For The Record 11.23.08: Razor Ramon as WWE Champion

Many fans who watched wrestling in the 90s look to 1995 as a subpar, some might say dark, year. Sure, passing all the blame to Kevin Nash for a lackluster year might seem disingenuous. But like the President of the United States, the buck stops there. When things go well, the champion is credited for leading a quality product. When things go poorly, the champion is usually dogged for driving a wrestling organization into the ground. It might not be fair, but that’s how it works.

Diesel’s world title push was odd from the start. Just days after winning the WWE Championship from Bret Hart at the 1994 Survivor Series, Bob Backland defended his belt against Diesel at Madison Square Garden. Just seconds after the bell rang, the 7-foot tweener Jacknifed Backland and scored the quick three-count. And just like that, Diesel was a champion and main eventer for the rest of his WWE tenure.

But one has to wonder why Diesel was the guy to receive that push. There were several candidates that the fans were more emotionally invested in at the time. For starters, there was Lex Luger. And though Luger angered Vince McMahon during the Wrestlemania X weekend, he was still far more over than Diesel. Then, there was Owen Hart. Owen was in the midst of a timeless feud with his brother Bret that transformed him into a star. Owen would have been a believable, workman champion with tons of credibility. Then of course, there was the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels. Michaels was far more over (albeit as a heel) and respected than Diesel. Sure, McMahon might have been hesitant because of his problems with Michaels in late 1993. But there is no denying that the seven year veteran could have done some great things with the gold. However, one guy stood out from that pack. One guy was more over, at least in my estimation, than any of the previously mentioned grapplers. That guy was, you guessed it, Razor Ramon.

Razor Ramon was the most charismatic superstar of 1994. If you watched wrestling during those times, any match involving Ramon got a great reaction. Whether Ramon was battling an “enhancement talent” on Challenge, wrestling in a classic at Wrestlemania, or tearing down the house with Walter Payton at Summerslam 1994, there is not argument that the fans revered “The Bad Guy.” Not only was he very charismatic, but he carried his gold with dignity. As Intercontinental Champion, Ramon was in all his glory. He seemed perfectly content with wearing that championship. It was all he chased and in a sense, he elevated the status of the title. In some regards, the Intercontinental Championship was the most interesting title division in WWE for the years that Ramon competed for it. If the Intercontinental Championship is any measure of how a wrestler would do as a world champion, Ramon gave WWE its answer. He would have been a dynamic champion and made 1995 a memorable year.

Once again, though Scott Hall might have been one to cause headaches, he couldn’t have caused any more grief than The Ultimate Warrior (known today simply as “Warrior”), Robert Szatkowski (Rob Van Dam), or potential future world champion, Jeff Hardy. So why didn’t McMahon give Hall the chance to let the Ramon character hold the title and sink or swim? Even a poor Razor Ramon title run would have been better than the yearlong reign of boredom we saw with Diesel.

Razor Ramon proved in 1993 and 1994 that he was a big match performer. He never once in those two years failed to deliver when the “lights were on bright.” At Royal Rumble 1993, he pushed Bret Hart to the limits and put on arguably the best match of that year. He would go on to have a so-so match with Backland at Wrestlemania IX, though there match was given virtually no time or build. Later on in 1993, he made the 1-2-3 Kid a star, put on another great match with Bret Hart, retired Ted DiBiase, won the Intercontinental Championship (before an ecstatic crowd), and captained a Survivor Series team. And that wasn’t even his best year. In early 1994, he successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against IRS at the Royal Rumble and then went on to steal the show at Wrestlemania X with Shawn Michaels. Before I continue on from Wrestlemania X, let’s stop and look over Ramon’s resume. He headlined a Royal Rumble, put a young up and comer over, captained a Survivor Series team, and stole the show in the midcard at Wrestlemania X. So up through March of 1994, he had already warranted a world title run with his popularity and performances. But he went on to wrestle in three matches at the 1994 King of the Ring and put over Owen Hart at the end. He then went on to challenge Diesel for the Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam 1994 with Walter Payton in his corner and received the loudest pop of the night. And yet, for some reason, with the end of 1994 approaching, McMahon put the strap on Diesel.

McMahon has always favored the bigs. He probably saw a lot potential in Diesel and decided to take a chance on him. Now, I’m not going to say that Kevin Nash was a waste of space or a bad wrestler. He probably had a great wrestling mind. But neither Kevin Nash nor the fans were prepared for a Big Daddy Cool Diesel yearlong world championship reign. His time with the strap made for a very, very long 1995. We saw Diesel headline cards with Sid, Mabel, Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow (King of the Ring 1995 tag match), and the British Bulldog. It was not a pretty picture. Sure, I won’t deny that Diesel had entertaining matches with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. But it was plainly evident while watching those matches that those two opponents were far more worthy to be champions than Diesel.

Razor Ramon, on the other hand, could have given the WWE great main events in 1995. Imagine if the Wrestlemania XI WWE Championship match was Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels in a one fall match for the gold. What if Diesel was allowed to blossom and feud with a great worker like Jeff Jarrett at that Wrestlemania for the Intercontinental Championship? Flipping those two matches might have given that event a totally different feel (though, I suppose the Taylor-Bigelow main event would do irreparable damage to any pay-per-view). But imagine if Ramon could have settled the score with the Harts in 1995 and avenged his losses from the previous few years. Ramon vs. Sid would have been more passable than Diesel and Sid. And without question, Ramon could have put on a better match with the British Bulldog than Big Daddy Cool. But even beyond match quality, Ramon would have done a better job of exciting WWE audiences both on TV and in the arenas. Razor Ramon was a very compelling character and WAY ahead of his time. He had far more personality and appeal than the man who headlined most of the pay-per-views in 1995. Ramon had that intangible “it” factor that Diesel, in my opinion, never had.

Razor Ramon will forever remain on the long list of those who deserved world title reigns but never got a chance. But like Rowdy Roddy Piper and Jake “The Snake” Roberts, he didn’t need the WWE Championship to be over with the fans. Perhaps McMahon viewed Ramon as being in the Piper/Roberts mold and didn’t see the need to adorn Razor with WWE Championship gold.