10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1996

7. The Kliq Chokehold Was Real

Steve Austin Terry Funk
WWE

The Kliq had a chokehold over Vince McMahon, which they used - allegedly! - to throttle the life out of anything that did not involve them and that they could get away with.

Watch the Razor Ramon & 123 Kid Vs. Shawn Michaels and Diesel 1994 Action Zone tag and contrast it with Razor's efforts against Dean Douglas. He worked the former like Kenny Omega in the Tokyo Dome and the latter like Honky Tonk Man on the 2017 indie circuit.

This manifested, again, in 1996.

Dave Meltzer reported in the May 6, 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Vader had to do criminally short dark match jobs for Shawn ahead of their SummerSlam main event. Jim Cornette always said that Shawn didn't want to take the beating that came with working Vader, and he was right: if you look at the Cagematch data, Shawn, playing the "If Warrior could do it, why can't I?" card, often went over Vader in under five minutes. Meltzer reported that Vader was so furious at this that he was once heard saying "This is bullsh*t laying down for this guy" when storming to the ring. He even took to lifting his shoulders off the mat.

Shawn went double the time going over Diesel on the house show circuit, who was on the way out,

You'll never guess who Razor Ramon did jobs for on the way out: between May 17 and 19, in four matches across that legendarily brutal schedule, Scott Hall stared at the lights for Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Helmsley was punished for the Curtain Call subsequently, however.

Or was he...?

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!