Kevin Nash Recalls How WWE Changed After Getting 'The F Out'

Kevin Nash has reflected on the time WWE made the decision to go in a different direction. The company was known for its risqué angles and violence during the Attitude Era. Things ended up getting toned down significantly going forward. At first, the differences weren't too noticeable outside of the company changing its name from World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment, which of course followed their losing a court case to the World Wildlife Fund. The Ruthless Aggression Era still had plenty of violence and sex appeal, but WWE later became more of a family friendly product again once the company's programming went PG-rated.

On a recent edition of his "Kliq This" podcast, Nash recalled the reason why WWE wanted to shed its old reputation from the late '90s. "Once they took the 'F' out, once the WWF became WWE, and all of sudden, man, it was just like they were working their way to become corporate," Nash said. "They were working their way to become public. They were trying to get public. So, they started to, you know, from pulling a rubber hand out of a women's vagina to now we've gotta figure out how we can cut this back and make this a viable stock option."

Nash revealed how the change impacted the performers. "So, they really put the kibosh, and I remember several times I remember coming back and them being like, '1 o'clock, everybody meet out in the ring, we've got a rehearsal,' and I'm thinking to myself, 'F**k, my back ain't touching that mat,' Nash said. "It'd be like, 'No, we're gonna go over the verbiage,' and I'm like, 'It's f**king 1 o'clock, I just got here. I don't f**king know anything I'm supposed to say.'"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Kliq This" podcast, with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.