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The Monday Night Wars – A Retrospective

Thomas Tripp

If you grew up in the 1990s and you were a big Wrestling fan – especially in the middle of the decade – You were either at home, rushing to finish your homework and chores so you can tune into USA Network’s WWF Raw or TNT’s WCW Monday Nitro. Or if you wanted something to watch before tuning into ABC’s Monday Night Football. You were definitely having the time of your life, while you weren’t even realizing it! If you were lucky, you had your VHS player in two separate rooms, so you wouldn’t miss the action!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DuVNCJbbnM – The theme of WCW Monday Nitro on TNT from 1995-99.

Yes! It was definitely a BIG deal from 1995-98! The World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment since 2002) and the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling were involved in a HUGE Nielsen TV ratings war, where the two prominent Wrestling promotions would experience cutthroat tactics and wrestlers leaving each others companies to sign with the competition (e.g. Hulk Hogan leaving the WWF for the WCW in 1994, Lex Luger alternating between both promotions prior and during the wars, etc.). This brought out the best in each promotion and it hasn’t been duplicated since.

The then-WWF had The Rock, Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Mankind and Kurt Angle as its main stars. On the other hand, WCW featured Goldberg, Scott Hall, “Hollywood” Hogan, Sting, Ric Flair and Nash. WCW had a nWo featuring Hogan, Nash and Hall – as they were seeking to seize control of the WCW by transforming it into an adult-oriented product – where they were using street gang like tactics. The nWo was instrumental in transforming “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan into a villan-type role, as he was portrayed as a “hero” during his time in the World Wrestling Federation in the 1980’s through the early 1990s.

The Monday Night Wars kicked off on Labor Day, Monday, September 4, 1995, as TNT aired WCW Monday Nitro opposite of the two-year-old WWF Monday Night Raw on USA Network. Nitro lasted an hour. Eric Bischoff, WCW President, would be the host during the initial hour, as he shared the rest with various guests, such as ex-NFL player Steve McMichael and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. During the first three months, both WWF RAW and WCW Monday Nitro traded television wars for ratings. Then, from 1996 to 1998 – the WCW – thanks to WCW pitching Marquee matchups and going live weekly on “Monday Nitro,” whereas on WWF Raw, the announcements have been made to determine the winner.

As the then-WWF was losing ground and potentially going out of business, Vince McMahon had no choice to go with a edgier and more raunchy style, while promoting new stars such as The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Triple-H, as they introduced “The Attitude Era,” which lasted until the 2002 rebranding.

As the WCW’s storyline of their nWo became redundant and relying on veterans such as Goldberg and Hogan – ignoring the younger talent in the process, the WWF reclaimed the lead for the next three years and it was one of the reasons why the WCW was brought out by the WWF in March 2001. Plus, AOL and Time Warner purchased Turner’s TNT and TBS stations around that same time – which resulted in the WCW losing money and folding.

The now WWE may be the premier Wrestling promotion these days, but you can’t deny how Wrestling fans were happy when you had two programs to watch on Cable TV in the 90s. If it wasn’t for the WCW in the mid-90s, then WWE would cease to exist.