title: Lou Gehrig

text: Although Gehrig's symptoms were consistent with ALS and he did not experience the wild mood swings and eruptions of uncontrolled violence that define chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an article in the September 2010 issue of the "Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology" suggested the possibility that some ALS-related illnesses diagnosed in Gehrig and other athletes may have been CTE, catalyzed by repeated concussions and other brain trauma. In 2012, Minnesota state representative Phyllis Kahn sought to change the law protecting the privacy of Gehrig's medical records, which are held by the Mayo Clinic, in an effort to determine if a connection could exist between his illness and the concussion-related trauma that he had received during his career (Gehrig also played fullback on the football team at Columbia University, and had a long history of concussions, including several incidents in which he lost consciousness. He played through these injuries).


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Gehrig played prior to the advent of batting helmets. To diagnose CTE would require autopsy results; none was conducted on Gehrig before his remains were cremated following his open-casket wake. Multiple physicians have argued that examining records alone would be fruitless.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The doctors of the Mayo Clinic had released their ALS diagnosis to the public on June 19, 1939. Two days later, the New York Yankees announced Gehrig's retirement, with an immediate public push to honor him. The idea of an appreciation day reportedly began with Bill Hirsch, a friend of sports columnist Bill Corum, who wrote of the idea in his column. Other sportswriters picked up on the idea and promoted it in their respective publications. Some suggested that the appreciation day be held during the All-Star Game, but when Yankees president Ed Barrow heard the idea, he quickly shot down the suggestion. He did not want Gehrig to share the spotlight with any other all-star. Believing that the idea was valid and should be brought to fruition, Barrow wanted the appreciation day to occur soon, and the Yankees proclaimed Tuesday, July 4, 1939 "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" at Yankee Stadium. Between games of the Independence Day doubleheader against the Washington Senators, the poignant ceremonies were held on the diamond. In its coverage the following day, "The New York Times" wrote that the ceremony was "perhaps as colorful and dramatic a pageant as ever was enacted on a baseball field [as] 61,808 fans thundered a hail and farewell". Dignitaries and members of the Murderers' Row lineup attended the ceremonies and praised Gehrig. New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia called Gehrig the "perfect prototype of the best sportsmanship and citizenship" and Postmaster General James Farley concluded his speech by predicting, "Your name will live long in baseball and wherever the game is played they will point with pride and satisfaction to your record."


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Yankees manager Joe McCarthy then spoke of Gehrig, a close friend. Struggling to control his emotions, McCarthy described Gehrig as "the finest example of a ballplayer, sportsman, and citizen that baseball has ever known." He turned tearfully to Gehrig and said, "Lou, what else can I say except that it was a sad day in the life of everybody who knew you when you came into my hotel room that day in Detroit and told me you were quitting as a ballplayer because you felt yourself a hindrance to the team. My God, man, you were never that."


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The Yankees retired Gehrig's uniform number 4, making him the first player in Major League Baseball history to be accorded that honor. Gehrig was given many gifts, commemorative plaques, and trophies. Some were presented by VIPs and others came from the stadium's groundskeepers and janitorial staff. As Gehrig was handed the gifts, he would immediately place them on the ground, as he no longer had the arm strength to hold them. The Yankees presented him with a silver trophy bearing all of their engraved signatures. Inscribed on the front was a poem written by "New York Times" writer John Kieran at the players' request. The inscription read:


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The trophy became one of Gehrig's most prized possessions. It is currently on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: On July 4, 1939, Gehrig delivered what has been called "baseball's Gettysburg Address" to a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium. Having always avoided public attention, Gehrig did not want to speak, but the crowd chanted for him and he had memorized some sentences beforehand.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Only four sentences of the speech exist in recorded form; complete versions of the speech are assembled from newspaper accounts.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The crowd stood and applauded for almost two minutes. Gehrig was visibly shaken as he stepped back from the microphone, and wiped the tears away from his face with his handkerchief. His sometimes-estranged former teammate Babe Ruth hugged him as a band played "I Love You Truly" and the crowd chanted, "We love you, Lou!" "The New York Times" account the following day called the moment "one of the most touching scenes ever witnessed on a ball field" that made even hard-boiled reporters "swallow hard."


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Gehrig played his last game for the Yankees on April 30, 1939. On July 11 of that year, he appeared at the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium as the American League team captain, officially on the roster as a reserve player, exchanging lineup cards prior to the game.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Following his retirement from baseball, Gehrig wrote, "Don't think I am depressed or pessimistic about my condition at present." Struggling against his ever-worsening physical condition, he added, "I intend to hold on as long as possible and then if the inevitable comes, I will accept it philosophically and hope for the best. That's all we can do."


title: Lou Gehrig

text: In October 1939, he accepted Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's appointment to a 10-year term as a New York City parole commissioner (Gehrig had moved from New Rochelle to Riverdale to satisfy a residency requirement for the job) and was sworn into office on January 2, 1940. The Parole Commission commended Gehrig for his "firm belief in parole, properly administered", stating that Gehrig "indicated he accepted the parole post because it represented an opportunity for public service. He had rejected other job offers — including lucrative speaking and guest appearance opportunities — worth far more financially than the $5,700 a year commissionership." Gehrig visited New York City's correctional facilities but insisted that the visits not be covered by news media. He was often helped by his wife Eleanor, who would guide his hand when he had to sign official documents. When Gehrig's deteriorating physical condition made it impossible for him to continue, he quietly resigned from the position, about a month before his death.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: At 10:10p.m. on June 2, 1941, 17 days before his 38th birthday, Gehrig died at his home at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. Upon hearing the news, Babe Ruth and his wife Claire went to the Gehrig house to console Eleanor. Mayor La Guardia ordered flags in New York to be flown at half-staff, and major-league ballparks around the nation did likewise.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Thousands viewed Gehrig's body at the Church of the Divine Paternity. Ruth cut in line ahead of everyone and wept in front of the casket. Following the funeral across the street from his house at Christ Episcopal Church of Riverdale, Gehrig's remains were cremated on June 4 at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, north of Yankee Stadium in suburban Westchester County. Gehrig's ashes were locked into a crypt in the stone monument marking his grave. Gehrig and Ed Barrow are interred in the same section of the cemetery, which is next door to Gate of Heaven, where the graves of Babe Ruth and Billy Martin lie in Section 25.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Eleanor never remarried and was quoted as saying, "I had the best of it. I would not have traded two minutes of my life with that man for 40 years with another." She dedicated the remainder of her life to supporting ALS research. She died 43 years after Gehrig on her 80th birthday, March 6, 1984, and was interred with him in Kensico Cemetery.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Despite playing in the shadow of Ruth for two-thirds of his career, Gehrig was one of the highest run producers in baseball history; he had 509 RBIs during a three-season stretch (1930–32). Only two other players, Jimmie Foxx with 507 and Hank Greenberg with 503, have surpassed 500 RBIs in any three seasons; their totals were not consecutive. (Babe Ruth had 498.) Playing 14 complete seasons, Gehrig had 13 consecutive seasons with 100 or more RBIs (a major-league record shared with Foxx and tied in 2010 by Alex Rodriguez).


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Gehrig had six seasons where he batted .350 or better (with a high of .379 in 1930), plus a seventh season at .349. Gehrig led the American League in runs scored four times, home runs three times, and RBIs five times. His 185 RBIs in 1931 remain the American League record as of and rank second all-time to Hack Wilson's 191 in 1930. On the single-season RBI list, Gehrig ranks second, fifth (175), and sixth (174), with four additional seasons of over 150 RBIs.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: He also holds the baseball record for most seasons with 400 total bases or more, accomplishing this feat five times in his career. He batted fourth in the lineup behind Ruth, making intentionally walking Ruth counterproductive for opposing pitchers.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Lefty Grove, one of the AL's best pitchers during Gehrig's playing days who often threw the ball at batters, refrained from doing so to Gehrig. "You can never tell what that big fellow will do if you get him mad at you," Grove explained.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Unlike Ruth, Gehrig had the physique of a power hitter. Ruth usually hit home runs as high fly balls, while Gehrig's were line drives. During the 10 seasons (1925–1934) in which Gehrig and Ruth were teammates and next to each other in the batting order and played a majority of the games, Gehrig had more home runs than Ruth only once, in 1934 (Ruth's last year with the Yankees, as a 39-year-old), when he hit 49 to Ruth's 22 (Ruth played 125 games that year, and a handful in 1935 before retiring). They tied at 46 in 1931. Ruth had 424 home runs compared to Gehrig's 347; however, Gehrig outpaced Ruth in RBIs, 1,436 to 1,316. Gehrig had a .343 batting average, compared to .338 for Ruth, during this period.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: During a winter meeting of the Baseball Writers' Association on December 7, 1939, Gehrig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in a special election related to his illness. At age 36, he was the youngest player to be so honored to date (that figure was surpassed by Sandy Koufax in 1972). He never had a formal induction ceremony. On July 28, 2013, Gehrig and 11 other deceased ballplayers, including Rogers Hornsby, received a special tribute during the induction ceremony, held during "Hall of Fame Induction Weekend", July 26–29 in Cooperstown, New York.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The Yankees dedicated a monument to Gehrig in center field at Yankee Stadium on July 6, 1941; the shrine lauded him as "A man, a gentleman and a great ballplayer whose amazing record of 2,130 consecutive games should stand for all time." Gehrig's monument joined the one placed there in 1932 to Miller Huggins, which would eventually be followed by Babe Ruth's in 1949.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Gehrig's birthplace in Manhattan at 1994 Second Avenue, near E. 103rd Street, is memorialized with a plaque marking the site, as is another early residence on 309 E. 94th Street, near Second Avenue. , the first-mentioned plaque is not present due to ongoing construction. The second-mentioned plaque is present, but ascribes to his birthplace, not early residence. Gehrig died in a white house at 5204 Delafield Avenue in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The house still stands today on the east side of the Henry Hudson Parkway and is likewise marked by a plaque.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to an MLB player who best exhibits the character and integrity of Gehrig, off and on the field. The award was created by the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in honor of Gehrig, who was a member of the fraternity at Columbia University. It was first presented in 1955, fourteen years after Gehrig's death. The award's purpose is to recognize a player's exemplary contributions in "both his community and philanthropy." The bestowal of the award is overseen by the headquarters of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in Oxford, Ohio, and the name of each winner is inscribed onto the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The ALS treatment and research center at his alma mater, Columbia University, is named The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center. Located at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, they have a clinical and research function directed at ALS and the related motor neuron diseases primary lateral sclerosis and progressive muscular atrophy.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: In March 2021, Major League Baseball declared June 2 henceforth to be "Lou Gehrig Day". June 2 was chosen because it is the anniversary of when Gehrig became the Yankees' starting first baseman in 1925 and when he died in 1941.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Sixty years after his farewell to baseball, Gehrig received the most votes of any baseball player on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen by fan balloting in 1999.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: In 1999, editors at "Sporting News" ranked Gehrig sixth on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Gehrig starred in the 1938 20th Century Fox movie "Rawhide", playing himself in his only feature-film appearance. In 2006, researchers presented a paper to the American Academy of Neurology, reporting on an analysis of "Rawhide" and photographs of Gehrig from the 1937–1939 period, to ascertain when he began to show visible symptoms of ALS. They concluded that while atrophy of hand muscles could be detected in 1939 photographs of him, no such abnormality was visible at the time "Rawhide" was made in January 1938. "Examination of "Rawhide" showed that Gehrig functioned normally in January 1938", the report concluded.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: Gehrig's life was the subject of the 1942 film "The Pride of the Yankees", starring Gary Cooper as Gehrig and Teresa Wright as his wife. It received 11 Academy Award nominations and won in one category, Film Editing. Former Yankee teammates Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig, and Bill Dickey (then still an active player) played themselves, as did sportscaster Bill Stern. In 2008, the AFI honored "The Pride of the Yankees" as the third-best sports picture ever made.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: The 1978 TV movie "A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story" starred Blythe Danner and Edward Herrmann as Eleanor and Lou Gehrig. It was based on the 1976 autobiography "My Luke and I", written by Eleanor Gehrig and Joseph Durso.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: In an episode of the PBS series "Jean Shepherd's America", the Chicago-born Jean Shepherd told of how his father (Jean Shepherd, Sr.) and he would watch Chicago White Sox games from the right-field upper deck at Comiskey Park in the 1930s. On one occasion, the Sox were playing the Yankees, and Shepherd Sr. had been taunting Gehrig, yelling at him all day. In the top of the ninth, with Sox icon Ted Lyons holding a slim lead, Gehrig came to bat with a man on base, and the senior Shepherd yelled in a voice that echoed around the ballpark, "Hit one up here, ya bum! I dare ya!" Gehrig did exactly that, hitting a screaming liner, practically into the heckler's lap, for the eventual game-winning home run. Shepherd's father was booed mercilessly, and he never again took junior Jean to a game. He apparently told this story originally when Gehrig's widow was in the audience at a speaking engagement.


