Scott Garland, best known to WWE fans as Scotty 2 Hotty, says he and Brian Christopher were directed to model Too Cool’s revamped look and presentation on The Hardy Boyz. Garland told Chris Van Vliet on the Insight Podcast that Vince Russo approached the pair about overhauling their act and pointed to Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy as the template to follow.
Too Cool had already been building momentum in late 1999 thanks to their dancing and distinctive style when the act took on a new dimension that November. Rikishi returned to WWE television that month to save Too Cool from an attack by the Mean Street Posse, effectively joining the group after previously performing under the Sultan gimmick.
Garland said he was not initially sold on the pairing. Speaking to Fightful, he recalled thinking Rikishi’s look did not mesh with what he and Christopher were doing at the time, specifically referencing Rikishi’s thong attire and saying “it didn’t make sense” to him in the moment.
Despite Garland’s early skepticism, the addition of Rikishi helped push Too Cool into one of the more memorable comedic acts of the Attitude Era, with the trio’s dance routines becoming a staple of WWE programming. The accounts from F4W Online and Fightful, both drawn from Garland’s interview on the Insight Podcast, offer a rare look back at the behind-the-scenes creative direction that shaped one of the promotion’s most recognizable trios.
