The 411 Wrestling Top 5 12.23.09: Week 54 – Moments of the Monday Night War

Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions.

So, on to this week’s topic…

THE TOP 5 MOMENTS OF THE MONDAY NIGHT WAR

With TNA deciding to go head to head with WWE on January 4th, we are looking back at the war between WCW and the WWE that raged from the first episode of Monday Nitro on September 4, 1995 to their very last episode on March 26, 2001, when the WWE bought out WCW. When looking at the Top 5 moments, we looked at those events that affected the ratings war and those cannon shots from in front of the cameras.

So what did our group of writers select? Let’s find out…

Julian Bond

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rick Rude appearing on Raw and Nitro on the same night – Besides witnessing multiple wrestlers jump ship between WCW and WWF, this moment will always stick out to me cause seeing then-manager Rick Rude appear full bearded on WWF Raw and then magically beardless on WCW Nitro on the same night made my young butt realized that one show was live and the other was taped, which made for some other interesting moments down the line.

Eric Bischoff challenges Vince McMahon to a bout – These videos with Bischoff challenging McMahon to an actual fight in a WCW ring on PPV may have come off stupid as all hell, but the fact was that WCW wasn’t making it a secret at all that they were pissed at WWF’s efforts.

Madusa dumping Women’s Title in garbage – If people valued the WWF Women’s Title at a higher worth at the time, this would have definitely been higher on my list. But even so, it was pretty damn hoe-ish for the former champ to appear on WCW to dump a real WWF title in the trash can live on TV.

5. Stone Cold vs. Mr. McMahon/Goldberg vs. Hogan matches – If I remember any two major matches during the Monday Night Wars, it would be these two. I knew that the two companies meant war when they put on these two PPV-caliber matches on TV instead of waiting to have people pay for them. Goldberg vs Hogan and the crazy, insane Atlanta crowd at the time watching was a true sight to behold and while Stone Cold/McMahon never officially happened, the built-up behind it at the moment was indescribably awesome. During good moments here.

4. Mick Foley Title Win Spoiler – When I was “anticipating” the Hogan vs. Nash match on Nitro (cause Hogan randomly came back from his “retirement” and all) and turning back and forth to Raw for the much more anticipated Mankind vs. Rock title match, the moment I and millions of viewers heard WCW announcer Tony Schiavone revealed the results of Raw with Mankind winning his 1st major title and said the infamous sarcastic statement “That’ll put a lot of butts in seats”, we said f@ck WCW and tuned into Raw to witness history in the making (and sadly the aftermath of the “fingerpoke of doom”). Crazy moment.

3. DX invading WCW – When the group of Triple H, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, X-Pac, and Chyna as the second formation of DX actually in character started showing up at WCW live events to “declare war”, it was truly an insane sight to see. At some points, I was pretty sure that they would get arrested (for real) for trespassing, but for a few weeks there it was great seeing them make a fool of WCW by talking shit about them on their own damn territory.

2. Scott Hall coming on Nitro/Invasion of the Outsiders – This to me was the first real public shot I saw that the two companies truly didn’t like each other. When I saw the former “Razor Ramon” show up suddenly on WCW, I was truly shocked and confused cause I never saw a wrestler show up in both companies in such a short time. And then when Kevin Nash, the former “Diesel”, showed up as well talking about “taking over WCW”, I honestly thought that the shit was real and wondering why no one at WCW was stopping these WWF guys from showing up on their programming. This is when I started to recognize that the two companies were definitely out for blood.

1.The Last Monday Night Nitro Airing – When the sight of Vince McMahon showed up on Nitro declaring the company was doomed and that night would be its last episode, it was truly mindblowing to myself and a whole shit full of fans. Everyone had a feeling that WCW would close down sooner than later, but the way that it went down was pretty surreal. Seeing “final” title matches like the one with Booker T and Scott Steiner and the final bow of Sting and Ric Flair was crazy as hell to see. Definitely the most insane moment of the entire Monday Night Wars…cause it simply was the end.

THE Larry Csonka

5.Rick Rude Appears On Both Shows On The Same Night – While there are numerous other events one could put here, I am going with ones I remember vividly and that deserve attention. The first one is one of those. I was sitting on the couch, pizza at the side, brewdog in my hand and studying as I flipped channels. At first I thought, “Damn Csonk, you’ve had one too many” but then I realized I wasn’t drunk at all, Rick Rude was actually on both shows. I would have paid to see the reaction on Vince’s face.