title: Lou Gehrig

text: His digital likeness and the opening quote of the "baseball's Gettysburg Address" are featured in All Star Baseball 2004.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he performed under his real name, Kevin Nash. He also performed under his real name in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).


title: Kevin Nash

text: From mid-1993 through early 1996, Nash performed for the WWF under an alpha male, biker thug gimmick named Diesel (also known as "Big Daddy Cool"). During this time, he won the WWF World, Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships (the WWF Triple Crown) and at that year's Slammy Awards won the MVP (now Superstar of the Year) and Best Tag Team (now Tag Team of the Year) with Shawn Michaels. Between WWF, WCW, and TNA, Nash has won a total of 20 championships, including being a six-time world champion (five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WWF Champion) and a 12-time world tag team champion between the three promotions. Nash's 358-day WWF Championship reign is the longest of the 1990s. During his time in WCW, Nash became the first wrestler to defeat Goldberg and in the process ended his undefeated streak of 173–0 at Starrcade in 1998.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash was a member of The Kliq, an influential backstage group that included Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Scott Hall, and X-Pac. At a most noteworthy period of his career, Nash reached the peak of his wrestling career success while in WCW when he became one of the three founding members of the New World Order (nWo), along with Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall. Nash was inducted individually into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015 and in 2020 as a member of the New World Order alongside Hogan, Hall, and X-Pac.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash was born on July 9, 1959, to a devout Christian family in southwest Detroit, Michigan. Nash's father, Robert, died of a heart attack on April 4, 1968, aged 36, when Nash was eight years old. On December 27, 1994, Nash's mother, Wanda, died after a four-year struggle against breast cancer. He attended Aquinas High School and the University of Tennessee, where he majored in psychology and minored in educational philosophy. At the University of Tennessee, Nash was a center for the Tennessee Volunteers basketball team. He remained on the team from 1977 to 1980, during which time the team made it to the NCAA Sweet 16. Following a physical altercation with head coach Don DeVoe and a series of other on-campus incidents, Nash did not play a fourth year for the Volunteers, and he attempted to transfer to Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash reconsidered his options and instead moved to Europe, where he played basketball professionally for various teams. His career ended in 1981 in Germany (while playing for the Gießen 46ers) when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament. With his basketball career over, Nash enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 202nd Military Police Company in Giessen, West Germany. He served in a secure NATO facility for two years, during which time he was promoted to the rank of specialist. After the Army, he worked on an assembly line at Ford Motor Company and as the floor manager of a strip club in Atlanta, Georgia, he decided to try professional wrestling.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as the orange-mohawked "Steel," one half of the tag team known as The Master Blasters. He was initially partnered with Master Blaster Iron, with whom he made his debut at the Clash of the Champions XII on September 5, 1990, defeating Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner. At the following "Worldwide" taping on September 7, the Masters Blasters began a feud with Tim Horner and Mike Rotunda. They would defeat Horner and Rotunda on several house shows. On September 22, Nash's partner Master Blaster Iron was replaced by "Blade."


title: Kevin Nash

text: The reconstituted Master Blasters continued their undefeated streak in October. Meanwhile, Nash would have his first singles match on September 28 by defeating Tom Zenk. At Halloween Havoc on October 27, 1990, the Blasters upended The Southern Boys and began to move up the WCW tag team ratings. However, their winning streak would finally come to an end on November 22, when Tom Zenk and Brian Pillman handed them their first defeat with Pillman pinning Blade. They rebounded to go on another undefeated streak by defeating The Southern Boys as well as Alan Iron Eagle and Tim Horner, and earning a NWA United States Tag Team Championship title shot against then champions The Steiner Brothers, but were defeated in two occasions. They were squashed on television in 52 seconds by the Steiners in a match that aired on "Worldwide" on February 2, 1991. Following this loss, their momentum began to dissipate as the Blasters would suffer follow-up losses to The Southern Boys and Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich. The tag team disbanded at the end of the month.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash was then rebranded as simply The Master Blaster in February 1991 and suffered his first singles defeat on February 27, 1991, when he was pinned by The Junkyard Dog. He also lost to Brian Pillman in house show matches, while appearing in tag team matches with Stan Hansen and Arn Anderson. His final match in this guise was against Pillman at a house show on May 12.


title: Kevin Nash

text: A week later, Nash reappeared under his new gimmick, having been repackaged as the silver-haired Oz, a character based on the Wizard of Oz from the 1900 children's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Oz, managed by The Great Wizard, was pushed strongly for about a month, he squashed several wrestlers before losing to Ron Simmons at The Great American Bash on July 14. In reality, all plans for Oz were immediately scrapped when Nash refused to sign a $300/night guarantee as WCW was cutting costs. A decision was made to retain Nash until a new gimmick could be developed. On October 27, he lost to Bill Kazmaier at Halloween Havoc. Nash wrestled as Oz throughout the remainder of 1991 and went on a lengthy losing streak, suffering defeats by Kazmaier, Rick Steiner, Dustin Rhodes, and Arachnaman.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On January 21, 1992, at Clash of the Champions XVIII, he was repackaged as Vinnie Vegas, a wisecracking pseudo-mobster based on Steve Martin's character in the 1990 film "My Blue Heaven." Vegas was quickly recruited into "A Half-Ton of Holy Hell", a stable of large wrestlers created by Harley Race which included WCW World Champion Lex Luger, Big Van Vader and Mr. Hughes. The stable separated in February 1992 after Luger left, and Vegas joined The Diamond Mine, a stable led by Diamond Dallas Page that also included The Diamond Studd and Scotty Flamingo. In the Summer of 1992, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable (Studd leaving for the WWF and Flamingo striking out on his own), Page and Vegas began teaming together as The Vegas Connection. The tag team split in late 1992 after Page was fired by Bill Watts. Nash spent the first half of 1993 teaming with Big Sky. In June, he decided to depart for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and had his final WCW match on June 3, teaming with Big Sky in a losing effort against The Cole Twins, this match would air on "Worldwide" after his WWF debut.


title: Kevin Nash

text: In June 1993, Nash left WCW, signing a contract with the WWF at the request of Shawn Michaels. He was given the stage name of "Big Daddy Cool Diesel" ("Diesel" or "Big Daddy Cool" for short), with an alpha-male gimmick. For the role, Nash grew long hair, taking on the appearance and took the demeanor of typical cocky biker thug from Detroit, sporting black sunglasses and leather garments. The name of Diesel, suggested by Shane McMahon, was a play on the fact that Nash was from Detroit, known famously as "The Motor City." To play-off of his character's name, Nash's initial entrance music was a simple series of truck engine noises along with loud horns beeping.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Diesel started out as the bodyguard/best friend of Shawn Michaels, with the two being known as Two Dudes with Attitudes. He made his WWF debut at a house show on June 6, 1993, by assisting Michaels in defeating Marty Jannetty for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. He first appeared on television the next night on "Raw", June 7, as he was introduced as Michaels's bodyguard. In January 1994, Diesel appeared at the Royal Rumble, first as one of the many wrestlers who assisted WWF Champion Yokozuna in defeating The Undertaker in their casket match and then in the Royal Rumble match, eliminating seven men in under 18 minutes of in-ring time. Diesel won the Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon, following interference from Michaels on the April 30, 1994 episode (taped April 13, 1994) of "Superstars." The duo of Diesel and Michaels defeated The Headshrinkers to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on August 28, making Nash a double champion. However, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Ramon the following night at SummerSlam. The alliance between Diesel and Michaels dissolved after Survivor Series, when Michaels accidentally performed a superkick on Diesel. Diesel then chased Michaels, and despite failing to catch him, the reaction from the crowd turned him babyface. However, Nash was no longer a tag team champion, as Michaels' actions resulted in the team being forced to vacate the titles.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On November 26, 1994, Diesel faced Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship he had won from Bret Hart three days prior at Survivor Series. In the match at Madison Square Garden, Diesel defeated Backlund in an eight-second squash. Diesel then promised Hart a match for his title, which they had the next month at the Royal Rumble. The match ended in a draw due to interference from several wrestlers, including Shawn Michaels. Michaels was irate about his former bodyguard having beaten him to the WWF Championship and was sufficiently motivated to win the Royal Rumble match later that evening, earning himself a title shot at WrestleMania XI.


