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5. Many USA Network Executives Wanted To Throw RAW Off The Air
According to James Dixon's book Titan Shattered: Wrestling With Confidence and Paranoia, the USA Network's VP Of Sports Programming Wayne Becker wanted to pull RAW off the network effective immediately because of the use of the F word.
In addition to the language that was aired, the segment was so well-acted that many upset parents called the station to complain about the mature content that was aired on what was supposed to be a family-friendly show. Even advertisers like Milton Bradley furiously voiced their concerns about the angle. It didn't matter to them that the USA Network had actually given the green light on the segment and actually, many high ranking managers at USA were unaware of the pre-approval.
It all led to Network CEO Kay Koplovitz having a face-to-face meeting with Vince McMahon to discuss the future of Monday Night RAW. In this meeting, Koplovitz made it clear to McMahon that the direction of RAW needed to remain family-friendly and acceptable to younger audiences.
A year's worth of Goldust, the Billionaire Ted skits, and repeated occurrences of abusive language and gestures had all been enough for the USA Network Chairwoman, and she made it clear to Vince that it needed to stop.
We all know how that turned out as the period that would become the Attitude Era resulted in record-breaking viewership for the WWF on USA, but back in 1996, the ratings weren't there yet.