

Now, at the time, you could make sense of it, and even Vince McMahon himself did when asked about the topic during his interview on the short-lived “Steve Austin Show” live WWE Network podcast, as he pointed to the fact that having Lesnar defend the biggest title in the company on an infrequent basis made World Title matches feel that much more important.

Fast forward to the present day, and when it comes to championships in WWE — all systems are “go.”

First and foremost, we finally have a fighting WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Sure, the storyline surrounding Seth Rollins, the current world champion, is that he chickens away from ‘the big fight.’ At the end of the day, however, the bell eventually rings, the referee raises the golden belt up high, and two or more competitors end up vying for the richest prize in all of sports entertainment.

Now, move down one level to the two secondary championships. For the longest time, the WWE United States Championship and the WWE Intercontinental Championship, for all intents and purposes, were viewed as a total joke by the WWE Universe — and rightfully so.

Not anymore.

WWE came up with a great idea heading into WrestleMania 31 this year — put more significance behind their secondary titles. First, slap the U.S. title belt around John Cena’s waist. In a bit of irony, it was Cena who really launched his career off of his first U.S. title run, so in a story-telling fashion, his story comes full circle.

So, basically, WWE decided that now that they want to elevate some new blood into the top spots in the company, they decided to put one of their secondary titles — in this case the U.S. title — on arguably the biggest star in the company today.

On the flip side of the coin, when it comes to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE decided to put that belt on the most popular wrestler in terms of the fans — the leader of the “Yes! Movement,” Daniel Bryan.

And that brings us to Monday’s WWE Payback ‘go-home’ edition of RAW.

After being unable to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bad News Barrett at the recent WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view as originally scheduled, WWE played the waiting game to find out how the latest round of the Daniel Bryan injury-bug would work out. As it turns out, whatever Bryan is going through is serious enough that WWE felt they had no choice but to have him surrender the Intercontinental Title on live television, much like they had him do shortly after he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX last year.

The idea behind his forefitting of the title last night was where the plan regarding secondary titles in WWE remains in tact. The reason given by Bryan, delivered in a passionate way I should add, was that the WWE Universe deserves a fighting champion. A top contender who deserves the right to bust his ass day-in and day-out, city-to-city, state-to-state, country-to-country and even continent-to-continent, all for the right to try and earn what is now once again slowly being viewed as a title of importance. One of value. One worth fighting to obtain.

Where WWE goes next with the Intercontinental Championship in particular remains to be seen in terms of how far they are willing to go to try and elevate the perceived importance of the title.

Basically put, the company can go one of two ways, as I see it. You can follow the mandate that they have been following since this year’s WrestleMania, which is find the most over performer with the fans, give him the I-C title, and try and get the belt over that way, so that in the future, the belt can make the man, as opposed to the current formula, where the man makes the belt.

Their second option is to try and do the opposite. Put the title on an up-and-comer who has the goods to deliver, but just needs something to put him over the edge so he is viewed as a bigger deal than he already is. Names like Neville and Sami Zayn come to mind.

Zayn, depending on his injury, would make a great impact on the main roster by giving U.S. Champion John Cena all he could handle — with an injury no-less, in his first high-profile match on RAW since having his run as NXT Champion in WWE’s developmental system, and then go on to win the next high-profile match he is in and become the brand new WWE Intercontinental Champion.

Keep reading on Page 2 …

As noted recently, Kevin Nash is all but confirmed to be inducted into this year’s class of the WWE Hall Of Fame.

According to a new PWInsider.com report, Nash, much like Scott Hall, who was inducted under his WWE gimmick name of “Razor Ramon,” will be inducted as “Diesel.”

This is said to open the door for a potential second induction in the future, which could feature a faction being inducted like the Four Horseman was, as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall could all be inducted a second time as part of a nWo group-induction.

It’s expected that Nash’s induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame will actually close out this year’s ceremony. As things stand now, Shawn Michaels is scheduled to handle Nash’s induction.

• VIDEO: UFC Fighter CAUGHT ON TAPE Violently Assaulting Man At His Gym!