title: Kevin Nash

text: At WrestleMania XI on April 2, Nash, accompanied to ringside by actress Pamela Anderson (who was supposed to valet for Michaels), defeated Michaels to retain the title. After the match, he left the ring with both Anderson and Michaels' replacement for her, Jenny McCarthy. The next night on "Monday Night Raw," Michaels was betrayed by his new bodyguard, Sycho Sid, prompting Diesel to come to his rescue and thus reunited the tag team. Diesel successfully defended the WWF Championship against Sycho Sid at the inaugural In Your House pay-per-view on May 14, and at the In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks on July 23. At SummerSlam, Diesel retained the WWF Championship by defeating King Mabel, who had won the King of the Ring tournament.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On September 24 at In Your House 3 in Saginaw, Michigan, Diesel and Michaels challenged the reigning WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna. The match had a winner-take-all stipulation, as in addition to the tag belts, Diesel's WWF Championship and Michaels' recently won Intercontinental Championship were also on the line. When Hart did not show up at the event, he was replaced by Davey Boy Smith. In the course of the match, Hart arrived at ringside, entered the ring and was pinned by Diesel for the win and the title, making him and Michaels holders of all three major WWF championships. The reign did not last long, however, as Hart and Yokozuna had the titles returned to them the next night on "Raw" due to Hart not being an official part of the match when he was pinned.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Diesel's WWF Championship reign continued until November 19, when he was defeated by Bret Hart at Survivor Series. Following the loss, Diesel attacked Hart.


title: Kevin Nash

text: At In Your House 5 in December 1995, Diesel defeated Owen Hart, who had injured Diesel's ally Shawn Michaels in a match the prior month. In January 1996, Diesel competed in the Royal Rumble, entering at number 22. Diesel was the last man to be eliminated from the Royal Rumble, being superkicked over the top rope by the winner, Shawn Michaels. Following the match, Diesel teased attacking Michaels before instead giving him a high five. Diesel went on to interfere in the main event between The Undertaker and WWF Champion Bret Hart, costing The Undertaker the title. At In Your House 6 on February 18, Diesel attempted to regain the WWF Championship from Hart in a steel cage match, losing after The Undertaker attacked him in retaliation for his actions at the Royal Rumble.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Shortly before WrestleMania XII, Nash's contract status was in a state of flux. At the time, WCW was offering large amounts of money to the WWF's talent by Eric Bischoff, WCW Executive Vice President, to jump ship. In fact, Bischoff had succeeded in convincing several high-profile WWF stars to sign with WCW over the previous two years, including five-time former WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and his on-again, off-again friend and two-time former WWF Champion Randy Savage, and was in the process at the time of talking to Nash's friend Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall about a contract as Hall's too was set to expire. Nash explained on the WWE Classics on Demand exclusive series "Legends of Wrestling" that Hall had been the first to sign with the company and was offered a contract that paid him "above Sting money" (at the time, Sting was one of the highest paid wrestlers in the company and although Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage had been making more, Sting's contract was used as a measuring stick). Hall also informed Nash that he had been given "most favored nation" status, which meant that if someone new was hired for more money, Hall's contract would increase to match that contract. Bischoff ended up offering Nash a three-year guaranteed contract with a $1.2 million annual salary. Nash said to Vince McMahon that he did not want to leave the WWF and that if McMahon was willing to match the offer, he would stay. McMahon said no because, according to Nash, he would have had to offer matching contracts to other wrestlers and with the promotion in a bad financial situation, he simply could not afford it. Nash signed his contract shortly thereafter.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Diesel lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XII on March 31, after which he finally turned heel and went on to feud with Shawn Michaels once again after he turned on him at a Madison Square Garden live event. In his last televised WWF appearance until 2002, Diesel challenged Michaels for the WWF Championship (which he had won from Hart at WrestleMania XII) at on April 28. He wrestled Michaels for the title once again in a steel cage match at a house show on May 19, but was again defeated. After the match, Diesel, Michaels, Razor Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, a group of off-screen friends known collectively as "The Kliq", hugged one another in the ring and wished each other farewell. This incident, later referred to as the "" or "MSG Incident", was a serious breach of character, as it showed heels and babyfaces consorting with one another. Shortly thereafter, with his obligations to the WWF now completely fulfilled, Nash left for WCW.


title: Kevin Nash

text: After two weeks of Scott Hall returning on WCW programming and taunting announcers, wrestlers, and the company, Nash also returned alongside his friend on June 10, 1996, after Hall interrupted Eric Bischoff. The duo were known as The Outsiders, and the storyline originally pushed them as "invaders" from the WWF (which WCW eventually had to scale back due to legal concerns from the WWF). At Bash at the Beach, Hall and Nash fought the team of Lex Luger, Sting, and Randy Savage and promised to add one more man to their entourage. After Luger was taken out of the match, Hulk Hogan came out to make the save, only to turn on Savage and reveal himself as Nash and Hall's third man. Immediately after this, they began cutting promos calling themselves the New World Order (nWo). During his return, he had dyed his hair blonde. Through late 1996 and into 1997, Nash normally teamed with Hall as the Outsiders, and they held the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Nash also began to show his leadership qualities in the nWo, and became a sort of "second in command" alongside Hogan. Nash, Hall, and Sean Waltman distinguished themselves from the rest of the nWo, calling themselves the "Wolfpac" in 1997.


title: Kevin Nash

text: After a while, however, the nWo began to fight within its ranks, with Hogan and Nash battling for control. The situation came to a head on April 20, 1998, during a match between Hogan and recent nWo inductee (and rival) Randy Savage for Savage's recently won WCW World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, Nash interfered on Savage's behalf and jackknifed Hogan to the mat, signaling the breakup of the nWo into two separate factions (Nash's interference was not enough to prevent Hogan from regaining his championship, thanks to Bret Hart's interference shortly thereafter). Nash became the leader of nWo Wolfpac, alongside Savage, Curt Hennig, and Konnan. Hennig, however, shortly thereafter defected over to Hogan's nWo Hollywood faction. Then, during a match between Hall, Nash, Sting and The Giant (who had recently rejoined the nWo after being kicked out two years prior), Hall turned on Nash by hitting him with his tag team title belt and leaving the ring. The Wolfpac, however, was not down for long as Lex Luger joined Nash's team. Sting would eventually become a member as well, after being recruited heavily by both sides towards the middle of 1998. After Sting won Giant's half of the tag team title at the Great American Bash that June, Nash became Sting's partner. They defended the championship until July 20, when they were defeated by Hall and The Giant. Nash then set his sights on his former partner, and the rivalry came to a head at Halloween Havoc on October 25. During the course of the match, Nash jackknifed Hall twice but, instead of pinning him, left the ring and lost via countout. In November 1998, Nash and Diamond Dallas Page became a part of a loosely organised "creative team" which also included Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Sullivan.


title: Kevin Nash

text: The following month at World War 3, Nash entered the 60-man, three ring battle royal that was a staple of the pay-per-view, with the winner getting a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade the following month. Nash survived to the end after literally clearing his ring out and big booting Lex Luger, who had Scott Hall in the Torture Rack, over the top rope, and earned his shot at the title. At Starrcade, Nash won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Goldberg (who had an officially given 173–0 win–loss record before the match) after Scott Hall shocked Goldberg with a stun gun. In doing so, Nash broke Goldberg's long running undefeated streak. On January 4, 1999, Nash and Goldberg were set to meet in a rematch, but the match did not happen because of Goldberg being arrested for stalking Miss Elizabeth. That night also marked the return of Hulk Hogan after his "retirement" two months prior. With Goldberg unable to wrestle, Nash challenged Hogan instead. Hogan simply poked Nash in the chest, who proceeded to fall down and willingly allow Hogan to pin him for the title. The gesture marked the reunion of the feuding nWo factions into one. The return, however, was short-lived, and by May 1999, the nWo reunion was over due to injuries to Hogan, Hall, Luger and Steiner. Meanwhile, backstage, Nash became WCW's head booker in February 1999 and helped write some of the later angles for WCW.


