10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Feb 12)

By Jamie Kennedy /

7. Shawn Michaels Ribbed Louie Spicolli Over WWF Name

It makes sense to imagine that there is a lot of ribbing that goes on behind the scenes at WWE, because people need to find some way to blow off some steam and have fun. The same could be said of older eras in the company, although it's plausible that things might not be quite as bad nowadays. The phrase, 'the boys will be boys' comes to mind. During the 'New Generation' era of WWF television in the mid-1990's, Louie Spicolli was trying to earn a break as part of the roster. In the words of legendary announcer Jim Ross on his podcast, Spicolli was simply delighted to be part of the team, even if his gimmick name was a little cheesy. Known as Rad Radford, the man was the recipient of some ribbing from a top star. None other than Shawn Michaels was aghast when he heard the name, and decided to take Spicolli to task for agreeing to it. Confronting the newcomer, Michaels said that it was akin to him calling himself 'Mike Michaels' and didn't understand why Spicolli didn't immediately rebuff the Radford name. Unfortunately for Rad, he wasn't in the position to tell management what to do with him.