Let's not really consider what made Vince McMahon think that he could trap lightning in a bottle twice with the "Bob Backlund" gimmick. Alex Porteau was a well-traveled and heavily decorated veteran light-heavyweight brought into the WWF in 1996 to be an "amateur wrestler." Sadly caught in an era where pure wrestling was the domain of Bret Hart, and lacking a gimmick that could fit in with the company's acceptance of the "Attitude Era," Porteau was released in 1997.