Kevin Nash details emotional moment he shared with Jim Ross ahead of brain surgery
On the latest episode of his Kliq This podcast, Kevin Nash wished Jim Ross well ahead of brain surgery and shared an interaction the two recently had.
Ross, 74, will be undergoing brain surgery in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma this Wednesday. Despite having surgery coming up, Ross still made the trip to WrestleCon’s SummerSlam week convention. Nash got to spend some time with Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler in Minneapolis, and the three had an emotional moment where Nash pointed out the tragedy they’ve all endured. All three are determined to keep living despite going through the worst losses anyone could face.
“I got to see JR Saturday night, I got to see JR and ‘The King’ and catch up with them. JR is going in for a procedure, so everybody out there, give a prayer for JR,” Nash said. “It’s funny because, in my career, I always say that Vince [McMahon] was the first person that ever saw anything in me. And that’s wrong because when I first signed with WCW, Jim Ross had a sports show on the radio and he would have me in studio — maybe every couple months — but he would just have me in and we’d just talk sports and talk sh*t. He saw something in me, and I look at it as, I know that Jim carried a lot of weight at WCW early. And I think he kept me employed when it came down to making cuts, I’m sure a couple of times, the early years.
“It was great to see him. It’s like, here’s King, JR, and Nash. And Jerry lost his son, JR lost his wife, and I lost my son. I just looked at them, I said, ‘JR, from all of the sh*t that the three of us have been through, it would have been so much easier to f***ing eat a bullet or at least a handful of f***ing pills to this point.’ I said, ‘But here it is, all of us four years into it, and we’re f***ing still wanting to live.’ And Jim says, ‘F*** yeah. I’m getting a f***ing [shunt] put into my f***ing brain.’ Like, ‘Yeah, I want to live.’ Life is so precious, and you don’t realize how precious it is until you get [near the end] — and I’m not talking about the back nine, I’m talking about when you can see the f***ing clubhouse.”
Nash said WrestleCon in general was “such a good weekend.” He surpassed his financial expectations and was able to catch up with friends like Ross, Lawler, Diamond Dallas Page, Sting, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, and Ted DiBiase & Ted DiBiase Jr.
Jim Ross’ brain surgery —
The operation Ross is set to undergo on Wednesday is a shunt, which will remove excess fluid from his brain. Ross is hopeful that this will help with the balance and memory issues he’s been dealing with.
As far as his commentary career, Ross knows things are winding down for him. He wants to remain with AEW but would be content with all he’s accomplished if his career did come to an end right now. Ross’ current AEW contract is set to expire at some point this month. He’s hopeful that he’ll recover from brain surgery in enough time to be at All In on August 30. The plan is for Ross to only spend one day in the hospital for his surgery.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.