The 9 Most Important Weeks Of The Monday Night War

Two important dates in wrestling history occurred respectively on January 11, 1993, and September 4, 1995 - that was the first ever Raw and Nitro episodes respectively. The head-to-head competition sparked what became known as The Monday Night War, which has become a now mythical period of the industry where fandom reached higher and higher heights.

While some fans did in fact favor WCW over WWE or vice versa, most fans flocked to watch both shows every single Monday night. With their remotes in hand, the wrestling fans kept clicking back and forth between Raw and Nitro to catch the biggest moments of The Monday Night War.

9 December 15, 1997 - Vince Declares A New Attitude / Bret Hart Debuts On Nitro

Several weeks after The Montreal Screwjob had happened, Vince McMahon and Bret Hart were face to face again, during the December 15, 1997 edition of both shows. On Nitro, Bret Hart debuted. Unfortunately not to wrestle, but to be announced as the guest referee at Starrcade between two non-wrestlers - Eric Bischoff and Larry Zbyszko.

Meanwhile, on Raw, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon shot straight from the hip, letting his fans know that they shouldn’t have their intelligence insulted anymore.

8 July 6, 1998 - Goldberg’s The Man / Undertaker’s The Number One Contender

With Goldberg’s winning streak marching forward, there was one big mountain to climb - defeat Hollywood Hulk Hogan and cement his place as WCW Champion. With only a few days notice about the match, WCW was able to pack the Georgia Dome, allowing Big Bill to stomp Hogan in front of a wild Nitro crowd in his hometown.

On Raw, the march to SummerSlam continued with a number one contender match between Kane and Mankind, only for the unforgettable image of The Undertaker peeling off the mask to reveal it was he who defeated Mankind for the contender-ship.

7 September 22, 1997 - First Raw At MSG / First Goldberg Match

Stone Cold Steve Austin Stuns Vince McMahon At MSG

Whenever WWE comes home to Madison Square Garden, they make sure to pull out every possible stop they can. On screen that meant the memorable debut of Cactus Jack and the first time Stone Cold Steve Austin gave the Stunner to Vince.

Meanwhile, on Nitro, Hugh Morris was gearing up for the footnote fight of his life, facing off against a debuting Bill Goldberg. Needless to say, it was a very successful week for both brands.

6 November 17, 1997 - Ravishing Monday Night

In the grand scheme of things, Ravishing Rick Rude’s appearance on both Raw and Nitro on the same night didn’t mean all that much to the overall Monday Night War. But it was still a surreal moment to see the future Hall of Famer showing up on Raw as part of DX and on Nitro with the nWo.

What it did more to the backstage area was more important for the talents, as WWE would no longer allow a per diem schedule.

5 September 16, 1997 - Razor & Diesel Are Coming / Sting’s A Free Agent

During the rise of the nWo, they were so hot that WWE was doing anything they could to try and attract viewers. Meanwhile, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were walking around WCW acting like Razor and Diesel (which was mostly themselves anyway). WWE decided to capitalize in both the ring and the courtroom. As they sued for a cease and desist, they also announced that Razor and Diesel were coming back.

While WWE were playing the false advertising game on Raw, Sting was stung by the distrust of his friends and let all of them know they can stick it while he declared himself a free agent.

4 August 4, 1997 - Night Of Champions - Bret’s The New WWE Champion / Lex Beats Hogan At Nitro 100

The night after SummerSlam 1997 for WWE saw a triumphant Hart Foundation, except for Owen losing the IC title and Brian Pillman being forced to wear a dress. But The Hitman was jubilant after defeating The Deadman. The Undertaker was instead focusing his hatred on the man that cost him the WWE title, Shawn Michaels, setting up their first ever encounter at Ground Zero.

Meanwhile on Nitro, WCW was celebrating its 100th episode on the eve of Hog Wild. Shockingly, The Total Package Lex Luger was able to defeat Hollywood Hogan and become WCW champion, though he would lose the belt on PPV six nights later.

3 April 13, 1998 - The 84th Week

Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs Vince McMahon RAW

With an 83-week streak of ratings wins on the line, Nitro featured several sit-down interview segments with Bret Hart. The Hitman had said he would stand up for injustice and just wanted a fair shot at the WCW title.

While we all love Bret, several interview segments caused the pacing of the show to be completely off. Meanwhile, WWE had put on one of its greatest storytelling nights ever as Stone Cold was gearing up to take on Mr. McMahon with one hand tied behind his back.

2 March 26, 2001 - The Final Nitro

There have been plenty of surreal moments in wrestling over the years and plenty of them had taken place during The Monday Night War. But none more surreal than the final WCW Monday Nitro. For over five years WCW had been the alternative wrestling program on Monday nights.

Now it was over, and Vince McMahon was appearing on WCW television for the first time since Black Saturday nearly 20 years before. ECW was gone, WCW was gone, the hype for XFL was real, and WrestleMania 17 was less than a week away - this might have been the single most triumphant week in WWE history.

1 January 4, 1999 - Foley Wins Title / Fingerpoke Of Doom

There have been several big moments in that fans point to and say “that’s the reason WCW went under.” To be honest, the realest reason was that once the AOL-Time Warner merger happened and Ted Turner was removed from power, the desire to have WCW on their channels simply wasn’t there. But Eric Bischoff via Tony Schiavone’s “Butts In Seats” comment has to be a real close second.

Once Schiavone announced Mick Foley was going to win the WWE title on Raw, fans almost immediately clicked over to see The Micker pull off a miracle. They couldn’t care less about the big showdown between Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan, which resulted in The Fingerpoke Of Doom; perhaps the single greatest miscalculation in the entire WWE Vs. WCW war.