4.The Mick Foley Title Spoiler – Bischoff had been getting away with spoiling WWE programming when they were running taped shows, and got good results much of the time by doing so. So when Foley was to win the title, Bischoff felt that this was the perfect time to BERRY the former WCW employee, spoil the main event and then sit atop the mountain as king shit. Unfortunately for him this would end up being a huge mistake, because it put asses in front of the TV, for WWF.

3.The Final Monday Nitro – For the bargain basement price of around $5 million dollars Vince bought up WCW. He got the tape library (which at $5 million for that is a steal) the trademarks and a good deal of talent. For the investment of $5 million dollars he bought a license to print money with the Invasion angle. We know how that went. The show isn’t groundbreaking wrestling or a series of the greatest matches ever. It’s the end of an era, the final nail in the coffin of the Monday Night Wars. And that why it needs to be remembered.

2.Lex Luger Appears On The First Nitro – When Nitro hit the air I will admit that I wasn’t the net savvy gentleman I am today, nor was I a big dirt sheet guy. So when LEX LUGER appeared on Nitro, I knew shit was ON. I had no clue that he was leaving the WWF and I sure as hell had no idea he would be on Nitro. An awesome return that doesn’t get much love, because Lex Luger doesn’t get much love, but this was a huge event that really needs to be remembered more. WCW didn’t send a warning shot, they got a direct hit here.

1.Scott Hall Starts The Invasion Of The Outsiders – I think that the debuts of Hall and Nash in WCW has to be at the top of the list. Their debut kicked off the nWo angle, the Monday Night Wars, the resurgence of WCW and made wrestling water cooler talk. It also made Vince a cornered animal and forced him to up the ante as it were. I remember the moment I saw “Razor” walk through the crowd, much like Luger, I had no clue that he was leaving the WWF and I sure as hell had no idea he would be on Nitro, and again, I knew SHIT WAS ON!

Stephen Randle

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Rock, This Is Your Life – Sure, it drew an insane rating, but I’m including it because I remember watching it and thinking it went way too long and wasn’t funny outside of “You cut the Rock off at second base!”, so let’s call it an example of how ratings don’t always equal quality progamming.

5.The Nitro “Reset” Episode – This would be the absolute last chance WCW had to right the ship, as they tossed everything out the window, then ran, essentially, an episode of Nitro which was a historical recap of the “best” of the previous years, basicaly admitting they’d screw up, but starting right now, things were going to change for the better. And if they cuold have actually kept that promise for more than one episode, who knows what would have happened.

4.Welcome To Raw Is Jericho – Symbolic of the lengths WWE was willing to go to fight back, as criminally underused low card WCW wrestler Chris Jericho was given a long buildup with the Countdown to the Millenium, then a massive debut with fanfare, pyro, and a showdown with the Rock, instantly becoming one of the biggest deals in pro wrestling and one of the most re-watched moments in Raw history.

3.The Radicalz – For four guys who were “never going to draw a dime” in WCW, they certainly had a massive impact on the direction of both WCW and WWE. When they jumped, as a group, they instantly created a massive hole in WCW’s midcard, which they’d been relying on for incredible wrestling matches while the main event featured bad matches with the big draws. And they instantly created massive opportunities within WWE’s ranks, as suddenly you had four guys who could wrestle great matches and have hot, fresh feuds with all those WWE stars who were also peaking.

2.You Want A War? You Got One! – Well, even though WCW and WWE had been at “war” for years, this was the shot heard around the world. When Scott Hall jumped the barrier and started what would become the New World Order, everything in North American pro wresting changed forever, and WCW and WWE were now completely locked in a titanic struggle for supremacy, and it was obvious from the outset, there could only be one survivor.

1.Foley Wins The Title – Pretty much the moment where it became obvious that the “war” was over, and WWE had won, as in one night, it highlighted everything that WWE had done right in getting up off the mat and everything WCW was doing wrong to lose their once-unsurmountable lead. In WWE, you have a well-respected, beloved wrestler who nobody ever thought would be in that position winning his first World title after a long chase. In WCW, well, they mocked the WWE title win, causing thousands of people to switch channels in order to watch it, and then there was that thing…what was it…that thing that was considered the stupidest thing WCW ever did…oh yeah, the Fingerpoke of Doom.