title: Kevin Nash

text: In May 1999, Nash won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the second time by defeating Diamond Dallas Page at Slamboree. He then appeared on "The Tonight Show" and put up a $250,000 challenge to Bret Hart for its May 24 program. However, Bret's brother, Owen, died in a wrestling stunt just as Bret was flying to Los Angeles; this immediately canceled their match and the feud. Nash then entered a feud with the returning Randy Savage, who was later joined by a returning Sid Vicious at The Great American Bash in June when he powerbombed Nash during the match, thus giving Nash a disqualification victory (as the signature move of both men, the Jackknife Powerbomb, had been ruled an "illegal" move by WCW leadership due to its high potential for injury). This rivalry culminated in a tag team match at Bash at the Beach in July 1999 which pitted Nash and Sting against Savage and Sid. A stipulation was added that whoever got the pin in the match would become WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Nash was pinned by Savage and lost his championship, but would get his revenge the next night on "Nitro" in a title match between Savage and a returning Hulk Hogan, and in a similar situation to Savage's first title defense from the previous year, he used a Jackknife Powerbomb on Savage, preserving the victory for Hogan. The following week, however, Nash attacked Hogan during a match pitting Hogan against Vicious. Nash, Sid, and Rick Steiner then feuded with Hogan, Sting, and a returning Goldberg until Road Wild, where Hogan defeated Nash in a "retirement" match. On October 4, 1999, Nash returned to WCW along with Scott Hall, which was later revealed to be a new version of the nWo involving Nash, Hall, Bret Hart, and Jeff Jarrett called 'nWo 2000'. This would not last long either due to the injury of Hart, and Nash spent most of 2000 feuding with the likes of Terry Funk, Mike Awesome, Scott Steiner, and Booker T.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship again from Booker T on the August 28, 2000 episode of Monday Nitro in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He eventually lost it to Booker T later on at Fall Brawl. He even had a stint as WCW Commissioner, and he served as a coach/mentor to The Natural Born Thrillers, who would eventually turn on Nash. Nash aligned himself with Diamond Dallas Page, reuniting the Vegas Connection, but renamed The Insiders. They feuded with the Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo) and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship at Mayhem on November 26, 2000. Shortly after, they were stripped of the title by Commissioner Mike Sanders in mid-December. Weeks later, they won the title back at Starrcade. In 2001 (WCW's final months), the Insiders continued their feud with the Natural Born Thrillers. Nash lost another "retirement" match to Scott Steiner at SuperBrawl Revenge, but it would not be long before WCW announced the sale of the company to the World Wrestling Federation. As he had a guaranteed contract with AOL Time Warner, Nash chose to wait out the remainder of his contract, which expired on December 31, 2001.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Following the expiration of his AOL Time Warner contract, Nash, along with Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan, were rehired by the WWF. Their rehiring was announced several weeks before their debut, with Vince McMahon claiming to have hired the nWo in order to destroy the WWF – of which Ric Flair was now a co-owner, which McMahon could not tolerate. Billed as the original nWo, Nash, Hall, and Hogan returned to the WWF at No Way Out on February 17, 2002. In the course of the evening, the nWo delivered an interview in which they claimed to have reformed, gave a six pack of beer to Stone Cold Steve Austin (which he refused), and traded insults with The Rock. They interfered in the main event of the evening, helping Chris Jericho retain his Undisputed WWF Championship against Austin. At WrestleMania X8, Nash continually interfered in the match between Hall and Austin to the point where he was forced to return backstage. Later that night, he and Hall turned on Hogan after he had offered congratulations to The Rock for defeating him. In March, Nash suffered a biceps injury that put him out of action for several weeks and almost immediately upon returning, suffered a quadriceps tear in a tag match on the July 8 episode of "Raw". On the July 15 episode of "Raw", the nWo was officially disbanded by Vince McMahon as Eric Bischoff became Raw general manager.


title: Kevin Nash

text: After a nine-month injury, Nash returned as a face on the April 7, 2003 episode of "Raw", much to the delight of both Shawn Michaels and Triple H, who were feuding with each other when Nash returned. As part of the storyline, Nash was given a choice to remain friends with either Michaels or Triple H. After Nash would not make the decision, Triple H made the decision for him and turned on him with a low blow. This led to Nash and Triple H feuding with one another. Nash teamed up with Michaels and Booker T against Triple H, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match at Backlash which ended with Triple H picking up the win for his team, pinning Nash after hitting him with a sledgehammer. Following Backlash, Nash was granted a shot at Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship, and the two squared off at Judgment Day with Michaels and Flair in their respective corners. Triple H would get himself disqualified and kept the title as a result, but this did not stop Nash from attacking Triple H following the match, putting him through the announcer's table with a Jackknife Powerbomb. The next month, they fought again in a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood with Mick Foley as the special guest referee, but Nash lost the match.


title: Kevin Nash

text: In August 2003, Nash feuded with Chris Jericho and was forced to cut his hair after losing a hair vs. hair match against Jericho on the August 18 episode of "Raw". This was made to cover Nash having to cut his hair for his role as The Russian for the 2004 "Punisher" film. His last match in WWE was at SummerSlam in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Goldberg, Chris Jericho, and Randy Orton. He was the first to be eliminated after Jericho pinned him following Sweet Chin Music from Michaels. Before leaving, however, he executed a Jackknife Powerbomb on Jericho and Orton. Nash then stepped away from in-ring action and underwent neck surgery.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling alongside the returning Scott Hall on November 7, 2004, at the inaugural monthly TNA pay-per-view, Victory Road, with the duo helping NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett retain his title in a ladder match with Jeff Hardy. In subsequent weeks, the trio identified themselves as the Kings of Wrestling and began feuding with Hardy and A.J. Styles. At Turning Point on December 5, the Kings of Wrestling were defeated by Hardy, Styles, and Randy Savage.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Hall left TNA in early 2005, and Nash and Jarrett separated after Nash made clear his desire to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Nash received a title shot against Jarrett on February 13, 2005, at Against All Odds, but lost following interference from the debuting Outlaw. Following the defeat, Nash joined forces with Sean Waltman and began feuding with the newly formed Planet Jarrett. At Destination X on March 13, Nash lost to The Outlaw in a First Blood match following interference from Jarrett, who struck Nash with his title belt. The rivalry between Planet Jarrett and Nash and his allies culminated in a scheduled Lethal Lockdown match at Lockdown on April 24 pitting Nash, Waltman, and Diamond Dallas Page against Jarrett, The Outlaw, and "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown. Nash, however, was removed from the card and replaced with B.G. James after contracting a staph infection, which left him sidelined for much of 2005.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash returned to TNA on October 1 for the first episode of "Impact!" on Spike TV, attacking and powerbombing Jarrett. Nash went on to challenge Jarrett to a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory on October 23. In the weeks preceding the event, Nash and Jarrett had several heated confrontations, on one occasion brawling with one another and with guest referee Tito Ortiz. On October 22, one day before Bound for Glory, Nash was hospitalized with chest pains. At Bound for Glory, a battle royal was held to determine the number one contender; Rhino won and then defeated Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Nash was later discharged from the hospital, having suffered a mild cardiac episode. He made a partial return to the ring in December 2005, wrestling several matches on a tour of South Africa.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash returned to TNA once more on the April 27, 2006 episode of "Impact!", announcing in a pre-taped segment that he would give a private interview to Alex Shelley one week later. The interview saw Nash claim to be the most profitable WWF World Heavyweight Champion of all time and describe the X Division as "basically filler". Nash went on to announce that he intended to destroy the X Division in order to reassert his position within TNA. He began his campaign at Sacrifice on May 14, powerbombing Puma and continued his campaign on the May 19 episode of "Impact!" by attacking Chris Sabin shortly after he had defeated Petey Williams to win the TNA 2006 World X Cup Tournament for Team USA. Nash continued to attack X Division wrestlers over subsequent weeks, leading to Sabin challenging him to a match at Slammiversary. Nash's attacks were also coupled with pre-taped segments with Shelley (some appearing only on the internet website YouTube) and his "X Division debut" on the June 15 episode of "Impact!", where Nash wrestled a comedy match against a midget Shelley dubbed a "Sabin-type wrestler". Nash defeated Sabin at Slammiversary in his second televised match in almost a year, albeit with the assistance of Shelley.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Around this time, Nash and Shelley formed a stable known as Paparazzi Productions, with Johnny Devine as a cameraman. Nash then decided to go for the X Division championship. He got penciled into a Number One Contendership match for the title against Sabin at Hard Justice. He claimed that he had developed an 840° somersault splash that he would unveil in the match. However, over the weekend, he suffered a mysterious neck injury, supposedly while practicing it with Tito Ortiz, and named Alex Shelley as his replacement in the match. From a wheelchair, Nash was helpless as he watched Shelley lose the match to Sabin. Nash remained out of action due to the injury, but returned prior to Bound for Glory, and announced "The Kevin Nash Open Invitational X Division Gauntlet Battle Royal". Austin Starr won the match. Nash took an interest in Starr, which seemed to be at the behest of Shelley. Nash then worked with the X Division stars in a weekly segment known as the Paparazzi Championship Series (a play on the "Bowl Championship Series"). He also began continuing these skits along with Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal, in a segment called "Paparazzi Idol". Nash became a manager of sorts for Lethal, helping him adopt a gimmick where he impersonated "Macho Man" Randy Savage. At Sacrifice, Lethal and Dutt had an altercation. Nash broke it up, but Sonjay kicked him. Sonjay apologized, and Nash forgave him. Dutt then became the Guru with Nash humming mantras backstage.


title: Kevin Nash

text: He then began managing The Motor City Machine Guns, but this was short-lived before he next appeared in the role of Dr. Nash, psychiatrist and adviser to Kurt and Karen Angle. Nash then engaged in a brief program with TNA Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, which eventually culminated in Nash aiding Angle. Nash warned the Angles about how dangerous Sting can be based on Nash's experience feuding with Sting in WCW. At Bound for Glory, Nash interfered on Angle's behalf during his World Title defense against Sting. However, it was for naught, as Sting captured the title from Angle via Scorpion Death Drop after fending off Nash and Angle's wife, Karen. The following Thursday on "Impact!", Nash and Angle had an altercation because Angle blamed Nash for him losing the World Title. Angle eventually attacked Nash, who retaliated by Jackknife Powerbombing Angle in the middle of the ring. The following week, Sting defended the TNA World Title against Angle in a rematch from Bound for Glory, and Nash had a ringside seat. After the match went on a bit, Angle and Sting were out of the ring and when Angle pushed Sting onto Nash, Sting turned around and hit Nash in the face with a right hand shot, leading to Nash interfering on Angle's behalf, even though earlier he said he wasn't going to help Angle. Following the match, which Angle won, Nash offered a hand shake to Angle only to be "flipped off" by the new champ. An enraged Nash demanded a match with Angle, but TNA Management's public face, Jim Cornette, instead booked Nash into a tag team match as Angle's partner against Sting and a partner of his choosing, with the stipulation being that the person gaining the pinfall or submission would be crowned the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion. After a red herring that Scott Hall was the mystery partner, it was revealed to be Booker T.


