10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 1995

5. Fans Wanted HBK As A Babyface Long Before Vince

Shawn Michaels Vince McMahon Collapse Owen Hart
WWE.com

Bruce Prichard has said on his podcast that Vince didn't see Shawn Michaels as a babyface in the early-to-mid-90s. "Damn it, he's a heel", the boss would bark if anybody so much as dared to bring up the potential for a turn. He'd change his mind by April 1995.

Fans had been ready since the prior year.

Michaels was one of the best in-ring workers in wrestling by '94. He had a show-stealing match at WrestleMania X, and had almost turned baby during the '95 Royal Rumble. The people knew what Vince didn't - they could see that Shawn had the skills to work as a workhorse baby who'd thrill the girls and superkick some heads off.

Watching Raw for the opening months of 1995 is a weird experience due to McMahon's unwillingness to go all in on HBK as a good guy. Fans were cheering Shawn, but the announcers remained staunch in their pretence that nobody liked him.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.