Chad Nevett

HONORABLE MENTIONS

DX Invades WCW – A funny, groundbreaking skit at the time, but is a little brutal to watch now.

Alundra Blayze/Medusa Trashes the Title – A symbolic victory that looks petty and cheap now.

David Arquette and Vince Russo: World Champions – WCW desperate to do anything to shock fans and garner interest results in lame stories and even lamer champions.

5.Raw is Jericho – I was vaguely aware of Jericho prior to his coming to the WWE since I was always more a WWE fan than WCW, but his arrival at the WWE was big with the countdown clock, the interruption of the Rock’s promo, and the general sense that Jericho was important. Not the first instance of someone ignored and misused at WCW making his mark in the WWE, but the quickest, most drastic change to be sure. Jericho represents the WWE’s eye for talent that WCW seemed to lack much of the time, one of the main reasons why one company is still here and the other isn’t.

4.The Monteal Screwjob – Yes, another mention of the Screwjob, but it was one of the big events in the Monday Night Wars as Bret Hart was leaving for WCW and Vince wanted to avoid a larger scale title fiasco ala Alundra Blayze. The result of Vince’s attempt to make sure Hart didn’t jump ship with the belt was to turn many fans against the WWE and a lot of the talent against it as well. The most public result was Rick Rude leaving the company and appearing on both a taped Raw with a mustache and on a live Nitro clean-shaven the same night, criticizing the WWE strongly for what happened at the Survivor Series. Had WCW not so misused Bret Hart, this could have been the mistake to sink the WWE.

3.The Final Nitro – The final episode of Nitro is on a lot of lists and featured a few matches that summed up the end of WCW, but I wanted to focus on only one aspect of that episode, which was more memorable for me: Vince coming out and discussing his purchase of WCW. Here was Vince triumphant, he had won the Monday Night Wars, and has accepted their terms of surrender… but would do so only at WrestleMania and if Ted Turner came out and begged him to buy WCW. We’ve seen Vince arrogant and confident before, but never quite as much here. Finally, he had won. Except not quite, as Shane arrived on Nitro to announce that a McMahon HAD purchased WCW, but the name on the contract was Shane McMahon, not Vince McMahon. One final swerve in the Monday Night Wars.

2.Mick Foley Title Spoiler – This ranks so high, because it’s always struck me as where things started going wrong for WCW and right for the WWE. Because Raw was taped every week, they had a habit of spoiling match outcomes on Nitro to guarantee viewers wouldn’t watch Raw since they already knew the outcome. When they spoiled Mick Foley winning the WWE Championship, they made a big miscalculation about how much people loved Foley and wanted to see him win, causing a mass exodus from Nitro to Raw. It was the first big mistake that shifted things and was a key victory for the WWE — and a big, BIG blunder for WCW.

1.Scott Hall’s Arrival Kicks Things Off – While Hall’s arrival on Nitro didn’t start the Monday Night Wars, obviously, it did take them to the next level. Before this, there were a few shots fired, some sparring, some talent going from one company to the other, but nothing too big. The arrival of Hall changed that as, teaming with Nash as the Outsiders, led to forming the nWo with Hogan and making WCW the number one wrestling promotion in North America for quite some time. Not only that, but the bad attitudes shown by Hall, Nash, and the rest of the nWo infected the business, leading to the Attitude Era where morally grey anti-heroes were who the fans cheered instead of the standard clean-as-a-whistle babyfaces. And it all started with Hall’s arrival on Nitro with him saying “You want a war? You got one!”

Aaron Hubbard

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Numerous nWo Segments – I couldn’t narrow it down to just one, but I remember being in absolute shock at the formation of the nWo and the brawls, spray paint, Mysterio-Darts, Fake-Stings, and numerous skits that took place afterwards.

Rick Rude appears on RAW and Nitro on the Same Night – This was just bizarre, and while I don’t think Rick Rude was really of any value to either company at that point, it’s something that isn’t going to happen again in the foreseeable future.

The Final Nitro – Perhaps the most surreal night in wrestling, at least until Bischoff and Vince hugged on RAW.

5.Lex Luger Debuts on Nitro – This is the moment that is generally credited as the start of the Monday Night War for the fan. WCW had already taken Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in when they left the WWF, but this was entirely different. Lex Luger was still a part of the WWF when he left for WCW. I daresay this is the moment that Luger is most famous for, at least for today’s audience. For me, this is when it stopped being competition and turned into an all-out war between two companies that would not rest until the other one was out of business.