title: Kevin Nash

text: At Final Resolution, Nash and his partner Samoa Joe lost in a title match to TNA World Tag Team Champions A.J. Styles and Tomko after Nash abandoned and seemingly betrayed Joe. Yet on the following Impact, when Joe stormed into Nash's locker room looking for a fight, Nash was actually able to persuade Joe into accepting his Machiavellian mentorship. Nash lost to Kurt Angle in a one-on-one match on "Impact!" with the winner qualifying for the Three Ways to Glory match at No Surrender. On the September 11 episode of "Impact", prior to No Surrender, he seemingly parted ways with Joe on good terms. One month later, Nash returned at Bound for Glory IV and in a swerve, struck Joe in the back with Sting's bat, helping Sting win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, turning heel once again in the process. On October 23, he formally joined Sting, Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Kurt Angle to create a villainous stable called The Main Event Mafia. He explained that he never forgave Joe for his scathing comments directed at his best friend Scott Hall's no-show almost a year prior, and befriending him was all part of a long-term plan to screw him out of the title. He then went on to defeat Joe at Turning Point. Nash, however, was removed from the card for Genesis due to a staph infection, and was replaced by Cute Kip. Nash returned on the January 29 episode of "Impact!" when the Main Event Mafia took over the show. On "Impact!" on April 23, he began an on-screen relationship with Jenna Morasca, who subsequently began acting as his valet. At Slammiversary, he was reunited with Joe and helped Angle win the World Heavyweight Championship.


title: Kevin Nash

text: At Victory Road, Nash defeated A.J. Styles for the Legends Championship, his first title in TNA. However, Nash lost the title only three days later to Mick Foley. Under a month later at Hard Justice, Nash defeated Foley to reclaim the Legends Title. At Bound for Glory Nash lost the Legends Title to Eric Young in a 3-way match, which also included Hernandez.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On the following episode of "Impact!", after Angle announced the death of The Main Event Mafia and turned face, Nash also became a face as he began feuding with Eric Young and the World Elite. However, the following month at Turning Point Nash helped World Elite members Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus retain their TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of "Impact!" Nash congratulated Young on outsmarting him at Bound for Glory and aligned himself with the World Elite, while also hinting at the return of the nWo once Hulk Hogan arrived in TNA, as when a paranoid Mick Foley came to him for information on who Hogan would be coming with, he facetiously suggested names such as Syxx-Pac, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, and Scott Hall. Further suspicion was aroused to Hall's return when Nash said that he was getting "the band" back together, hinting at an nWo return. At Final Resolution Nash took part in the "Feast or Fired" match and won the briefcase containing a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On the January 4, 2010, special live, three-hour Monday night edition of "Impact!" Hogan made his debut in TNA, and Scott Hall and Sean Waltman made their return to the company to greet him. Nash, Hall and Waltman quickly reformed their alliance, but Hogan kept himself out of the group, claiming that times have changed. At Genesis in their first match back together Nash and Syxx-Pac, who replaced Scott Hall in the match, were defeated by Beer Money, Inc. On the February 4 episode of "Impact!", Hall and Syxx-Pac turned on Nash. At Destination X Nash and Young faced Hall and Syxx-Pac in a tag team match, where The Band's TNA futures were on the line. Nash turned on Young and helped the Band pick up the victory, which finally gave them contracts with the company. On the March 29 episode of "Impact!", Nash offered Young a spot in the Band, claiming that what happened in Destination X was just business and nothing personal. Young refused the offer and in the main event of the evening, teamed up with Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy to defeat the Band in a six-man tag team steel cage match. Nash gained a measure of revenge on Young by defeating him in a steel cage match at Lockdown. Later in the night, Nash replaced Syxx-Pac, who no-showed the event, and teamed up with Hall in a St. Louis Street Fight, where they were defeated by Team 3D. On the May 3 episode of "Impact!", Eric Young turned on Team 3D and joined The Band. On May 4, at the tapings of the May 13 episode of "Impact!", after TNA World Tag Team Champion Matt Morgan had been attacked by Samoa Joe, Nash cashed in his "Feast or Fired" contract, teaming with Hall, and pinned him to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Nash later named Young one third of the champions under the Freebird Rule. At the June 14 tapings of the June 17 episode of "Impact!", The Band was stripped of the Tag Team Championship, due to Scott Hall's legal problems. The following day it was reported that Hall had been released from his contract with TNA. On the June 24 episode of "Impact!", Nash and Young decided to part ways, as Nash intended to go after Hogan, whom he blamed for what had happened to Hall and Waltman, and didn't want Young to get into trouble for it.


title: Kevin Nash

text: After Nash was unable to convince Hogan to re–hire Hall and Waltman and failed to secure a meeting with Eric Bischoff, he set his sights on renewing his feud with Jeff Jarrett, who claimed that Nash had tried to hurt TNA by bringing Hall and Waltman in. On the August 5 episode of "Impact!", Sting, who had feuded with Jarrett prior to his 30-day suspension, returned to TNA and, together with Nash, beat down Jarrett, Bischoff and Hogan. On the August 26 episode of "Impact!", Nash defeated Jarrett in a singles match, after an interference from Sting. The following week Nash helped Sting defeat Jarrett. After the match Samoa Joe aligned himself with Jarrett and Hogan and drove Nash and Sting away. At No Surrender Jarrett and Joe defeated Nash and Sting in a tag team match, after Jarrett hit Sting with a baseball bat. On the September 16 episode of "Reaction", Nash and Sting were joined by D'Angelo Dinero, who claimed to have gotten inside information from Bischoff's secretary Miss Tessmacher, that would suggest that Nash and Sting were right about Hogan and Bischoff being up to something. At Bound for Glory Nash, Sting and Dinero faced Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe in a handicap match, after Hulk Hogan, who was scheduled to team with Jarrett and Joe, was forced to pull out due to back surgery. At the end of the match Jarrett abandoned Joe and left him to be pinned by Nash. At the end of the event it was revealed that Nash and Sting had been right about Hogan and Bischoff all along, as they aligned themselves with Jarrett, Abyss and Jeff Hardy. On October 13, 2010, Nash's contract with TNA expired and he announced his retirement from professional wrestling. His last TNA appearance was a taped broadcast on October 14, 2010, when Nash and Sting both announced they were walking away from TNA rather than being a part of Hogan and Bischoff's regime. In January 2011 Nash signed a new contract with TNA, but was granted a release before reappearing on television, after being contacted by WWE.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash along with Hall and Waltman made an appearance at the 2011 Gathering of the Juggalos. Nash teamed with Waltman for a win against Road Dogg and Billy Gunn.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On September 23, 2012, Nash made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with Keiji Mutoh in a tag team match, where they defeated Seiya Sanada and Taiyō Kea with Nash pinning Sanada with the Jackknife Powerbomb for the win. Nash briefly signed with Global Force Wrestling as a "Legend" to help promote events and tours, making appearances at two GFW events on August 28 and 29, 2015. On August 10, 2018, Nash defeated Flex Armstrong for the Big Time Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. This would become his last match, confirming his retirement on January 5, 2020, to heal his body.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On January 30, 2011, at the Royal Rumble, Nash, billed as Diesel for the first time since , returned to the promotion, taking part in the Royal Rumble Match. He entered the match at number 32, but was eliminated by Wade Barrett. It was announced that he had signed a five-year WWE Legends contract. On April 2, Nash, along with Sean Waltman, was on hand to celebrate the induction of Shawn Michaels into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. Triple H inducted Michaels, and after Michaels gave his speech, Nash and Waltman joined the two on stage to celebrate.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash, no longer billed as Diesel, returned at SummerSlam in August, attacking CM Punk after he became WWE Champion, which allowed Alberto Del Rio to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and win the title, thus turning heel. The following night on "Raw", Nash claimed Triple H, on-screen chief operating officer of WWE, had instructed him by text to attack the winner. Punk verbally berated Nash on the microphone, so Nash attacked him the next week. He also distracted Punk in a match, making him miss out on a championship match. Nash was signed to an on-screen contract the next week by John Laurinaitis and demanded a match against Punk. After Triple H booked himself in the match against Punk instead, Nash attacked them both at a contract signing and was fired on screen. At Night of Champions, Nash interfered in their match, alongside The Miz and R-Truth. Triple H then attacked Nash with a sledgehammer before winning the match. Nash returned at the following pay-per-view, Vengeance to help Miz and Truth defeat Punk and Triple H. After the match, he attacked Triple H with a Jackknife Powerbomb and attacked him again the following night with his sledgehammer, preventing him from receiving medical attention and taking him off television. The following Monday, on October 31, Laurinaitis again signed Nash to a new contract. He continued to appear on "Raw", attacking Santino Marella with a Jackknife Powerbomb and cutting promos about how Triple H was more of a boss than a friend. On the December 5 episode of "Raw", Nash competed in his first televised WWE match in eight years, defeating Santino Marella. Nash went on to face Triple H at in a ladder match with a sledgehammer hanging above the ring which he lost by pinfall after a sledgehammer shot to the face, ending the feud in the process.


title: Kevin Nash

text: In late 2012 and early 2013, Nash began appearing on WWE's developmental training show, "NXT". Nash initially appeared as the guest Match Commissioner for the night, a title given to him at the request of Dusty Rhodes. After announcing this to the crowd, Nash was interrupted by Heath Slater to whom he promptly delivered his finisher, effectively turning face. Nash later again appear on the January 20th tapings of "NXT" to reunite with members of The Kliq, allowing him to effectively settle all issues with Triple H, embracing him once again. The reunion also turned into a reunion of D-Generation-X and Nash was awarded the title of being an honorary member of the stable. Nash then helped DX take down Damien Sandow.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash competed in the 2014 Royal Rumble match as the 14th entrant, eliminating Jack Swagger before being eliminated by Roman Reigns. He inducted his real-life close friend and former tag team partner, Scott Hall, into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2014. Nash appeared on the August 11 episode of "Raw" to reunite the nWo with Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall as part of Hogan's birthday celebration. Nash was suspended by WWE on December 24, 2014, following his arrest, but was quickly reinstated when the charges were dropped.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On the January 19, 2015 episode of "Raw", Nash appeared with X-Pac and Scott Hall to reunite the nWo, and along with The Acolytes Protection Agency and The New Age Outlaws, they beat down The Ascension, who had been insulting legends from past weeks. On March 23, 2015, it was announced that Nash would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015. On March 28, he was inducted by long-time friend and Kliq member, Shawn Michaels. On March 29, Nash appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall, in their attempt to even the odds in favor of Sting in his match against Triple H, who had D-Generation X (Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Shawn Michaels, and X-Pac) in his corner. However, Sting lost the match after Triple H hit him with a sledgehammer as he was attempting a Stinger splash.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash made a return to WWE for the "Raw Reunion" show on July 22, 2019. On December 9, 2019, it was announced that Nash would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame (2020 Class) for a second time as a member of nWo, together with Hogan, Hall, and Sean Waltman.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash and his wife Tamara married in 1988, but separated in 2000, although they later reconciled. Their son, Tristen, was born on June 12, 1996 and was a solo musician and poet. On October 20, 2022, Tristen died from cardiac arrest that had been triggered by a seizure as a result of alcohol withdrawal syndrome, he was 26 years old.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On March 2, 2016, Nash announced he will donate his brain to the CTE Center at Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation after his death. The announcement came on the same day that women's soccer star Brandi Chastain said she was doing the same thing.


