Kevin Nash Will Miss WWE Raw 25th Anniversary Show
Big Daddy Cool was forced to pull out due to travel issues.
Jan 18, 2018
WWE and WCW legend Kevin Nash will miss the 25th anniversary edition of Raw on January 22nd. Tweeting from his own official account, Nash stated:
'Was so looking forward to being a part of RAW 25. It's nearly impossible to travel on our down sized airlines healthy. With a total knee replacement it would be self inflicted torture. See ya everyone at Mania'
Nash was one of many returning names advertised for the show, along with Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, and many more. He is the only widely-advertised name to have dropped out, but according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, two locally-advertised names were also quietly removed.
Bret Hart was reportedly supposed to be appearing on the show, but he has an appointment with his hand surgeon, who is apparently flying to Calgary from Paris especially.
Similarly, Mick Foley was locally advertised before his name was pulled. His reason is more storyline-based, as apparently he felt it wouldn't make sense to turn up so soon after being fired by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.
Several more names were announced for the show over the past few days, including various returning women's wrestlers: Trish Stratus, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Jackie Moore, Terri Runnels, and Torrie Wilson. With the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match around the corner, it should be interesting to see if any declare their involvement.
The show will be broadcast from two separate New York locations: the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and the historic Manhattan Center (Raw's first ever venue, from the start of its run in 1993).
The Observer also speculated on the potential return of Hulk Hogan, stating:
'If the company feels this is the right time for a Hogan return, this would be the show it would be on. It’s been talked about for months but it’s a question of timing and how it would go over with sponsors. Hogan has said he’s not going to be there, but it’s Hogan so that doesn’t mean anything either way.'