AEW star Arn Anderson revealed that Shane McMahon told him at the last WCW Nitro on March 26, 2001 that he would be hired to WWE. Vince McMahon’s ‘most hated’ Raw stars were just revealed.
“When we got there and saw all those guys, Shane walked right up to me, smiling big, shook his hand, ‘Good to see you.’ [Shane McMahon said] ‘See you soon,’ and looked me right in the eye. That kind of gave me confirmation that I was going to survive this in some capacity, which made me feel much better about the day. I could relax. That’s all he said.”
WWE were still in the Attitude Era at the time, with major changes coming. A few years prior, the company launched a new era, and Vince Russo told Sportskeeda that Vince McMahon abandoned a major sponsor at the time.
“Chris, I swear I remember when we went full-blown Attitude Era. Bro, at the beginning of the Attitude Era, do you know who the number one sponsor was? Taste the Rainbow [Skittles]. And, bro, I remember Vince bringing the ad guys in, ‘Bro, kill the Skittles ad. We can’t be doing Taste the Rainbow on this type of a show.’”
WWE purchased WCW for $2.5 million in March 2001.