When I was a kid, I had a trampoline. My friends and I were all huge pro wrestling fans and long before the explosion of “backyard trampoline wrestling federations,” we would watch the matches together, go out on the trampoline and try and reenact what we saw on television.

Of course if you’re this enthused about professional wrestling as a youngster, you’re going to take your trampoline matches seriously and treat them as if they were part of a legitimate organization — for kids. Were we looking to become millionaires or television stars? Of course not. Did we fantasize and treat it like we were right in the middle of a WWE ring on a WWE Superstars or Saturday Night’s Main Event broadcast?

We sure did.

So the next logical step, seeing is how we were taking this so seriously was to purchase replica WWE Championship belts so that when we won “the big matches,” we could crown ourselves the champion.

What was the first replica belt we bought? Well, obviously it was the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, right?

Wrong.

This was during the early-1990s and mid-1990s, when if you were a kid, the best wrestlers and your favorite wrestlers were generally the guys who held the WWE Intercontinental Championship. We thought the belt itself looked cooler than the “Eagle” championship that the main champions wore and we — even as kids — recognized that guys like Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect and Shawn Michaels were much better wrestlers than Diesel or Yokozuna.

Fast-forward to today.

I can’t recall a time when the secondary titles in WWE have meant less. If you’re an Intercontinental Champion or United States Champion in WWE these days, you basically aren’t a champion at all. I can’t even count how many times a pay-per-view would come and go without an I-C or U.S. title match even taking place on the card. If they were on the card, they certainly didn’t come off as anything important or relevant.

With Brock Lesnar as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and with the main title in WWE being unified, meaning there’s only one “main” champion these days, and due to the fact that Lesnar has such a limited schedule in WWE, why doesn’t WWE take this opportunity to try and make their secondary titles mean more?

WWE Superstars need to cut promos and make the I-C and U.S. titles seem like a goal that is really worth achieving. They need to act like those titles are the be-all, end-all, if for no other reason than the fact that they are the only consistently active titles in the company right now.

There has been a lot of talk about unifying the I-C and U.S. titles and while I have always been in favor of that idea, I’m not so sure if that should be happening anytime soon. While unifying the I-C and U.S. titles would, in theory, make the one secondary title seem stronger, it would also take away even more from WWE live events having title matches.

Right now, the I-C and U.S. titles are the only men’s singles championships that are on the line at non-televised events. For that matter, they’re the only titles that are defended on television. Hell, they’re the only two men’s singles titles that are defended on pay-per-views more often than not.

WWE needs to raise the value of their secondary championships and make those I-C and U.S. titles mean as much as humanly possible. The good part is, when Lesnar does eventually drop the title and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship becomes active again, the I-C and U.S. titles, if they play their cards right, will at that point mean more and all of a sudden you have three titles of value, something WWE hasn’t had in years.

Basically, it won’t seem odd for a big-name Superstar to explain how important it is to win the I-C title at that point, whereas if Roman Reigns or John Cena said in a promo today, “I won’t sleep until I get the WWE United States Championship around my waist!” you would probably look at them like they have four heads. Although with Cena’s current program against U.S. Champion Rusev, we might actually hear a version of that, if WWE decides to make the title an important part of their feud, which of course is doubtful.

Regardless, WWE needs to work on getting these secondary championships to regain the luster that they had when I was a little kid jumping on a trampoline and pretending like my dreams just came true because I won a match and got to hold the — PRESTIGIOUS — WWE Intercontinental Championship high over my head.

What are your thoughts on WWE’s secondary singles titles? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also follow me on social media for continued news and views at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.

– It was announced on Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in Montreal that Chris Jericho’s “Highlight Reel” will return on WWE Main Event on Tuesday night, with special guest Bret “The Hitman” Hart.

– The following is the latest edition of “WWE Canvas 2 Canvas,” which features Diesel and The Kliq.

The following are photos of the original “Kliq” members reuniting backstage at the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony in New Orleans on Saturday night.

