The Great Khali Cost THIS Superstar A Run As WWE Intercontinental Champion

A Khali-caused concussion cost this former WWE superstar.

by Andrew Pollard
Fandango WWE
WWE.com

Speaking during an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet (via ITRWrestling), the former Fandango revealed how The Great Khali cost him a run as WWE Intercontinental Champion.

As Dirty Dango explained, a concussion caused by Khali meant WWE had to scrap plans for the one-time Johnny Curtis to win one of the most iconic prizes in the wrestling business. Instead, WWE opted to go with Curtis Axel as the new IC Champ once Dango was hurt.

"So they were going to put the Intercontinental Title on me, but I got concussed working The Great Khali. I think it got to a week or two before, and I didn't tell them that I was concussed. I worked Khali a couple of weeks before the PPV, then I worked the week before I think. If you get concussed and you get hit again, it's easier to get concussed again. I was concussed and kept performing, but I didn't tell anybody. I took a shoulder tackle from Zack Ryder and I was out. When I got back, I thought I had just wrestled The Great Khali. It goes back to where you originally got f**ked up. Then I stooged myself off, and to the company's protocol I was wrong. But if they [are going to] put the IC Title on you, you don't want to say. But they took me off for three to four weeks, and Curtis Axel won the title instead."

Axel's reign as Intercontinental Champion commenced at WWE Payback in June 2013, with him taking that title from Wade Barrett in a triple threat contest also featuring The Miz. As for Fandango, at this point he was fresh off a huge win over Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 29 three months prior - and he was originally actually booked to compete against Barrett and Miz at the aforementioned Payback.

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Dango would never get that IC Title run, with him falling down the pecking order as 2013 rolled into 2014, and he'd be involved in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by the time of WrestleMania XXX. The Maine native would eventually get to sample gold under the WWE banner, winning the NXT Tag Team Titles with Tyler Breeze in August 2020.

Both Fandango and Breeze were amongst those released by WWE this past June, and Dirty Dango has recently resurfaced in Billy Corgan's NWA.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.