10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 1996

7. The Significance Of 8 April

vader yokozuna.jpg
WWE.com

According to guys like Kevin Nash, Vince McMahon no-sold every damaging episode the WWF suffered. If the boss wasn't going to sell a federal government investigation, then he damn sure wasn't going to let his roster see how much pressure WCW was putting him under by 1996.

Privately, it was a different story.

McMahon could see that Eric Bischoff was getting the jump on him by putting Nitro's start time forward by three minutes to 8.57pm. So, Vince had a chat with suits at the USA Network and convinced them to do the same for Raw. On 8 April they did, but the show ran unopposed.

Nitro was pre-empted that night and didn't air, so the ploy probably only succeeded in making regular viewers miss the first few minutes. Late-comers tuning in at the usual 9pm slot would've seen a Yokozuna vs. Vader match in progress.

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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.