Monday Night Wars Dominated by Vince McMahon; Who is to Blame?

The at one time competitive Monday night wars officially ended March 26th. A boastful Vincent K. McMahon Jr., live from Cleveland, led off the final “Nitro” episode on Turner television in front of a “Raw Is War” banner. The WWF chairman appropriately announced that the future of WCW is now in his hands.

The WWF created “Raw” in January 1993 as a revision to the outdated “Prime Time Wrestling” program on the USA Network. “Raw” ran unopposed in a one hour format until then WCW boss Eric Bischoff created “Nitro” to counter McMahon’s weekly cable show. “Nitro” debuted on September 4, 1995; a week “Raw” was pre-empted in favor of the U.S. Tennis Open.

The Monday night cable wars, in the final analysis, were a tale of two streaks. The last time “Nitro” defeated “Raw” in the ratings dates back to October 26, 1998. Prior to the spring of 1998, “Nitro” posted higher ratings than “Raw” eighty-three consecutive weeks.

A teased Steve Austin-McMahon match on “Raw” ended “Nitro’s” ratings dominance in April 1998. It was the program that excelled the Federation’s momentum, leading “Raw” to an impressive 115-week head to head winning streak.

With the Monday night war officially over, the question becomes who is to blame? The downfall of WCW can not be traced to one single blunder, nor should the burden of blame be placed on one individual. In reality, there is enough blame to go around from the top to the bottom of the organization. The downward spiral started, unbeknownst to most of the company’s personal, at the same time the promotion reached its heights.

The best ideas the company conceived turned out to be their shortcomings. The decision to incorporate the New World World angle (borrowed from Japan) was nothing short of brilliant, however, when the story line had run its course, the company didn’t have the foresight to end it properly. WCW used Ted Turner’s deep pockets to acquire WWF talent past their primes, failing to create new stars to feature into their product.

WCW allowed unprofessional and detrimental behavior to escalate to the point of causing discord amongst wrestlers and writers. McMahon, opting to keep a harmonious and cooperative locker room, has thus far elected not to pursue WCW wrestlers with reputations for disorderly conduct including the Steiner’s, Kevin Nash, Lex Luger, and Buff Bagwell.

The single biggest factor in the fall of World Championship Wrestling occurred in the area of leadership. Despite recording a profit in the neighborhood of $55 million in 1998, the company operated in the red the following year, and lost a reported $60-70 million in 2000. In September 1999, Bischoff was removed as WCW president and succeeded in power by Bill Busch. Busch, a company account, lacked the vision necessary to turn around a crumbling wrestling organization.

On a totally unrelated side note, two thumbs up for Wrestlemania XVII. This may have been the best Wrestlemania in the series. The Angle-Benoit, TLC II, and main event matches alone made this show worth the $39.95 price tag.

Tidbits: Mick Foley's new book, titled “Foley Is Good,” will be released on May 8th … In an expected move, former WCW creative director Vince Russo was released by the company … Shaun Assael, a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, is working on a book about the history of television wrestling … Steve Corino is booked for the April 28th Liberty All-Star Wrestling show in Glenolden, PA … There is talk of Rob Van Dam opening his own wrestling school in Los Angeles.

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