The Great Diesel Push of November 1994

I’ve been a WWE fan since the days of Backlund and one of the things that still puzzles me is Diesel push in 1994.

Diesel turns face after getting into a dispute during a Survivor Series match with Shawn Michaels. That was Thanksgiving eve. By Saturday, he beats Backlund for the title in 8 seconds.

I understand that Diesel had the Intercontinental title before losing it back to Razor Ramon at Summerslam. He won the tag titles with Shawn. Did pretty well during Survivor Series ’93 and the Royal Rumble. But what was Vince thinking? Usually when you’re trying to get someone over as a contender and a Champion, there is some actual buildup. I know they gave the belt to Hogan a month after coming back in 1984, but he was Hulk Hogan and there as no buildup needed as he was in Rocky III. I just don’t understand why he would think that would work.

After it wasn’t working, why he didn’t switch to Shawn right after Shawn was turning face after shining in that Wrestemania XI loss? Vince didn’t let Roman Reigns run with the title for a year.

T​hey gave the belt to Diesel the same way they did with Hogan because they wanted to create another Hogan and they thought that’s how they needed to do it. That was 100% their intention.

And Shawn didn’t get it there because Vince needed another year after that match to realize that Shawn wasn’t, in fact, too small to be World champion and could legitimately draw on top if given a chance. He can be very stubborn.​