The Kliq reunited #WWEHOF #wwe #WrestleMania #Axxess #WM30 #WrestleMania30 #KLIQ @MBoone420 @RyanClarkWZR pic.twitter.com/qD2CHb9xla

— Jorge Romero (@Jromer0) April 6, 2014

Another candid photo of the Kliq backstage #WWEHOF #WWE #WWENetwork #WrestleMania30 @MBoone420 @RyanClarkWZR pic.twitter.com/50tUFxKnd4

— Jorge Romero (@Jromer0) April 6, 2014

Additionally, here’s a shot of Hall backstage waiting to go out on stage at the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony.

Scott hall looking on backstage #WWEHOF #wwe #WWENetwork #WrestleMania30 @MBoone420 @RyanClarkWZR pic.twitter.com/TqM4pMBHVN

— Jorge Romero (@Jromer0) April 6, 2014

For a full report from the WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 ceremony, CLICK HERE.

For those wondering who will be inducting this year’s inductees for the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame, here is a breakdown of what we know thus far.

– The Ultimate Warrior will be inducted by Linda McMahon.

– Jake “The Snake” Roberts will be inducted by Diamond Dallas Page (DDP).

– Paul Bearer will be inducted by his sons Michael and Daniel Moody.

– Mr. T will be inducted by Hulk Hogan.

– Lita will be inducted by Trish Stratus.

– Carlos Colon will be inducted by his sons Carlito and Eddie (Diego), and his nephew Orlando (Fernando).

– As far as Scott Hall (as Razor Ramon) is concerned, no one is confirmed as the guy who will be inducting him, however Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels are the leading candidates at this point.

Apparently the reason WWE decided to induct Scott Hall into the WWE Hall Of Fame under his “Razor Ramon” character is in fact due to plans for a future nWo induction, where he would of course be himself.

In a related note, there has been discussion regarding the possibility of inducting Kevin Nash under his “Diesel” character in WWE, saving his induction under his real name, along with Hall, for the future nWo induction.

As of right now the leading candidate for Scott Hall’s WWE Hall Of Fame inductor is Kevin Nash. Whether or not he would be introducing him as Diesel is another question. An outside shot for Hall’s inductor would be Shawn Michaels due to their famous WrestleMania X ladder match, although most seem to feel that Nash is the more likely candidate.

The Paul Bearer induction is an interesting one, mainly because Undertaker has never attended a WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony due to the belief that it doesn’t fit his character. At the same time, Undertaker is clearly the obvious choice for Bearer, so many are curious to see how that one is handled.

The official WWE website has added a video of JBL making the announcement for the “NXT: Arrival” show, which the company is promoting as the first-ever NXT pay-per-view.

As noted earlier, many main-roster WWE Superstars are expected to appear at the show. However, Sheamus and The New Age Outlaws will not be appearing, despite initially being announced for the event.

Kevin Nash (as “Diesel”) is scheduled to appear at the show, along with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, John Cena and Paul Heyman.

You can watch JBL’s announcement of NXT: Arrival at WWE.com.

— CM Punk is en route to the United States after attending the Australian version of the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards Friday. Therefore, he isn’t scheduled for this weekend’s Raw live event tour.

The former WWE Champion was nominated for the “Best Baddie” award but lost to Australian radio and television personality Kyle Sandilands.

— Todd Grisham’s profile on WWE.com has been transferred from the SmackDown Superstars section to the Alumni section, thus finalizing his departure from the organization.

It was disclosed on the August 23, 2011 episode of NXT that Grisham, who handled play-by-play duties for the program, would be leaving WWE to pursue new interests—a job with ESPN.

— The October 7, 2011 episode of WWE Vintage Collection on Sky Sports featured the following matches: Barbarian vs. Meng (WCW Road Wild 1998), Doom vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (WCW Wrestle War 1991), Ron Simmons vs. Butch Reed (WCW SuperBrawl), Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels (In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies).

