10 Terrible WWE Storylines One Tweak Away From Excellence

5. Fake Razor Ramon & Diesel Come To WWE (1996)

Jim Ross Fake Razor
WWE.com

Right.

This isn't one of those "defending the indefensible" articles you'll sometimes see - a piece purely designed to drive rage clicks and the equally angry comments that follow, because of course the concept of dressing up two poor c*nts like old stars and sending them out there to work as such was beyond doomed... but the setup wasn't.

Go back and watch Jim Ross' promo before the introduction. This is the goddamn good sh*t, pal. Ross tears Vince McMahon, the World Wrestling Federation and capitalism itself to shreds then luxuriates in the ability to mock all three with the creative crime he's about to knowingly commit.

Ross is p*ssed off, sick of being p*ssed on, and wants to watch the world burn. The IRL content is manipulative in the extreme but the kayfabe reasoning is absolutely inspired.

One Tweak: The company never ever legitimise the act

Jim Ross had been "very busy" in bringing in the likes of Steve Austin and Mick Foley, but the heel caricature version wanted to wreak havoc with these phonies rather than make money for the World Wrestling Federation. So, promote them as such - total frauds, the three of them, all looking to make a quick buck for themselves until some proper babyfaces send them packing for good.

They arrived in late September, and by late October the announcers had given up even calling them fakes. This was the unacceptable face of this story, not the two imposters trying to mimic 'Big Daddy Cool' and 'The Bad Guy'.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett