15 Wrestlers WWE Debuted In The WORST Way Possible
4. Cosplay Artists Are “Diesel” & “Razor Ramon”
Debut: Likeable and inoffensive babyface play-by-play man Jim Ross began showing more of a heel edge during the second half of Raw output in 1996. This all peaked when he vowed to bring Razor Ramon and Diesel back to the World Wrestling Federation. Fans were particularly excited by the thought of this, but wondered how JR would manage it considering Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were riding high in WCW as part of the nWo.
On the 30 September Raw, everyone got their answer. Rick Bognar debuted as "Razor", and Glenn Jacobs was "Diesel".
Why It Was Bad: Bringing in two hopefuls wearing Razor and Diesel Halloween costumes was never going to work. The federation could've had the best candidates for this cosplay and it wouldn't have mattered - fans were always going to reject it once they realised Hall and Nash weren't coming back.
Ross looked like a damn fool by crowing about this for as long as he did too. He was biting back against Vince McMahon and the entire WWF machine by...drafting in the guy who'd been Jerry Lawler's evil dentist Isaac Yankem and another journeyman wrestler who was doing a bad impression of Mr. Machismo? Who knows why the promotion thought this'd fly?!
It was like air had been let out of a balloon (complete with "farting" noise) when these fakes walked down the aisle and into exactly nobody's hearts. 'Halloween is next month', people probably cried. Bognar and Jacobs did their able best, which was all they could do, but this made the once-proud WWF look like a second rate tribute show.
McMahon needed a slap for running this just to prove a point mid-trademark court battle with WCW.