Kevin Nash says his son died of heart attack caused by seizure while trying to quit drinking

Professional wrestling icon Kevin Nash has revealed that his son Tristen’s death was caused by a heart attack he believes was caused by trying to quit cold turkey.

Tristen, 26, died last week, the family said in a statement, giving no further details.

But on Sunday’s episode of his new podcast, Kliq This, Nash addressed speculation about his son’s death and spoke about his final moments.

“The seizure caused cardiac arrest,” Nash said, according to Wrestlingnews.co.

“He was practically dead in his room on the floor, and the paramedics were working on him. They brought him back, took him to the ambulance and tried to save his life.

“We both decided we were going to quit drinking so it was a situation where you know we both went cold turkey. I don’t think any of us felt great because you stop drinking coffee for a day and you get a headache. I think we both dealt with that.

“If you know that, one of the features of going cold turkey is an increased risk of a seizure.”

Nash rose to fame in the mid-90s as WWF’s “Diesel” before moving to rival promotion WCW and pioneering as a founding member of the New World Order (nWo) alongside Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall.

He was also a member of “The Kliq”, a group of influential wrestlers and friends who banded together behind the scenes to support each other’s careers.

Nash worked on the “Kliq This” podcast with his son Tristen, who served as the show’s producer until his death.

The pair worked together on Nash’s podcast until Tristen’s death last week

Kevin Nash in his 90s prime with son Tristen

Nash rose to fame in the mid-’90s as the WWF’s “Diesel” character, before moving to rival promotion WCW and pioneering as a founding member of the New World Order (nWo) alongside Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall ( Nash is pictured wrestling for WCW in 2000)

Nash, 63, continued to reflect on his son’s death, describing his drinking problems and the harrowing conversations he had with his son’s doctors as he lay in a hospital bed.

‘[Tristen] there were a couple of incidents. We were actually sitting here last Wednesday and during the show he drank four or five beers without my knowledge. I complained to him because at the beginning of the year he had a situation where he was hospitalized for almost 60 days… After the show and a week later, he passes,” he said.

‘[The doctor] said, “Your son will not last.” I said, “I’m not going to rip his windpipe out. I won’t do that. This is not an option. You’re saying that when he went into cardiac arrest, he damaged his heart, so we can’t increase his bottom number,” Nash said.

“The lower ventricle was damaged to some extent because it didn’t have the ability to push blood out. His max was much higher and even when they lowered the max he was 111 to 55. He stopped urinating. There were so many things that were building up.”

Many of Nash’s friends and former colleagues in the wrestling industry were quick to take to social media to rally around the WWE Hall of Famer following Tristen’s death, including close friend Shawn ‘X-Pac’ Waltman, who said: “My heart is in a million pieces thinking about what one of my best friends in life is going through. IU 4-Life Kev.’

Other volunteers included Hall of Famer The Iron Sheik, Matt Hardy, Frankie Kazarian and current WWE star Karl Anderson.

During his distinguished professional wrestling career, Nash won five world championships. He previously cited the birth of Tristan as a motivating factor for his decision to leave the WWF for rival promotion WCW in 1996 (pictured with Nash in 2002)

Former Kliq member Sean Waltman led messages of condolences to Nash following the tragic loss of his son last week, and many other pro wrestlers have followed suit

During his distinguished professional wrestling career, Nash won five world championships.

He previously cited the birth of Tristen as a motivating factor for his decision to leave the WWF for rival promotion WCW in 1996, as it gave him a more manageable schedule to devote time to his family life.

After a long stint in WCW, he returned to the WWF – later renamed WWE – several times in the 2000s, with his last competitive action coming as Sting’s understudy during his WrestleMania 31 clash with Triple H in 2015.

The 63-year-old was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015 and then again in 2021 when the nWo was inducted into the Hall as a collective.

Tristen died on October 20 – the birthday of former nWo member and WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall – a close personal friend of Nash’s who died earlier this year after suffering multiple heart attacks amid complications from hip surgery.

Hall was considered the “bad guy” of professional wrestling and revolutionized the industry, but he died in March at the age of 63.

Like Tristen, Hall also struggled with alcohol abuse and described his drug use problems in a 2011 ESPN documentary, where he said, “I should have died 100 times.”