10 WWE Wrestlers Vince McMahon Loved At First Sight

8. Diesel

Vince McMahon Johnny B Badd
WWE.com

Vince McMahon was on commentary as relative newcomer Diesel tore through most of the first 10 men to enter the 1994 Royal Rumble. He got to call, as only he could, the remarkable ability of Shawn Michaels' bodyguard let off the leash for the first time as he made mincemeat of the midcard before falling afoul of a numerical disadvantage as the match moved into its second act. He got to hear the deafening "Diesel" chants as he left the ring defeated but not deflated.

'Big Daddy Cool' was born that night in Providence, Rhode Island.

Bret Hart earned a thunderous pop as he gamely battled through the pain of an Owen-inflicted knee injury to co-win the contest. Lex Luger - not yet completely cast as a choker - earned a sizeable number of cheers for all his usual babyface bluster. 'HBK' himself went long in the match for the first time ever, foreshadowing his winning form of the next two years. F*cking Sparky f*cking Plugg even looked alright as the future Bob Holly put in a hell of a shift to get himself over in spite of factors.

None of them mattered. Not really. Only one man was inked in to win the title at the end of the year - the nascent New Generation was readying itself for a refuelling.

Contributor
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, 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