The WWE realizes it made a mistake and resigns Nunzio.
But first, Nunzio's friend, Johnny The Bull makes a return and is killed in the ring by Kozlov.
To get revenge for his friend, Nunzio then begins a furious workout regiment in the mountains of Russia. He climbs rope, does pull-ups on wooden beams, jogs past Russian peasants, chops wood, runs up snowy embankments, lifts huge rocks, and struggles mightily with a rock-filled sled, dragging it up the side of a mountain. KGB agents observe Nunzio's movements wherever he goes from a distance. He is almost ready, but he's missing one thing. When Big Vito shows up unexpectedly, to support him emotionally, providing more reason to succeed, Nunzio begins to train harder than ever before. His heart is restored, and he is once again at his physical and emotional best. Nunzio's heart is so restored that when on one of his runs, the day before the fight, he outruns the KGB Agents in the car. Nunzio finds the strength to climb a mountain, throwing his arms up in victory and shouting Kozlov's name.
However, he gets squashed by Kozlov, and eventually after building him up as a major player, HHH will probably be the one to beat him.