On September 4, 1995, World Championship Wrestling aired the debut broadcast of Monday Nitro -- a new primetime program on the burgeoning TNT cable network. At the end of Nitros debut edition, the first shot in the Monday Night War was fired as Lex Luger strolled to the ring and stated he was sick and tired of playing around with kids. With Lugers defection to WCW, Nitro was quickly established as being the place where anything could happen and anyone could show up. In 1996, WCW upped their game, as Scott Hall and Kevin Nash invaded the company. It was a major coup for the company and a devastating blow to the World Wrestling Federation. Hall and Nash were best known as Razor Ramon and Diesel, respectively. Now, they were on WCW programming, having left Vince McMahons WWF in the dark of the night. McMahon and the Federation looked like fools, but they quickly came up with an idea. The conclusion was reached that the WWF didnt need Hall and Nash, because they still owned the rights to their characters. Therefore, in September of 1996, Jim Ross announced that Diesel and Razor Ramon were returning to the Federation. The next week, Ross delivered on his promise, but it was then that fans realized he wasnt being entirely honest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdN5JlXJsAE Diesel and Ramon returned to Monday Night Raw, but it wasnt Nash and Hall. Instead, Ramon was portrayed by Rick Bognar, while Glenn Jacobs acted as Diesel. Fans were not impressed, and the angle quickly tanked. It was all meant to be a slight against Nash, Hall, Bischoff, and WCW, but it failed miserably -- making McMahon and the WWF simply look bitter. Both Bognar and Jacobs tried their best, but they were in an unwinnable position. After a few months, the angle was dropped. Bognar returned to Japan, where he had achieved moderate success as Big Titan. Meanwhile, Jacobs was repackaged as the Undertakers evil brother, Kane.
Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.
