Who REALLY Carried WWE Every Year (1985-2026)
32. 1995 (Diesel)
It's 'Big Daddy Cool'!
Time to give the big guy his dues. The WWF put Diesel in some of the most horrendous situations they could given his own limitations. Various pay-per-view matches vs. Sycho Sid, 'King' Mabel and more flopped, but they were never a good idea to begin with. When Diesel was in there with Shawn, Bret etc, he showed what he could do.
Something else is worth saying: Kevin Nash carried the strap during one of the worst years for the company financially, and it's unfair that he's called one of the worst champs. He wasn't solely responsible for the poor business, but some people out there like to pretend it was all his fault. That's hardly reasonable by any metric.
Even fan favourites like HBK, Bret and The Undertaker struggled to convince people to tune in throughout the year. Sure, the booking was appalling at times, but it'd be a lie to pin everything on 'Big D' and call it a day. Things aren't as black and white or cut and dried as that.
Plus, and this is something few speak about when cutting down Diesel's time as champ, he was still fairy green and figuring things out as a worker. Ask yourself, who would've dramatically improved business as WWF Champ in '95? More 'Hitman'? Hmm, maybe. Shawn? His time was yet to come. 'Taker? Not sure.
That's just it - nobody can say for certain that ratings or PPV buyrates would've been going through the roof with anyone else on top. Diesel deserves more credit for how hard he worked and for some fab matches that are often downplayed in favour of the horrors like SummerSlam vs. Mabel.