Post by mikey1974 on May 24, 2015 10:42:09 GMT -5
going into the fall of 1996, the WWF was in trouble. WCW had come along like gangbusters, and their revolutionary ( for American markets) nWo takeover storyline was red-hot, hotter than anything the WWF had going at the time. one of the main reasons for this was the jumping ship of Kevin Nash (Diesel) and Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), 2 WWF stalwarts and big-time players, over to rival WCW. and, of course, their inclusion in the nWo storyline. so everything was chugging along when suddenly, one September night, Jim Ross dropped a bombshell on the WWF fans - Diesel and Razor might be coming back to the WWF!! this seemed absolutely impossible at the time, considering Nash and Hall had just signed contracts with WCW only months before, they were involved in the hottest thing in wrestling, AND they were getting paid more money than ever!
nonetheless, JR insisted that not only might they be coming back, but that the WERE coming back! of course, all the details were on the WWF Hotline, and I know many fans - myself included - spent a few bucks trying to find out what was going on. during all this, Nash and Hall publicly stated they weren't going back to the WWF, so the intrigue grew.
finally ,the night of In Your House - Mind Games event we got our first glimpse of the newly returned Razor and Diesel, attacking and stomping Savio Vega, but we only saw them from behind. but they were here! they had returned!!!
the next night, JR promised us that Diesel and Razor were in the building for Raw, and this seemed confirmed when Kevin Kelley attempted to enter the dressing room, only to have the door slammed shut by Razor ( again, with his back to us).. so all show we were promised to see these stars return, then finally JR got in the ring to bring them out, but was cut off by a commercial break. when they returned, a seemingly agitated JR went off on a shoot-style promo, talking about the WWF, how it sucked, how he had been fired multiple times, and how Vince McMahon is basically an A-hole. all true, but nevertheless holding up what we really wanted to see! finally, the moment came, and the music hit, and out came Razor Ramon...
you can audibly hear the crowd's reaction go from wild cheering to sheer silence as "Razor" came out - but it was NOT Scott Hall! it was Rick Bognar, a long-time independent wrestler in the full Razor get-up and doing the cuban accent. Savio Vega would come out to attack him, with "Diesel" close behind to make the save. of course, this "Diesel" wasn't Kevin Nash either, but rather Glen Jacobs, who had previously wrestled in the WWF as Dr. Issac Yankem, DDS, and would go on to become Kane. and we all knew we had been had, while JR publicly yelled " How do you like that McMahon?!"
it seemed, in the end, not only was this a big sham on the fans, but was done basically to start and further a Jim Ross heel turn angle that was forgotten about during the beginnin of 1997. and JR's constant shilling of these 2 fake's, saying how much better ,stronger, faster, and younger they were than the originals. needless to say,this did not help get them over in any way.
so, again, WTF Vince?! he couldn't possibly have thought that people would jump on the bandwagon for this.
1) first off, you led everyone to believe Nash and Hall were returning. even though, TECHNICALLY, they NEVER DID SAY Nash and Hall were returning, just Razor and Diesel. but, really, how many of us DIDN'T think it was them?!
2) they guys who came in were definitely inferior in not only skills, but charisma and character as well.
3) the whole JR heel turn thing was a massive flop - no one really cared in Ross was disgruntled or not, and all it led to was some on-air disagreements in commentary between Ross and Vince, and was completely dropped by WrestleMania 13.
... all this angle did was piss WWF fans off, and pretty much ruin the career of Bognar. the only guys who DID benefit from the were Nash and Hall, who later revealed Eric Bischoff was so paranoid that they were leaving WCW, that he had them sign new, iron-clad contracts for a significant raise in pay!
nonetheless, JR insisted that not only might they be coming back, but that the WERE coming back! of course, all the details were on the WWF Hotline, and I know many fans - myself included - spent a few bucks trying to find out what was going on. during all this, Nash and Hall publicly stated they weren't going back to the WWF, so the intrigue grew.
finally ,the night of In Your House - Mind Games event we got our first glimpse of the newly returned Razor and Diesel, attacking and stomping Savio Vega, but we only saw them from behind. but they were here! they had returned!!!
the next night, JR promised us that Diesel and Razor were in the building for Raw, and this seemed confirmed when Kevin Kelley attempted to enter the dressing room, only to have the door slammed shut by Razor ( again, with his back to us).. so all show we were promised to see these stars return, then finally JR got in the ring to bring them out, but was cut off by a commercial break. when they returned, a seemingly agitated JR went off on a shoot-style promo, talking about the WWF, how it sucked, how he had been fired multiple times, and how Vince McMahon is basically an A-hole. all true, but nevertheless holding up what we really wanted to see! finally, the moment came, and the music hit, and out came Razor Ramon...
you can audibly hear the crowd's reaction go from wild cheering to sheer silence as "Razor" came out - but it was NOT Scott Hall! it was Rick Bognar, a long-time independent wrestler in the full Razor get-up and doing the cuban accent. Savio Vega would come out to attack him, with "Diesel" close behind to make the save. of course, this "Diesel" wasn't Kevin Nash either, but rather Glen Jacobs, who had previously wrestled in the WWF as Dr. Issac Yankem, DDS, and would go on to become Kane. and we all knew we had been had, while JR publicly yelled " How do you like that McMahon?!"
it seemed, in the end, not only was this a big sham on the fans, but was done basically to start and further a Jim Ross heel turn angle that was forgotten about during the beginnin of 1997. and JR's constant shilling of these 2 fake's, saying how much better ,stronger, faster, and younger they were than the originals. needless to say,this did not help get them over in any way.
so, again, WTF Vince?! he couldn't possibly have thought that people would jump on the bandwagon for this.
1) first off, you led everyone to believe Nash and Hall were returning. even though, TECHNICALLY, they NEVER DID SAY Nash and Hall were returning, just Razor and Diesel. but, really, how many of us DIDN'T think it was them?!
2) they guys who came in were definitely inferior in not only skills, but charisma and character as well.
3) the whole JR heel turn thing was a massive flop - no one really cared in Ross was disgruntled or not, and all it led to was some on-air disagreements in commentary between Ross and Vince, and was completely dropped by WrestleMania 13.
... all this angle did was piss WWF fans off, and pretty much ruin the career of Bognar. the only guys who DID benefit from the were Nash and Hall, who later revealed Eric Bischoff was so paranoid that they were leaving WCW, that he had them sign new, iron-clad contracts for a significant raise in pay!
ing stupid......need i say more?
