which special guest referee Roddy Piper seemed to interpret as "I quit". Following WrestleMania, the WWF ran an angle in which Backlund declared his candidacy for President of the United States. Several vignettes aired, featuring Backlund preaching socially conservative values, and one showed him campaigning at a beach. Backlund also confronted a Bill Clinton impersonator who was seated at ringside at the 1995 Survivor Series. This angle was quietly dropped before it reached a conclusion. From 1995 to 1996, Backlund went to mid to low card status. He lost to Bret Hart by disqualification on Monday Night Raw on November 21. That would be his last television appearance. He continued to appear in house shows. He lost to Savio Vega in a dark match at In Your House 5 and competed in the Royal Rumble getting eliminated by Yokozuna. This would be his last pay-per-view appearance. His last match was a loss to Savio Vega on May 19 at Madison Square Garden. From late 1996 to early 1997, Backlund joined forces with his old nemesis, The Iron Sheik, to manage The Sultan in the WWF. He left the WWF shortly after In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker on April 20, where he managed The Sultan in his win over Flash Funk. In February 1999, Backlund appeared on an episode of Sunday Night Heat in a skit in which himself, The Iron Sheik, and Dominic Denucci gave comedic advice to Mankind before his WWF Championship match with The Rock at St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Backlund returned to the WWF in the 2000 Royal Rumble. After that, he briefly managed Intercontinental and European Champion Kurt Angle, and he taught his crossface chickenwing submission hold to Angle. Later on, Angle fired Backlund and locked him in that move, after discovering Backlund had booked him in a two-fall triple threat match against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho (with both of his titles on the line) at WrestleMania 2000, where he ultimately lost both titles. Backlund teamed with Angle on SmackDown! as they lost to Jericho and Tazz by disqualification on March 16. Japan and Independent circuit (1994–2001) In 1994, Backlund while under contract with WWF worked for Genichiro Tenryu's Wrestle Association R in Japan. He won the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Scott Putski and former WWF wrestler The Warlord defeating Fuyuki-Gun members Hiromichi Fuyuki, Gedo and Jado on August