Oz

A few weeks ago we took a look at what happens when World Championship Wrestling decided to rip off a very successful property. How the character Glacier was not served cease in desist papers imminently is beyond me. However, there was one time that Ted Turner, owner of WCW, did own the rights to a very successful property and was free to use said property however he saw fit. What resulted was the near seven foot tall, over three hundred pound, hailing from Emerald City… Oz! That’s right WCW in all their brilliance created a wrestler that was the Wizard of Oz.

Debuting at Superbrawl in 1991, Oz quickly defeated Tim Parker. He was introduced by a character known as “Wizard” and had the whole gang with him on stage. Dorothy, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, even a monkey in a diaper. He was decked out in emerald colored robes, a ridiculous mask and hat for his entrance, and under that mask a silver mullet. Like so many of WCW’s strange characters he started with a bang winning his first handful of matches. After losing to Ron Simmons at The Great American Bash 1991 Oz started his decline. Losing most of his matches for his remaining run as Oz, his last appearance was in December of 1991.

After one more dumb WCW gimmick and a role as “Super Shredder” in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, the man formerly known as Oz became one of the biggest stars in wrestling history. He became a World Champion first in WWE as Diesel. He jumped back to WCW under his own name, Kevin Nash. There he would form the NWO with Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan and cement his place as one of the most important figures in wrestling history. So in the end Dorothy went home, Tin Man got a heart, Lion got courage, Scarecrow got a brain, and Kevin Nash was World Champion. All is well in the Land of Oz.

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