Nash then decided he wanted to win the X Division Championship. He joined the Number One Contender match for the title against Chris Sabin at Hard Justice. Over the weekend, however, he suffered a mysterious neck injury and named Alex Shelley to replace him in the match. Nash went out of action due to the injury, while Shelley and Devine continued to wrestle in both singles and tag team action. Nash returned prior to Bound for Glory and held the "Kevin Nash Open Invitational X Division Gauntlet Battle Royal", which was won by the debuting Austin Starr. Nash had taken an interest in Starr, which seemed to be at the behest of Shelley.