4.Alundra Blayze Drops Women’s Title In Trashcan – Oh no! They took our least valuable title and threw it in a trashcan! We must have revenge. Okay, yes it all looks kind of silly in retrospect, but it was pretty nuts when it happened. More importantly, this event made Vince McMahon even more paranoid and directly led to the Montreal Screwjob, which of course led to Mr. McMahon, evil boss, the perfect villain for Stone Cold Steve Austin. What was really a minor coup for WCW ended up being their undoing in the end. Funny how things turn out, huh?

3.X-Pac Debuts on RAW/D-X Goes To War – I have to put these two together. While WCW was always fairly open about the fact that the were at war with the WWF, the WWF kept mostly quiet on the issue, especially after the Huckster and Nacho Man skits didn’t catch on. Yes, Jim Ross made references to Hogan posing and covering up a bald spot, but he had done the same thing in WCW when Hogan was with the WWF. And yes, RAW had RAW is WAR. But this was totally different. X-Pac came into the company and did a shoot on Hogan and WCW, basically burying the company. This was the moment when the WWF put away their “KEEP OUT” signs, took up their guns, and started looking for the whites of WCW’s eyes. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention D-X charging into Atlanta with a tank. If that’s not War, I don’t know what else is supposed to be.

2.Mick Foley Title Spoiler – I consider this to be WCW shooting themselves in the foot and then limping on, trying to fight a losing battle. This was the single biggest backfire in wrestling history, as WCW thought they could pull one over on the WWF by revealing the results of RAW, which was taped that week. Instead, by revealing that Mick Foley was going to become WWF Champion on that show, WCW sent a good portion of their audience over to RAW to watch Foley do the unthinkable. This is proof that Foley was a draw in his day. I also love the poetic justice of one of WCW’s lowest tactics dealing a blow that they never really recovered from.

1.Vince McMahon vs. Austin…Or Not – 84 Weeks. It’s very tempting for me to simply put that there and leave it at that. For 84 weeks, WCW beat the WWF in the Nielson Ratings. On April 13, 1998, it ended. The new WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin was going to wrestle Vince McMahon, the despised owner of the company, live on National Television. Of course, it was all a charade to start Austin’s program with Mankind, but it broke the 84 week streak and got the WWF on the right track.

Jeremy Thomas

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Madusa Trashes the WWF Women’s Title – This was right around the point where the Monday Night Wars started to get really hostile, and nothing exemplified that more than Alundra Blayze showed up on Nitro as Madusa, picked up a garbage can and smugly dropped the WWF Women’s Title right inside. That showed just how vicious the companies were willing to be.

Eric Bischoff Challenges Vince McMahon – This was unrepentantly goofy, but it nicely drove the point home about how badly Nitro was kicking Raw’s ass. Bischoff challenged Vince to a match at Slamboree ’98 and while it never happened of course, it gave Bischoff a great moment to crow.

D-X Invades Norfolk – I was tempted to rate this higher, but what’s in the actual top five is too much to count this one in. Still, this was an awesome moment that was one of the WWF’s best direct shots at WCW. Most of the rest of the low blows was crap like Billionaire Ted and the Nacho Man, but this one was effective and a lot of fun to boot.

5. Rick Rude Appears on Raw & Nitro on the Same Night – One of the most mind-boggling moments was the moment on November 17, 1997 when Rick Rude, who had appeared clean-shaven on Nitro earlier in the night to slam the WWF and call it “the Titanic,” was on Raw an hour later unshaven. It was not only a moment that broke kayfabe completely, for WCW it drove the point home beautifully that while Raw was taped and aired afterward, Nitro was live and had the surprises and shocks. This took things to a new level and the WWF came away from the night clearly limping from the damage Rude had inflicted. Wrestling fans have been waiting for another moment like it ever since.

4.The Final Nitro, 3/26/2001 – Where Rude’s appearance on two shows in a night boggled people’s minds, the last Nitro ever blew those minds away. Surreal is a word that is often used to describe what we saw when Vince McMahon first appeared on WCW Monday Nitro, but I don’t think that word properly describes it. This was a moment when everyone who was a fan of wrestling had—and I mean absolutely HAD—to tune in. The buzz was electric over what might happen, and what we got was a last Nitro that was probably better than any WCW show for a couple of years at least. The last fight between Flair and Sting was an emotional moment, the drama and tension of wondering what was going to happen blew everyone away and the last swerve, that Shane McMahon had bought WCW right out from under Vince, provided a huge mark-out moment. Everyone wanted to know what was happening next, and thus Nitro ended the way that it had lived for years…on a cliffhanger.

