10 Fascinating WWE Survivor Series 1996 Facts
6. Jake Roberts Subbed In For Mark Henry
Originally, Jake "The Snake" Roberts had no part in Survivor Series 1996, and had been off the road for more than one month prior to the event. He appeared as a fill-in on Marc Mero's team, substituting for Mark Henry.
Henry, with no wrestling experience, had signed a whopping ten-year contract with WWE in the summer of 1996, solely on the merits of his legitimate power-lifting background and Olympic celebrity. He defeated Jerry Lawler in as basic a match as possible at the September In Your House, so as to not expose his many limitations at the time.
Sometime shortly before Survivor Series, Henry was pulled from the show with a leg injury, and replaced by Roberts. For much of the next year, Henry remained off of WWE television undergoing further training, in order to get him up to a more presentable level.