Kevin Nash insists there is a single true way to approach a cage match, and that any time a wrestler climbs to the top rope in such a match, it undermines the entire concept. During the “Ask Nash” segment on Kliq This, when asked about his favorite cage match, he immediately chose a mid-1990s WWF bout.
“My favorite was the one with Bret Hart, where The Undertaker came up through the ring, setting the stage for our match,” Nash recalled. “That was some great wrestling from the mid-90s.” He mentioned that he generally enjoyed cage matches because their structure demands a straightforward focus.
“There’s really only one way to run a cage match. Look at Hansen and Brody—that’s a classic. You just have two big men battling back and forth, blocking each other’s moves,” Nash explained. “Since you can’t win by pinfall right away, the psychology has to be about using the cage itself as a weapon, beating your opponent into that steel structure—it’s the only element unique to these matches.”
Nash gauges whether a move fits by asking if it would happen in a real fight. “You have the same ring ropes and turnbuckles, but now there’s this steel cage. In a real fight, that’s exactly how you’d use it. You definitely wouldn’t be doing high-risk spots off the top rope. And if you can jump off and land an elbow, chances are you can just hop over the cage to escape,” he said.
When asked if he’d ever been part of a bad cage match, Nash said he doesn’t think such a thing exists. “Everyone ends up in the cage. Pretty soon, it just looks like a bomb went off, and wrestlers are dragging themselves around like survivors in a war movie.”
The match Nash referred to was the WWF Championship steel cage bout at In Your House 6 in February 1996, where Diesel defended against Bret Hart. The finish saw The Undertaker rise from under the ring and pull Diesel beneath, allowing Hart to escape and claim the title—a moment that set up the Diesel vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania 12 that Nash mentioned. The Hansen and Brody matches Nash cited were their intensive cage battles in Japan during the ’80s, notable for two heavyweights using the cage as a weapon rather than simply circling it.
There’s also a practical rationale for Nash’s stance. Cage matches eliminate count-outs and disqualifications, removing many traditional ways wrestlers structure their matches. Escape becomes the primary goal apart from pinfall, which creates one clear storyline: two wrestlers fighting to get out while using the cage itself to prevent their opponent’s escape.
Though Nash didn’t call out specific matches, his comments target the modern trend of high-risk dives from the cage’s top. Such spots have become expected rather than exceptional, but Nash believes the moment a wrestler climbs to exit and then leaps back inside, the fundamental rule of escape loses meaning.
Nash competed in cage matches during his time as Diesel and throughout his WCW tenure. He has held the WWF Championship, WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and WWF Tag Team titles alongside Scott Hall as The Outsiders. Nash is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer—once individually and once as part of the nWo.
Fan Take: Nash’s perspective highlights a deep respect for the storytelling foundations of wrestling, reminding us that match psychology should revolve around realism, even in a scripted sport. For fight fans, this debate over cage match spots matters because it challenges modern trends and could inspire a return to more grounded, intense competition that was key to wrestling’s enduring drama.
Source: wrestlingnews.co