3.Bischoff Spoils Mick Foley’s Title Win – This moment has been talked about many times, and is always referred to as a colossal mistake by Eric Bischoff. Clearly, it’s hard to argue against the idea that Bischoff misjudging Foley’s popularity was a major “whoopsie” for WCW…but then again, it was hard to blame the guy for doing it. He’d been doing it for a while after all, and none of the times he had done so cost WCW a lot of viewers. Honestly, I’ve wondered many a time whether it was Tony Schiavone’s delivery of it—a sarcastic “Yeah, that’ll put butts in seats”—that really sealed the deal. It was as if Schiavone was daring the viewers to change the channel, and change they did. Combined with the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom that took place on Nitro that night—and that fans switch back over to watch after Raw went off the air—this was pretty much the moment that sent WCW into their downward spiral.

2.Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan, 7/6/1998 – This is another moment that gets a lot of criticism, because people feel it should have happened on Pay-Per-View and not on free TV. That’s absolutely a valid point, but one can’t deny it made for a historic moment in the Monday Night Wars. Goldberg was on a collision course toward Hogan and the WCW World Heavyweight Title, and no matter what the nWo threw at him he wasn’t going down. Finally the match happened at the end of the show, and Goldberg beat Hogan in the Georgia Dome in a match that had the entire arena on their feet. It gave Nitro a 4.8 rating and let them beat Raw’s 4.0, for what I believe was the last time that Nitro ever did that as an overall show. Maybe in retrospect it would have been better saved for PPV, but at the time is was a great moment for WCW.

1.The Invasion Begins – No, not the “InvaSion,” but the Invasion. As in, the invasion of the Outsiders. What event could be number one but the one that “officially” kicked off the Monday Night Wars? Scott Hall’s appearance on WCW television drew a lot of sudden attention and raised eyebrows, and immediately wrestling fans were talking about it. Raw and Nitro had been battling for a while, but this is the moment that the WAR began. It would start one of the most famous angles in professional wrestling history and elevate both companies in their games by virtue of competition. If TNA wants to really fire a shot across the bow on January 4th, they need to do something like this…something completely unexpected that draw’s people’s attentions. Maybe then we’ll have the new Monday Night War we’re all hoping for.

Robert S. Leighty Jr

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Eric Bischoff’s Tactics – Bischoff used every tactic he could to beat RAW (giving spoilers), and a lot of what he did the WWE ended up stealing (moving to 2 hours, the over run, etc).

Talents Jumping Ship – One of the best things about the Monday Night Wars was when talent would jump from one show to the other, and since I wasn’t heavy into the net at the time, I didn’t have things spoiled for me.

5.Lex Luger on Nitro Debut – The 1st Nitro was did not go up against RAW so Bischoff knew he needed to make a splash. That happened when Lex Luger walked out on Nitro after wrestling just days earlier for the WWF. Just a shocking moment and it foreshadowed what was to come from the Monday Night Wars.

4.X-Pac Joins DX – This was the night after Austin won the WWF Title at WM XIV, and the WWF know looked to go on the offensive in the Monday Night War. Enter the new DX with HHH leading the way and he brought in X-Pac. This was significant as someone finally jumped back to the WWF after leaving for WCW. This all lead to DX declaring War on WCW.

3.The End of the War – Still one of the most surreal things I’ve ever seen. The final Nitro was a good show that had all the faces go over to make the crowd happy. The simulcast with Vince on both networks is when things just went crazy. Some were pissed the last thing we saw on TNT was a commercial for WM X-7, but to the victors go the spoils.

2.Foley wins the Title/the nWo reforms – Quite possibly the last chance WCW had to take momentum away from the WWF, and it went down the drain when Schiavone let the world know Foley was winning the WWF Title. Immediately everyone switched to RAW, and once Foley won they title they went back to Nitro to watch the nWo reform at the expense of Goldberg.

1.Scott Hall Debuts – On May 27, 1996 I was celebrating my 15th birthday. In between opening gifts, and cards I went upstairs to check out Nitro. Then Scott Hall started walking through the crowd, jumped over the barrier, entered the ring, and asked if WCW wanted a war. I immediately started running around my house screaming. Good times!