Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Fake Razor Ramon and Diesel – WWF, 1996
History
Vince McMahon had a problem. WCW had launched the New World Order, and that was causing his rival’s popularity to explode. To make matters worse, two of the main characters in the nWo were Scott Hall and Kevin Nash – two of the main characters in McMahon’s own New WWF Generation promotion! Something had to be done.
The “something” started on the September 9, 1996 episode of Raw. Mankind was preparing to wrestle Alex Porteau when Jim Ross let a major bombshell slip – Razor Ramon and Diesel were returning to the WWF.
Fans’ jaws around the world dropped. Ross only built the furor when he reiterated the point later in the night. The fledgling internet wrestling community was in an uproar. “News” stories were flying – including one that said Hall and Nash had settled a court case out of court and were returning to the WWF. Things weren’t helped by the fact that this episode of Raw had aired on Friday night, and WCW had no live programs to counter the claim until the following Monday.
The excitement began to wither the next Monday, as Ross again addressed the situation. This time he said that his early announcement had caused a wrinkle in the negotiations, but he still stood by his original claim.
The following Monday, Jim Ross promised a bombshell regarding the Razor/Diesel situation. WWF President Gorilla Monsoon also promised his thoughts.
Monsoon addressed the situation and said that Hall and Nash would not be returning to the WWF because they were under contract to another organization. He further accused Jim Ross of trying to mislead the fans.
Things kept building as Ross and Monsoon argued while Owen Hart took on Marc Mero. Finally we got Ross’s major announcement – despite what Monsoon had said, Razor and Diesel would be there the next week.
Fans’ fears were borne out the following Sunday at In Your House: Mind Games. Jim Ross brought out Razor and Diesel. However, instead of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, the roles were now being played by Rick Bogner and Glen Jacobs. The crowd responded in a manner you might expect.
On Raw, things got really strange as, in addition to fake Razor and Diesel, the WWF began teasing that Jeff Jarrett (who’d just jumped to WCW) did not sing his entrance music, and his Roadie (better known these days as TNA’s BG James) did! Therefore, the Roadie was the Real Double J.
At the end of Raw, Jim Ross hit the ring and verbally buried Vince McMahon. He brought out Razor, who was promptly jumped from behind by Savio Vega (who Razor was scheduled to face the next week).
Sure enough, Razor faced off against Savio the next week. Razor wound up disqualified when Diesel interfered.
The following Raw opened with Diesel taking on Marc Mero. Again, the match ended in a DQ as Razor got involved.
Both men disappeared from Raw for a few weeks after that, but returned on November 4, where Razor was taking on Mero. Razor won the match as Jim Ross and Vince McMahon bickered at ringside.
At the Survivor Series, Razor and Diesel teamed with Vader and Faarooq to take on Savio Vega, Yokozuna, Flash Funk (better known as 2 Cold Scorpio), and Jimmy Snuka. Savio Vega went to the back after a Jacknife Powerbomb. Snuka then hit Razor with the Superfly Splash to eliminate him. That brought Diesel in with a chair to attack him. The entire match broke down into a brawl and both teams wound up disqualified.
Razor and Diesel were back on the December 2 Raw as Diesel took on Phineous I. Godwinn. The match ended with Razor interfering.
Superstars the next weekend had an interesting tidbit – Razor and Diesel had a tag title match against Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith scheduled for the next pay-per-view.
That brought us to the next In Your House, called It’s Time. Needless to say, Owen and the British Bulldog retained their titles.
Razor and Diesel took on the Godwinns the next night on Raw. They were able to win this one as they put Phineous away with the Jacknife.
The main event on the following Superstars was the Undertaker taking on Diesel. Undertaker easily took the advantage until Vader showed up and Vaderbombed Undertaker, then they left him lying.
On Raw, Bret Hart had Razor. It didn’t take lock for Bret to lock in the Sharpshooter for the win.
On the first Raw of 1997 Razor and Diesel took on Doug Furnas and Phillip LaFon. Despite the early advantage belonging to Razor and Diesel, LaFon and Furnas wound up turning the tide and getting the win.