title: Kevin Nash

text: In May 2011, Nash was arrested for battery by assaulting a drunk man in a parking lot of a restaurant in Florida, while he and his wife Tamara were leaving. In June 2011, it was announced by prosecutors that Nash was clear of all charges against him, stating that he was only acting in self-defense, as the drunk man was trying to flirt with Nash's wife.


title: Kevin Nash

text: On December 24, 2014, just after midnight, Nash was arrested for battery against his 18-year-old son, Tristen. Two hours later, police were called back and Tristen was arrested for battery against Nash's wife, Tamara. On January 15, 2015, prosecutors announced that Nash would not face charges. Nash's lawyer maintains that Nash was only defending his wife the night he was arrested.


title: Kevin Nash

text: During his time as WWF Champion, his power as a draw has been questioned, usually being labeled as one of the lowest drawing champions of WWF. Nash however has stated that in the mid-1990s, nobody drew because professional wrestling was in a major recession due to the steroid scandal following the "United States v. McMahon" legal case.


title: Kevin Nash

text: Nash jumping ship to WCW in 1996 along with Scott Hall has often been cited as the main reason behind Vince McMahon's decision to start offering downside guaranteed contracts to all of his talent in order to avoid a mass exodus of his talent roster and compete with WCW. The decision proved to be a boon since it changed the salary structure for the WWF wrestlers and helped increase the pay scale for the industry. McMahon also acknowledged in 1998 that letting them defect to WCW made him start offering guaranteed contracts.


title: Kevin Nash

text: In his autobiography "Controversy Creates Ca$h", former WCW President Eric Bischoff praised Kevin Nash and Scott Hall for contributing to the key elements of the nWo's feel and attitude, while others have said that many of the booking ideas that propelled WCW's rise came from Nash and Hall. Veteran wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage credited Nash for spearheading the nWo Wolfpac faction in 1998 which grew in popularity with the fans and became the company's hottest selling merchandise.


title: Kevin Nash

text: In 1991, Nash made his acting debut in "" as the genetically enhanced version of the villain, Shredder, called the Super Shredder. He also had a very minor role as a jackhammer worker in the 1998 movie "Family Plan".


title: Kevin Nash

text: In 1999, Nash created and co-wrote a comic book titled "Nash", set in a dystopian future and featuring himself as the primary character. Image Comics published an ashcan preview edition and two regular issues.


title: Kevin Nash

text: He was the first choice for the role of Sabretooth in "X-Men", but the role ultimately went to his former tag team partner Tyler Mane. Nash appeared in a fight scene as The Russian in the 2004 film "The Punisher". While filming the scene, Nash was accidentally stabbed with a real knife by actor Thomas Jane.


title: Kevin Nash

text: He made guest appearances in three different TV shows. He appeared on one episode each of "" (episode "Captains Courageous") and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (episode "The Crucible") and in two episodes of "Nikki" as The Big Easy (episodes "Gimme Shelter" and "Stealing Nikki"). In 2009, he appeared on Fox's show "Brothers", in which he came to get his stolen championship belt back. In 2012, he played a male stripper in "Magic Mike" and reprised the role in the 2015 sequel "Magic Mike XXL". In 2017, he appeared as Big Hank Cramblin on "Detroiters".


title: Sarah Snook

text: Sarah Snook (born 1 December 1987) is an Australian actress who is best known for her starring role as Shiv Roy in the television series "Succession" (2018–present), for which she earned critical acclaim in international media. She has won several awards including a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award, with nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: Sarah Snook

text: Among other films, Snook has appeared in "Not Suitable for Children" (2012), "These Final Hours" (2013), "Predestination" (2014), "The Dressmaker" (2015), "Steve Jobs" (2015), "The Glass Castle" (2017), and "Pieces of a Woman" (2020). She won two AACTA Awards for her leading roles in "Sisters of War" (2010) and "Predestination" (2014).


title: Sarah Snook

text: Snook was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and grew up in the suburb of Eden Hills. She has two older sisters. Her father, a swimming-pool salesman, and her mother, an aged care provider, divorced when she was young. She attended St John's Grammar School in Belair and won a drama scholarship to Scotch College in Torrens Park. Her first paying job was as a fairy at children's birthday parties.


title: Sarah Snook

text: While at NIDA, Snook performed in stage productions of "Macbeth" and "Gallipoli". She subsequently appeared in "King Lear" with the State Theatre Company of South Australia and as "Saint Joan" in the Sydney Theatre Company's production in 2018.


title: Sarah Snook

text: She has starred in the films "Not Suitable for Children" (2012), "These Final Hours" (2013), "Predestination" (2014), and "Jessabelle" (2014). Currently, Snook plays a lead role in the HBO series "Succession", as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy.


title: Sarah Snook

text: In December 2021, she replaced Elisabeth Moss as the lead in the horror-thriller film "Run Rabbit Run" directed by Daina Reid. In January 2022, Snook was cast in a multi-starrer film "The Beanie Bubble" co-directed by Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash.