Following his surprise return to WWE at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, we reported earlier this week that Kevin Nash has signed a new “Legends” contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

The former WWE and WCW champion went on Twitter on Tuesday night and explained the reason he’s decided to finish his career off in WWE – as Diesel. He also had some major praise for WWE chairman Vince McMahon, saying Vince is the man who was instrumental in making him the household name that he is today. Nash wrote:

“To explain why I want to retire as Diesel: Vince McMahon was the 1st person to ever see anything in me and believe in me. He gave me my 1st push and made me a star. Without Vince there is no Diesel. Without Diesel Kevin Nash is a mediocre basketball player from the University of Tennessee.”

Nash acknowledged the staggering crowd reaction he received at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, saying that it was bigger than any pop he’s received in a long, long time.

“The biggest pop I’ve received since ’97 happened Sunday night. Diesel’s back, where he belongs. Circle of Life.”

• Check Out: Video Of Diesel’s WWE Return At The Royal Rumble

A fan who was at Sunday’s WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view has posted this video clip of Kevin Nash’s return to WWE as Diesel. Nash wrote on Twitter that the crowd reaction he received was the loudest he’s received since 1997 and was one of the major factors that convinced him to sign with WWE and end his career as Diesel.

• Related News: Nash Puts Over McMahon Big, Says He’ll Retire As Diesel

Here’s the video:

Kevin Nash appeared on ESPN Radio’s Pro Wrestling Report last night and revealed some newsworthy details regarding his return to World Wrestling Entertainment.

Nash noted that WWE flew him out of Daytona Beach, Florida so he could appear at the Royal Rumble. He said if TNA would have flown him out of the state, he would have to have driven from his home to Orlando, 90 miles, opposed to the few miles when traveling with WWE. Nash talked about how nice his accommodations were while staying in Boston.

Nash said that upon arriving hat he signed paperwork and had a physical upon arriving to the arena. Nash said he spent about a half-hour with Triple H before shooting photos and video with WWE staff. He then met with Vince McMahon before hanging out with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, where he went over plans for the Rumble with Triple H.

Nash also noted that he talked with people from THQ, makers of SmackDown vs. RAW and All Stars, while he was at the Rumble.

Nash said that he is signed to a Legends contract and will meet with WWE officials on Wednesday of this week to talk about what’s next. Under the Legends deal, Nash will likely be involved with things like action figures and DVD’s.

On Sunday night, Nash wrote on Twitter about his WWE return, sounding very content with his return to the organization that made him a top star. He wrote @RealKevinNash:

“I want to thank everyone at WWE. All the fans in Boston. For giving me a night I will never forget. (GroundHog Day) I’ll relive that 1 over

As long as WWE will have me in wrestling capacity and my body can handle it, I will wrestle. It’s what I do! Best decision of my life.

When Vince McMahon is the boss and your best friend and his wife run creative and you see each other and hug and there is true emotion….

Contracts aren’t needed. I will do whatever I’m asked. I was welcomed back into the Family. I wont make mistake of leaving again!”

Sunday’s Royal Rumble match saw the surprise returns of Kevin Nash (as Diesel) and Booker T. Both men looked to be in top physical shape, with Kevin Nash dying his hair and goatee black for the first time in many years to reprise his role as Big Daddy Cool.

As to whether they signed new WWE contracts or the appearances were just a one-night-only deal, it appears we will likely see more of both. Dave Meltzer reports that as of this weekend, Booker T is under some sort of WWE contract with but Kevin Nash is not. The feeling is that WWE may offer more work based on the huge reactions each of them got at the Royal Rumble. Both still have a great deal of star power and both have ties to WCW. Most have probably heard by now that WrestleMania is likely going to feature some sort of WCW tie-in, since WrestleMania is taking place from Atlanta, the former home of the now-defunct promotion.

Kevin Nash has spoken publicly about wanting to attend the upcoming WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. Following his appearance in the Rumble match, Nash wrote on Twitter, which seems to imply that there could be more to his WWE return:

“Absolutely the best night of my wrestling career. It’s so nice to be back in WWE family. Thanks Boston for making me feel so special.”

As for Booker T, he may end up doing anything from announcing to managing and working backstage. A role for Booker T on the return of Tough Enough has been brought up.