On Shotgun Saturday Night Diesel took on Marc Mero. Diesel dominated the early going, and then got knocked out of the ring. That brought Razor out to attack Mero. That brought Rocky Maivia out to even up the odds. Mero regained control until he spotted Sable arguing with the Honky Tonk Man on the outside. Diesel took advantage of the distraction and Jacknifed Mero for the win.
That brought us to the Royal Rumble. Razor was number 3, and was pitched almost immediately by Ahmed Johnson. Diesel pulled number 23, and was finally dumped by the eliminated Steve Austin, who had snuck back in.
And that was that. Razor and Diesel disappeared, and soon showed up in the USWA, the WWF’s proto-development territory at the time.
Analysis
Didn’t someone once say something about “the best-laid plans?” Diesel and Razor were obviously supposed to be embraced by the fans, who would unite behind them against the “evil WCW.” Unfortunately, the fans saw right through this, and hated the entire thing.
However, there was also another angle going behind the scenes. The WWF had filed a lawsuit against WCW in mid-1996, where they had specifically targeted Hall and Nash. Among the WWF’s claims were that Hall and Nash appeared to still be working for the WWF (which likely led to Bischoff’s interview at the Great American Bash where both said they were not WWF employees), as well as that Hall and Nash’s appearances and actions infringed on the WWF’s copyrighted descriptions of Diesel and Razor Ramon. This may have been an attempt to strengthen their court case.
Of course, it is also interesting to note that WCW wound up filing a very similar lawsuit in 1998. One of their main claims? That the WWF attempted to mislead the fans by introducing these two characters and portraying them as WCW employees Hall and Nash.
The WWF was awash with “new” and “better” versions of many wrestlers at this time. The Roadie was repackaged as the “Real” Double J. The New Rockers were also making a run at this time. Marty Jannetty was still there, but Shawn Michaels had been replaced by Leif Cassidy (Al Snow).
In an ironic twist, the WWF was also working with a Mexican promotion at this time – Antonio Pena’s AAA. The irony is that AAA has pulled the same bait and switch with masked wrestlers for years, and with great success. When La Parka left the promotion to join CMLL, another wrestler was given the mask and Parka now wrestles as LA Park. Psicosis joined the ranks and became known as Nicho el Millionario. (This is restricted to Mexico, however, which explains how Nicho can wrestle as Psicosis in the US.) Mascara Sagrada recently won a lawsuit which returned ownership of the gimmick to him. When muscleman Gronda left, he became Groon XXX in CMLL, and AAA has recently debuted a new Gronda. The difference was simple – Psicosis, Parka, Sagrada, and Gronda were all masked wrestlers (the point stands even with Psicosis unmasking in WCW – the new Psicosis is wearing the mask again). Razor and Diesel never wore any sort of masks or paint, and the fans caught to the difference immediately. (Of course, that in itself is ironic with a company which is rumored to have had multiple Ultimate Warriors and Undertakers.)
Where Are They Now?
Razor Ramon (Rick Bogner) left the WWF in 1997 and went to ECW, where he was repackaged as Slice Ramirez. When he failed to find success there, he went to New Japan. In an ironic twist, he was repackaged as Free Spirit Rick Bogner – a member of the Japanese branch of the New World Order, and even occasionally wrestled alongside Scott Hall.
Bogner retired after suffering a neck injury in 2001. Today, he and Bad New Brown run a wrestling school in Calgary.
Glen Jacobs (Diesel) was used to being repackaged. This was his second round in the WWF after his first, as the evil dentist Isaac Yankem DDS, failed.
Sure enough, Jacobs was repackaged again and returned to the WWF at the Badd Blood pay-per-view – as the Undertaker’s younger brother Kane. In another ironic twist, Kane’s most recent feud as of this writing was with an imposter Kane.
Kane remains with the WWE today and is on the Raw roster.
Next Week
Austin 3:16 meets its match.