title: Sarah Snook

text: In 2020, Snook began dating Australian comedian Dave Lawson. They married in 2021, in the backyard of Snook's Brooklyn home.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Development began after the release of "Sonic Forces" (2017). Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka wanted "Frontiers" to set a new template for "Sonic" games to follow, as "Sonic Adventure" had done in 1998. Sonic Team settled on an open-ended design and focused on adapting Sonic's abilities to an open world.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: "Sonic Frontiers" was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 8, 2022. "Sonic Frontiers" received mixed reviews; critics praised the open world and story but found the gameplay repetitive, while it was received more favorably by fans of the series. "Frontiers" sold over 2.5 million copies in over a month.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: "Sonic Frontiers" is a 3D platformer and action-adventure game. The player, as Sonic, explores the Starfall Islands, which consist of various biomes including flowery fields, forests, ancient ruins, and deserts. Sonic retains his abilities from previous "Sonic the Hedgehog" games: he runs at high speeds, collects rings, grinds on rails, and homes in on enemies to attack. The player can double jump, sidestep using their gamepad's shoulder buttons, drop dash, and boost with the right trigger if they have enough energy. New abilities include combat attacks, running alongside walls, and using the Cyloop to create a circle of light around objects and interact with them. The Cyloop can perform different tasks by drawing certain shapes — for example, drawing an infinity symbol or an 8 will allow Sonic to boost indefinitely for a short time. Sonic also has the ability to boost even faster upon collecting the maximum amount of rings, gaining a blue aura reminiscent of his counterpart from the "Sonic the Hedgehog" film series. The player can customize the controls and adjust Sonic's speed, turning, acceleration, and sensitivity, and can upgrade Sonic's speed, attacks, defense, and ring capacity as they progress.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: The Starfall Islands act as the series' first open world, which writers compared to "". The world retains traditional "Sonic" elements, such as springs, boost pads, and grind rails, akin to past hub worlds in the series like "Sonic Adventure" and "Sonic Unleashed" but on a greater scale. The player explores the islands as they scale towers in platforming challenges to reveal parts of the map, and solve puzzles, including orienting statues and speedrunning, to collect items. Collectibles include Kocos, which upgrade Sonic's moveset, and Memory Tokens, which are used to trigger cutscenes conversations with Sonic's friends — that either progress the plot (occasionally via minigames) or expand on their characters and relationships with Sonic in side stories. The main quest takes 20–30 hours to finish, while finding all collectibles, exploring all parts of the islands, and completing all side stories takes as much as 60 hours.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: The player battles robots throughout the islands, all in various forms; Sonic can dodge and parry attacks and use the Cyloop to make enemies easier to strike. Defeating enemies grants the player experience points that allow them to purchase additional moves and abilities in combat and the open world. Alongside regular, small enemies, the player battles large "Guardian" bosses. Defeating a Guardian rewards the player with portal gears that, when placed in a portal, allow them to enter "Cyber Space" — short, linear levels similar to those from previous "Sonic" games. Each of the 30 Cyber Space levels, which shift between third-person and side-scrolling perspectives, contains three optional objectives, including time attack, collecting rings, and collecting five red rings; completing each objective rewards players with a key required to collect a Chaos Emerald. A fishing minigame is also included in set areas of the maps, where Sonic can exchange purple coins found in the overworld to catch fish and other objects that net him "fishing tokens" based on catch quality, which he can then redeem for items and collectables. Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds allows the player to transform into Super Sonic, who is required to defeat the game's major bosses, the Titans. Although the game's difficulty can be changed at any time, the final boss, which is fought as Super Sonic and Sage (possessing the Supreme Titan) in a top-down shoot 'em up gameplay style similar to "Ikaruga", requires the player to be playing on Hard to fight it and all of its phases.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Players control Sonic in exploring the Starfall Islands archipelago to collect the Chaos Emeralds and investigate the islands' relationship to them. One of Sonic's objectives is to rescue three of his friends — Miles "Tails" Prower and Amy Rose, who initially accompany Sonic in his investigation; and Knuckles the Echidna, who was transported there earlier from the ruins above Angel Island — from Cyber Space, a digital realm connected to the islands. Sonic's friends project themselves as holograms in the real world while trapped, allowing them to interact with and advise Sonic. They are opposed by Sage, a young female artificial intelligence entity created by Doctor Eggman, who is also trapped within Cyber Space; throughout the events of the game, Eggman and Sage are shown to develop a surrogate father-daughter relationship. Big the Cat makes an appearance as a host for a fishing minigame.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Doctor Eggman travels to the Starfall Islands in an attempt to steal the technological secrets created by powerful beings known as the Ancients (who are said to be related to Chaos, a character from "Sonic Adventure"). Upon reaching and interacting with a portal to Cyber Space, several robotic defense units are summoned. Sage, detecting a threat signature from the defense units, ceases hijacking the portal and initiates a protection protocol, dragging Eggman into Cyber Space.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, and Amy decide to investigate activity that has drawn the Chaos Emeralds to the islands. Upon approach, their plane is sucked into a wormhole to Cyber Space, from which only Sonic escapes to the islands in the real world. A disembodied voice comments on Sonic's "impossible" escape, and tasks him with finding the Chaos Emeralds and destroying the island's robotic "Titans" to remove the boundary between the real and digital worlds. Believing this will save his friends, Sonic releases each of their projections from virtual cages created by Sage, who simultaneously works to free Doctor Eggman from Cyber Space; destroying the cages causes Sonic's body to become increasingly corrupted by their digital energy. Sage cautions Sonic to leave, influencing the islands' mechanical guardians and Titans to attack him, but grows to sympathize with him while observing his interactions with his friends.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: During their exploration, Sonic and his friends learn about the islands' history through visions of their past inhabitants, the Ancients, that are stored within Cyber Space. The Ancients are revealed to have been an extraterrestrial race whose planet was destroyed by an entity called "The End"; the Ancients escaped their world using the Chaos Emeralds which originated from their planet, and were drawn to the Master Emerald on Earth and settled there. When The End followed them and attacked their new civilization, they used the Chaos Emeralds to fuel their armaments and seal The End within Cyber Space. The Ancients' essences remain within their accessories, the Koco, which become inert once Sonic and his friends help them fulfill their final desires in life.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: After destroying three of the Titans and disabling the towers that maintain the spatial boundary, Sonic succumbs to his corruption and is trapped between dimensions. Released along with Sonic's friends and Eggman, the entity guiding Sonic reveals itself to be The End, which resumes its attack on Earth using the last Titan, Supreme, prompting Sonic's friends to purge the corruption from him by sacrificing their physical forms. Sage persuades Eggman to cooperate with Sonic in recollecting the scattered Chaos Emeralds. Sonic uses them to confront The End, forcing it to abandon Supreme. Sage then takes control of Supreme and pursues the true form of The End into space alongside Super Sonic, where she sacrifices herself to destroy it. Sonic's friends are restored and leave the islands with him, now wishing to make a difference in their lives after their experiences, while Eggman uses the island's technology to revive Sage.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Following the release of "Sonic Forces" (2017), Sonic Team began exploring approaches for its next "Sonic the Hedgehog" game. In addition to celebrating the series' upcoming 30th anniversary, Sonic Team also sought to define what a modern "Sonic" game should be and solidify the series' direction for the next decade. "Forces" received criticism for its short length and level design, so its director, Morio Kishimoto, concluded that Sonic Team's method of designing levels that originated in "Sonic Unleashed" (2008) would no longer satisfy fans. Sonic Team ultimately determined that the series' traditional linear design contained "little room for evolution" and felt it could not progress in this direction. In particular, Sonic Team head and "Sonic" series producer Takashi Iizuka felt 3D "Sonic" games were not giving players enough freedom and constrained them to linear paths.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Iizuka felt the series needed to take an innovative direction that would inform future games, similar to how "Sonic the Hedgehog" (1991) and "Sonic Adventure" (1998) set templates used by later games. The idea to make an open-world "Sonic" game came from Kishimoto, who had enjoyed watching the evolution of the platform genre's world map concept since it was popularized by "Super Mario Bros. 3" in 1988. Some "Sonic" games, such as "Sonic Adventure", featured world maps, but Kishimoto felt his idea evolved the concept by combining it with the gameplay. He thought it would allow for more freedom and diverse gameplay.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Kishimoto returned to direct "Frontiers", while "Sonic Unleashed" (2008), "Generations" (2011), and "Forces" art director Sachiko Kawamura produced it. "Frontiers" development lasted five years, longer than previous "Sonic" games' development cycles. Iizuka attributed the length in part to "Frontiers" not building on previous "Sonic" gameplay. Determining the direction required trial-and-error refinement, and the development restarted from scratch at one point. Sonic Team began regularly holding external playtesting during "Frontiers" development. The COVID-19 pandemic began halfway during production, necessitating Sonic Team to shift to remote work for the first time in its history. Iizuka noted that this made it difficult for individual developers to "get a sense of the big picture", but the benefit of digital communication "accelerated" other aspects of the development.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: The designers focused on transitioning Sonic's speed and abilities to an open-world design while remaining true to previous games, and opted for a mysterious tone to reflect Sonic exploring an unfamiliar landscape. Iizuka felt "Sonic" essence as a 3D action game separated "Frontiers" from adventure and role-playing games such as the "Legend of Zelda" series. As such, he declined to call it an open-world game, preferring the term "open zone". Sonic Team applied lessons learned from developing "Sonic Adventure" hub worlds when designing "Frontiers" and repeatedly tested how fast Sonic could race through the open world to determine how large it needed to be. Iizuka said the largest challenge was ensuring that fast-paced exploration would be fun. Sonic Team sought to address criticism that previous "Sonic" games were too short, and chose not to raise the difficulty level as the game progresses since the open world would provide plenty of content.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Sonic Team decided to prioritize combat to a greater extent, but despite the shift to open-world design, Sonic Team determined that "Frontiers" did not feel like a "Sonic" game without platforming elements. This presented the challenge of balancing platforming with exploration; Sonic Team's solution was to have the world open up as a reward for completing challenges. The developers wanted to ensure that players could choose between combat and platforming and would not be forced to fight enemies, so they included various methods to collect items outside platforming and combat, such as puzzles. The 2020 "Sonic the Hedgehog" feature film influenced the development; Kishimoto requested that Sonic Team incorporate Easter eggs referencing it and based the combat on the film's depiction of Sonic. With the Cyber Space levels, Kishimoto wanted "Sonic" to "once again... stand amongst the other 'stage-clear' action games" that he enjoyed, like the Sega Genesis-era "Sonic" games and the "Super Mario", "Donkey Kong", and "Kirby" series.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Ian Flynn, who wrote "Sonic the Hedgehog" comics published by Archie Comics and IDW Publishing and episodes of the "Sonic Boom" TV series, wrote the script. Iizuka asked Flynn to write "Frontiers" after reading his work on the IDW comics. He felt Flynn understood the "Sonic" cast and would bring "a great improvement to the characters' emotions and dialogue". Iizuka noted that the story differs from previous "Sonic" games in that it is less humorous and does not make the player's goal obvious, instead challenging them to figure out how to solve problems themselves.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Whereas Flynn had pitched his previous "Sonic" stories himself, Sega dictated "Frontiers" premise and which characters Flynn was allowed to use. Flynn considered it "a dream come true" to write a major "Sonic" game, and he was able to present ideas for using more characters to Sonic Team. Kishimoto said this created a "cooperative back and forth". Given the nonlinear approach, Flynn found pacing the story was "the biggest question" and "had to be massaged and revised as the game's structure took shape". Kishimoto did the Japanese localization using Flynn's script as a base, making changes to suit the Japanese market.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Tomoya Ohtani was the lead composer and sound director for "Frontiers". In accordance with the tone, the "Frontiers" soundtrack is less upbeat and is "focused more on helping to create a mysterious feeling surrounding the islands." The main theme, "I'm Here", was composed by Ohtani with vocals and lyrics by Merry Kirk-Holmes of the Australian metal band To Octavia, and plays during the second phase of the battle against Supreme, the fourth and final Titan of the game. Japanese rock band One Ok Rock wrote and performed one of the three ending themes, "Vandalize", which also appears on their tenth studio album "Luxury Disease". Sleeping with Sirens vocalist Kellin Quinn appears on three Titan battle themes; "Undefeatable", "Break Through It All" and "Find Your Flame", and vocalist and producer Tyler Smyth of DangerKids features on the latter track. The other two ending themes are "Dear Father" and "One Way Dream", performed by Quinn Barnitt and Nathan Sharp respectively. The latter song plays in place of "Vandalize" if the game is completed on hard difficulty.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Additional music for the game was written by Kenichi Tokoi, Takahito Eguchi, Rintaro Soma, Kenji Mizuno, Kanon Oguni, and Hiroshi Kawaguchi. A soundtrack album, "Stillness & Motion", was released on December 7, 2022. It features 150 tracks spanning 6 hours and 37 minutes, making it the longest in the series.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Sega originally planned to release "Sonic Frontiers" in 2021 to coincide with the franchise's 30th anniversary, but delayed it for 1 year for quality control. It officially went gold on October 22, 2022, and finally released on November 8, 2022, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: "Sonic Frontiers" was sold in physical and digital versions, both offering in-game items as pre-order bonuses, as well as a Digital Deluxe edition which includes additional items, a digital artbook and a mini digital soundtrack covering Kronos Island. In Japan, the game features various DLC items in collaboration with Hololive Production-affiliated VTuber Inugami Korone, who also serves as the Japanese brand ambassador of the "Sonic" series, offered by pre-ordering the game at different stores. These include DLC that replaces the various sound effects with Korone's voice, give Sonic cosmetics themed after Korone, and replaces the game's Koco characters with "Koronesukis". Signing up for the official newsletter before January 31st, 2023 will give players a free DLC code to unlock Sonic's Soap shoes from "Sonic Adventure 2" (2001) on the Dreamcast. A free DLC pack released on November 14 which gives Sonic additional cosmetics themed after Capcom's "Monster Hunter" series, as well as a cooking minigame. Planned updates for the game, scheduled for release during 2023, include a photo mode, new challenges, and additional playable characters and story content.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Some retailers sold copies of "Sonic Frontiers" before the street date, and the Nintendo Switch version was uploaded online. The composer, Tomoya Ohtani, said he was saddened by the leaks and urged players to not spoil the game.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Sega unveiled a teaser trailer, featuring Sonic running through a forest, at the end of a 30th anniversary livestream on May 27, 2021. The title was not announced, but the trailer metadata and a Sega press release included the title "Sonic Rangers". Iizuka later said that he felt the game had been teased prematurely, but believed it was necessary given that it was the 30th anniversary and Sonic Team had not announced a game since "Forces". Sega trademarked the name "Sonic Frontiers" in November 2021 and announced it the following month at the Game Awards 2021 in December.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: Sega collaborated with the video game news website "IGN" to promote "Frontiers" throughout June 2022. A trailer was featured during the opening night of Gamescom on August 23, 2022. The game's backstory detailing how Sonic and his friends come to the Islands was elaborated on via pre-release promotional media under the name "Sonic Frontiers Prologue". These included an eight-page comic, "Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Convergence", released in October 2022; and an accompanying animated short, "Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence", released on November 1. The comic was drawn by Evan Stanley, an artist and writer on IDW's "Sonic" comic series, while the animation was directed by Tyson Hesse; both were written by Flynn.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: "Nintendo Life" characterized early "Frontiers" gameplay footage as divisive. "Kotaku" felt the game looked fine but derivative and bland, lacking the series' unique identity, and "Polygon" and "Nintendo Life" found the open world desolate. Some fans demanded the game be delayed, and the hashtag #DelaySonicFrontiers briefly trended on Twitter. Iizuka said that Sonic Team expected early reactions to be polarized, as he felt the early footage would not give fans a good idea of what to expect.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: According to the review aggregate website Metacritic, the PlayStation 4 version and Windows version of "Sonic Frontiers" received "generally favorable reviews", while other console versions received "mixed or average reviews". "Game Informer" called "Sonic Frontiers" the best 3D "Sonic" game in years, praising its open-world formula. "GamesRadar+" praised the storytelling, but found the gameplay repetitive. Writing for "VG247", Tom Orry criticized the Nintendo Switch port, citing a perceived poor frame rate and graphical glitches not found in the other versions of the game.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: "Sonic Frontiers" was well received by "Sonic" fans. "The Washington Post" wrote that many enjoyed its controls, emphasis on freedom, story, references to prior "Sonic" games, and soundtrack. Some publications noted that user review scores were comparable to those for acclaimed games such as "Breath of the Wild" and "Elden Ring" (2022). "Sonic Frontiers" set the record for the largest number of concurrent players for a "Sonic" game on Steam, surpassing the record held by "Sonic Mania". The game was nominated in the Players' Voice category at The Game Awards 2022.


