Kevin Nash has experienced some of the loudest crowds in professional wrestling history, but when it comes to the most over performer he personally witnessed, one name stands above the rest: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Interestingly, Nash's reflections on Austin's incredible connection with wrestling fans were sparked by watching a Billie Eilish documentary while travelling.

Speaking on Kliq This, Nash revealed that his son recommended the documentary to him. He initially watched it during a flight but admitted he drifted off at points and did not fully appreciate what he was seeing. On his return journey, Nash decided to watch it again and paid much closer attention.

“I watched it, but I kind of nodded a couple of times, and I didn’t absorb it. So on the way home, I watched it. Everything. I mean, just how it was shot, how it was edited, like I do a film.”

What particularly caught Nash's attention was the relationship between Eilish and the thousands of fans attending her concerts. He believes her music and live performances provide an environment where people who may feel disconnected elsewhere can feel accepted.

“I knew that she had a very strong fan base, and I knew that she was an earth angel, and I knew that there were so many people, and I hate to use the term, but there was a band called the Misfits, and a lot of her people that follow her and that love her, I think they feel as misfits. A lot of them don’t feel like they fit in society.”

“There’s so much going on right now, and her music, her vibe, her concert arena, everything is a safe place for these people, and they know it’s a safe place.”

Watching that level of emotional investment led Nash to consider which wrestlers had generated anything approaching that type of reaction.

“There are so many guys in our business that have thought at one time or another, like I’m so over, and they’ve had these moments.”

For Nash, Austin was the wrestler who came closest during his career.

“Personally myself, the most over person that I saw in my career was Steve. When the glass broke, that pop was always there.”

Austin's ability to connect with ordinary wrestling fans was a significant part of his success, according to Nash. During the late 1990s, the rebellious Stone Cold character became one of WWE's defining attractions.

“I think because he was that everyman kind of a guy, he was so easy to relate to, for so much of that wrestling community, especially in ’97.”

Nash stressed that he was not suggesting Austin and Eilish generate identical reactions. Instead, he was fascinated by the emotional unity he witnessed among Eilish's audience, particularly when an entire arena would sing along with her.

“Steve would be probably the closest. And I don’t mean this in any disrespect to Steve or Steve’s overness, but when you watch Billie Eilish, and she’s singing, and everyone in a 20,000-seat arena is singing with her, they’re crying with the same emotion.”

Nash and Austin also had a friendship away from the spotlight. Discussing his relationships within wrestling, Nash placed Austin among the close friends he developed shortly after establishing some of his longest-standing friendships in the industry.

“Austin was that next tier, because he came the next year, and he and I traveled. I traveled with Steve almost.”

The period Nash referenced coincided with Austin's rapid rise into WWE's biggest attraction. Austin won consecutive Royal Rumble matches in 1997 and 1998 before defeating Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 14. WWE subsequently overtook WCW in the Monday night television ratings after spending 83 consecutive weeks behind its rival.

Nash believes the distinction comes down to the nature of the relationship between performer and audience. Wrestling fans were responding to Austin and everything his character represented, while Nash viewed the collective emotional experience at Eilish's concerts somewhat differently.

Elsewhere during the episode, Nash discussed the extensive security surrounding major touring performers. Drawing from his own experience working with high-end security operations earlier in life, Nash recalled seeing Eilish transported from backstage to another stage area while concealed inside what appeared to be an equipment cart.

Nash competed as Diesel in WWE from 1993 until 1996, enjoying a WWE Championship reign that lasted just under a year. He later jumped to WCW and became a founding member of the New World Order alongside Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan. Nash has since been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice.

Austin received his WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2009. After nearly two decades away from competition, he returned for one more match at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, defeating Kevin Owens in a No Holds Barred Match.