10 Times WWE Failed To Replace Wrestlers

5. Diesel (with Fake Diesel)

WWE Failed Replacement
WWE

Fake Diesel's arrival at the "climax" of the fake Razor Ramon's Raw debut against Savio Vega was met more with hostile indifference than earnest hatred from a crowd that had already been exposed to the crux of this lousy concept.

Though Jim Ross was again exceptional on commentary as the bilious and wronged WWE staffer, his indignant complaining could only go so far with a fairly placid on-screen President Gorilla Monsoon not prepared to fully sell the supposed humiliation taking place. And - and the company didn't learn this lesson once after the fact - office talk might be good for a bit of controversial conversation but punters want wrestling, not admin.

It was by the time the fraudulent Diesel arrived to lead a beatdown that the cold reality of this miserable idea exposed itself once and for all. Ross wasn't going to be making talent development jokes forever, but Diesel and Razor were going to wrestle as a tag team as if this bizarre experiment was the most normal thing in the world.

 
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Contributor

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, 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