title: Sonic Frontiers

text: The Nintendo Switch version of "Sonic Frontiers" was the fourth best-selling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 26,067 physical copies being sold. The PlayStation 5 version was the seventh best-selling retail game in the country throughout the same week, selling 11,111 physical copies, with the PlayStation 4 version selling 9,098 physical copies and being the eighth best-selling retail game of the week in Japan, totaling 46,276 copies and outselling "God of War Ragnarök". In the United States, "Sonic Frontiers" was the fourth best-selling game of November overall. On December 12, 2022, Sega announced that "Frontiers" had sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.


title: Diane Morgan

text: Diane Morgan (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for playing Philomena Cunk on Charlie Brooker's "Weekly Wipe" and in other mockumentaries, as Liz in the BBC Two sitcom "Motherland", and Kath in the Netflix dark comedy series "After Life". She also wrote and starred in the BBC Two comedy series "Mandy".


title: Diane Morgan

text: Morgan was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, one of two children of a physiotherapist, on 5 October 1975. She grew up in nearby Farnworth and Kearsley, and studied at the East 15 Acting School in Loughton. She said in a 2020 interview, "There were a few actors on [my father]'s side of the family: Julie Goodyear, Frank Finlay and Jack Wild. What a dynasty. We're like the Redgraves. Julie's got a touch of the Mandys, actually. Maybe I could cast her as Mandy's mum."


title: Diane Morgan

text: Morgan had a small part as Dawn in Peter Kay's "Phoenix Nights" before a spell working various jobs, including as a dental assistant, a telemarketer, a potato peeler at a chip shop, selling Avon, and boxing up worming tablets in a factory. She subsequently made her first attempt at stand-up comedy. She was placed second in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year award in 2006 and as runner-up in the 2006 Funny Women Awards.


title: Diane Morgan

text: Morgan and Joe Wilkinson later formed a sketch comedy duo called Two Episodes of Mash. From 2008, they performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for three consecutive years, and in 2010, they appeared on Robert Webb's satirical news show "Robert's Web". In 2012 the act completed its second BBC radio series (co-starring David O'Doherty), and appeared in BBC Three's "Live at the Electric".


title: Diane Morgan

text: In 2012, she appeared in "Him & Her", which features Wilkinson, and in 2013, she played Nicola in the TV series "Pat & Cabbage". In 2014, she made an appearance in the TV series "Utopia", as Tess, and in 2015, she appeared in two episodes of "Drunk History".


title: Diane Morgan

text: Morgan is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Philomena Cunk, an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer and commentator on current affairs. The character first appeared in a regular segment on "Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe" (2013–2015). Cunk has since appeared in other mockumentary contexts. In December 2016, she presented BBC Two's "Cunk on Christmas". In April 2018, the five-part historical mockumentary "Cunk on Britain" began broadcasting on BBC Two. Also in 2018, Morgan wrote "Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena", published by Two Roads on 1 November. In December 2019, Morgan appeared as Cunk for short episodes of "Cunk and Other Humans", once again on BBC Two. She returned in a one-off episode of "Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe" titled "Antiviral Wipe", about the COVID-19 pandemic, in May 2020.


title: Diane Morgan

text: Morgan played David Brent's public relations guru in the film "" (2016). She has appeared in several short films, including "The Boot Sale", which was shortlisted in the Virgin Media Shorts film competition 2010.


title: Diane Morgan

text: In 2016, Morgan played Mandy in Sky One's comedy "Rovers", appearing in all six episodes of the first series. She also appeared in the pilot for the BBC2 comedy "We the Jury" as Olivia. She also plays receptionist Talia in Sky's comedy drama "Mount Pleasant" and Liz in the BBC2 sitcom "Motherland".


title: Diane Morgan

text: Morgan plays Kath in the Netflix black-comedy series "After Life", written by Ricky Gervais. She starred in the Gold sitcom "The Cockfields", again alongside Wilkinson, and in comedy-drama "Frayed" in 2019. In 2019, she wrote, directed, and starred in the BBC2 comedy short "Mandy", described as "a comedy by Diane Morgan about Mandy, a woman who really, really wants a sofa, and will stop at absolutely nothing to get it". Carol Decker appeared as herself in the short. It returned in August 2020 for the full series "Mandy", with Shaun Ryder, Maxine Peake, and Natalie Cassidy in guest roles. A Christmas special, "We Wish You a Mandy Christmas", loosely based on "A Christmas Carol", was broadcast in December 2021.


title: Diane Morgan

text: Also in 2020, Morgan played Gemma Nerrick in the British mockumentary "Death to 2020", created by Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones. She reprised the role in "Death to 2021". She voiced the character 105E in the 2021 animated Cartoon Network series "Elliott from Earth".


title: Diane Morgan

text: Morgan lives in the Bloomsbury district of London with her boyfriend, BBC comedy producer Ben Caudell.


title: Birdman (film)

text: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), or simply Birdman, is a 2014 American black comedy-drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. It was written by Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., and Armando Bó. The film stars Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson, a faded Hollywood actor best known for playing the superhero "Birdman", as he struggles to mount a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". The film also features a supporting cast of Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts.


title: Birdman (film)

text: The film covers the period of previews leading to the play's opening, and with a brief exception appears as if filmed in a single shot, an idea Iñárritu had from the film's conception. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki believed that the recording time necessary for the long take approach taken in "Birdman" could not have been made with older technology. The film was shot in New York City during the spring of 2013 with a budget of $16.5 million jointly financed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, Regency Enterprises and Worldview Entertainment. It premiered the following year in August where it opened the 71st Venice International Film Festival.


title: Birdman (film)

text: "Birdman" had a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 17, 2014, followed by a wide release on November 14. Grossing more than $103 million worldwide, the film received widespread critical acclaim, with praise towards its screenplay, direction, cinematography, and the performances of the cast (particularly Keaton, Norton, and Stone). "Birdman" won the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography from a total of nine nominations, tying it with "The Grand Budapest Hotel" for the most nominated and awarded film at the 87th Academy Awards. It also won Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Keaton and Best Screenplay at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.


title: Birdman (film)

text: Riggan Thomson is a faded actor famous for playing a superhero named Birdman in a film trilogy from 1989 to 1992. He is tormented by the mocking and critical internal voice of Birdman and frequently visualizes himself performing feats of levitation and telekinesis. Riggan is trying to regain recognition by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love." However, the Birdman voice wants Riggan to return to blockbuster cinema and insists that he is essential to Riggan's identity.


title: Birdman (film)

text: Jake, Riggan's best friend and lawyer, is producing the play, which co-stars Riggan's girlfriend, Laura, and Broadway débutante Lesley. Riggan's daughter Sam, a recovering drug addict with whom he is trying to reconnect, is working as his assistant. The day before the first preview, a light fixture falls onto Riggan's hapless co-star, Ralph. At Lesley's suggestion, Riggan replaces Ralph with her boyfriend, the brilliant but volatile and self-absorbed method actor Mike Shiner. The first previews are disastrous: Mike breaks character over replacing his gin with water, attempts to rape Lesley during a sex scene, and complains that the prop gun does not look natural. Riggan clashes continually with Mike, culminating in a brawl after Riggan reads a "New York Times" interview with Mike in which he steals Riggan's personal reason for doing a Raymond Carver play. Jake persuades Riggan to continue with the play. When Riggan berates Sam after finding her using marijuana, she insultingly rebukes and chastises him, telling him he is irrelevant and the play is for his own vanity.