Kevin Nash is a two-time member of the WWE Hall of Fame, first for his career as Diesel in Vince McMahon’s promotion, and then for his time in WCW as one of the founding members of the nWo. Nash is a multi-time world champion and one of the biggest names to ever step in the ring. With that popularity came opportunities outside the ring, as Hollywood came calling. Kevin Nash has had supporting roles in a number of major movies, but none have a story as shocking as what happened to Nash during a scene in the 2004 film The Punisher. On camera, the film’s star, Thomas Jane, stabbed the wrestling icon with a knife that was supposed to be a prop. It wasn’t. Jane ended up stabbing Nash for real, and if the blade had been a little lower, he wouldn’t be with us today.
UPDATE: 2025/03/13 17:00 EST BY SHAWN VAN HORN
For wrestling fans, Kevin Nash will always be remembered for his time in WWE as Diesel, before he jumped ship to WCW and helped form the nWo with Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall. Although he was a multi-time world champion, Nash also found work as an actor in everything from John Wick to Magic Mike. However, it was a small role in The Punisher that may be his most memorable, because he was accidentally stabbed by the film’s star, Thomas Jane. Two decades later, Kevin Nash had a lot to say about his role as The Russian being recast in Deadpool & Wolverine.
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Kevin Nash’s Acting Career Outside Of Wrestling
Big Sexy Has Shared The Screen With Keanu Reeves & Channing Tatum
- Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II was played by Kevin Nash.
- Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Steve Austin were in The Longest Yard.
- Kevin Nash was in each entry of the Magic Mike trilogy.
Kevin Nash might not be The Rock, John Cena, or Dave Bautista when it comes to an acting resume, but he still has a pretty impressive second career. His first ever film role was playing Super Shredder in 1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. In 2005, he was in The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler and several other wrestlers, such as Goldberg and Steve Austin. In 2014, he had a small but important role in the first John Wick film, where he had a scene with Keanu Reeves.
His best work might actually be in Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike trilogy as Ernest, a male stripper who goes by the name of Tarzan on stage. It sounds silly on paper, but Nash showed how good of an actor he can be with the right material as an aging man trying to hang on to a career in a younger man’s world.
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Kevin Nash Remembers Being Stabbed On The Set Of ‘The Punisher’
A Real Knife Was Accidentally Used During A Scene
- Kevin Nash played “The Russian” in The Punisher.
- Thomas Jane and Kevin Nash share a fight scene.
- Kevin Nash was stabbed when a real knife wasn’t switched out with a prop one.
In between all of this, Kevin Nash had a small part playing the blonde-haired villain known as “The Russian” in the 2004 film The Punisher, based on the Marvel comic of the same name. During the movie, The Russian has a fight scene with our hero, Frank Castle, played by Thomas Jane. It’s a fight like we’ve seen before, with both men getting in blows, including The Punisher taking a butterfly knife and jamming it into The Russian’s shoulder, which doesn’t phase him at all. It should have phased him though, because Nash was accidentally stabbed with a real knife.
In 2022, on his Kliq THIS podcast, his co-host Sean Oliver asked Kevin Nash what he thought when he was accidentally stabbed in The Punisher. He summed it up perfectly by saying, “Ow,” before elaborating. There were two butterfly knives on set, a real one that Thomas Jane would hold before the stabbing scene, and then a prop knife with a retractable blade to be used for the stabbing moment. Nash said he got stabbed in the collar bone with the real knife instead of the prop knife. If the aim had been a few inches lower, Kevin Nash would have been in serious trouble. So, how did this happen? Nash said:
“The prop guy’s over there sniffing up this Asian girl’s a**, you know, trying to f**king get her number, and doesn’t change out the knives, and I take one in the collar bone.”
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Thomas Jane Calls Stabbing Kevin Nash “A Bad Day”
Was Kevin Nash Angry With Thomas Jane?
Also in 2022, during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Thomas Jane was asked if the story about stabbing Kevin Nash in The Punisher was true. Jane confessed, saying:
“That was a bad day. I gotta tell you, when I was swinging around, and grabbing the prop knife, and he’s there, and I plunge it into his chest … and it stabs him, and it goes in, and I’m looking at the knife, I’m looking at him. Kevin, he’s just looking down at me, and there’s a knife sticking out of his chest … Yeah, that was rough, and you know what made it worse? He was so nice about it. You’re like, ‘Oh my god, this guy’s going to knock me across the room.’ Just out of a reflex. He just sat there, looked at the knife, looked at me and shook his head. I sent him a couple cases of beer, if I remember right.” (h/t Wrestling Inc.)
Kevin Nash gets some fair and unfair criticism for certain moments of his career, like the Fingerpoke of Doom or tearing his quads, but how many of his critics can say that not only were they stabbed by The Punisher and lived to tell about it, but that they didn’t even flinch when it happened?
The Russian Was Recast In ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
Billy Clements Is The New Russian
- Kevin Nash said The Russian in Deadpool & Wolverine looks nothing like him.
- Nash claimed the casting of Billy Clements a favor to someone.
- Billy Clements responded to Kevin Nash and called his performance the result of hard work.
Twenty years after The Punisher, The Russian returned in his trademark red and white striped shirt for 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. This time, however, he wasn’t played by Kevin Nash, but by an actor and veteran stunt performer named Billy Clements. On his Kliq This Podcast, Kevin Nash was asked what he thought about being recast. He said:
“That looks nothing like the character I played. That looks nothing like The Russian. It looks like they gave somebody a favour.
“I love when people say, ‘Oh, Nash is trolling for movie parts.’ Hey, guys, again, man, I’m 65 years old. What I want to do in life [sarcastically] is, I want to go someplace that’s not my crib, and be in a hotel, and work a 12-hour day. And then leave, and go home, and while I cook and prepare my meal and eat it, go over lines for tomorrow.” (h/t comicbookmovie.com)
Although Kevin Nash was joking around a bit, his comments about Billy Clements being cast as a favor were a low blow that diminished the actor’s ability. Clements replied to Nash’s words on his Instagram account in a video titled “No favours given – just hard work”, jokingly saying that he thought Nash’s performance in The Punisher was brilliant and amazing, while claiming that he’d seen it a hundred times. Clements added:
“I really worked hard to get that role, you know. Trained seven years, started from an extra at the bottom of the pile. Doing everything I can, audition after audition after audition, just trying the best to get where I could. To finally get that role was an honor. You know, it meant so much to me, everything in the world. I couldn’t believe I was a genuine Marvel character.” (h/t Slash Film)
Take one look at Billy Clements and you’ll see that he is not someone to mess with, despite how polite he was in his video. Thankfully, there were no reports from Deadpool & Wolverine about him being stabbed by Ryan Reynolds or Hugh Jackman.
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