10 Wrestling Career Turning Points That Took Place ON AIR

5. Diesel

Diesel Shawn Michaels
WWE.com

A Royal Rumble run of eliminations so impressive that it eventually became wrestling parlance, Kevin Nash's domination in the underrated 1994 Royal Rumble was enough to convince Vince McMahon himself that the seven-footer was eventually worthy of holding the industry's richest prize.

It took committed booking to have a relatively untested singles star toss that many established contenders over the top rope before the match had really kicked into gear, but it took a wrestler with unshakable charisma and confidence to get himself even more over than the bit had intended to. Nash has been a divisive figure at various points in his career, but there was no hiding the brilliance on display from both performer and promotion in this moment.

There was no way 'Big Daddy Cool' would just be considered Shawn Michaels' bodyguard after disposing of seven men in Providence, Rhode Island but few could have expected that the "Diesel" chants there would result in Madison Square Garden title glory by the end of the calendar year.

 
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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