10 Rare Awesome WWE Surprises

2. Diesel's WWE Return

Diesel Royal Rumble Kevin Nash
WWE.com

Wrestling is an aesthetics business, which often proves problematic in modern critique, but it's no less true.

It's for this precise reason that Diesel's WWE return got as over as it did at the 2011 Royal Rumble. It spoke to the power of the work as much as the power nostalgia holds. Fans, your writer included, bemoan WWE's insistence on its ironic youth movement approach. People should be allowed to look old. Offscreen coaches should be allowed to be grey.

But Jesus Christ, put a dye-job on Kevin Nash, and suddenly it's 1994 all over again.

The gear and the hair converged to create a wonderful, temporary rush of an illusion. It didn't feel like the typical nostalgia banter appearance the Rumble offered to diminished excess in that period. It was Diesel! His hair was black and everything!

A great, stupefying pro wrestling moment, we were all Matt Striker, except we didn't need to rein in our enthusiasm to remain authoritative/not completely f*cking irritating. Diesel did have to hold the rope to make sure he didn't fall over when lifting his boot to meet Rey Mysterio's hardly towering frame, but it didn't matter.

His hair was black and everything!

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!