Kevin Nash believes Charles Robinson’s eventual retirement should quickly be followed by a place in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Speaking on his Kliq This podcast, Nash discussed the recent debate surrounding Avery Styles and the long-standing tradition of younger wrestlers paying their dues. During the conversation, Nash pushed back against the idea that simply helping assemble a wrestling ring should automatically be treated as a rite of passage.

Nash argued that setting up a ring is a specialist job where mistakes can have serious consequences. He pointed to WWE referees, particularly Robinson, as examples of people who have spent years helping ensure rings are properly assembled and dismantled.

“Are you supposed to come into a territory and take someone’s job that it is to set up the ring? Are you supposed to clusterf*** the system? Are you going to stop doing what you’re doing and take me under your wing and let me be your fing ring-put-together apprentice? Or are you just going to do the f what you do?

“There are people in this fing business that have done , and the WWE referees are renowned for this. And to this day, I’m almost fing sure that [Charles] Robinson still helps put up and take down the ring. I mean, if he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Fame, you can take me out, coach. But Charles is like , there’s always going to be a Charles. And there’s always going to be eight or nine or 10 guys , like, it’s so important for that ring to be put together properly, for those ropes to be put together properly. It’s not a chore. It’s not house work. It’s not being a fing young boy at the fing dojo and lacing the fing boots of the old-time fing Japanese wrestlers. It’s not a tradition, this is a very intricate , if not the most intricate , part of the apparati that we do the art form that we call pro wrestling in on a weekly basis.”

Robinson’s history with Nash stretches back to WCW in the 1990s. Following WCW’s closure in 2001, Robinson joined WWE and has remained one of the company’s most recognisable officials.

Referees have rarely been represented in the WWE Hall of Fame. Tim White became the first referee inducted when he posthumously received the Warrior Award in 2023.

Nash also came to the defence of Avery Styles following criticism over his alleged lack of involvement in helping at a GCW event.

Like Cody Rhodes, Nash believes AJ Styles has already accumulated more than enough experience and paid enough dues during his own career for his son not to be judged by the same standards.

“I think AJ paid enough dues to where his son’s f***ing piggybank is full, that’s where I come from,” Nash said.

Nash added that he likes Game Changer Wrestling and has previously appeared for the promotion, but suggested Avery is already paying his dues simply by beginning his career there.

He went further by saying that if Avery were his own son, he would prefer to see him start in WWE NXT and receive a push immediately.

The discussion began after independent wrestler Arik Cannon claimed on social media that he saw Avery “skirt away from helping with a single thing” during a GCW event.

GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale subsequently distanced both himself and the promotion from Cannon’s comments. While saying he respects Cannon, Lauderdale stressed that Cannon does not speak for GCW and argued that Avery, who is still a teenager and has only just made his wrestling debut, deserves the same patience and understanding afforded to others his age.