WCW Monday Nitro

WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001. Production ceased shortly after WCW was purchased by the WWF.

The debut of Nitro began the Monday Night Wars, a ratings battle between the WWF and WCW that lasted for almost six years and saw each company resort to cutthroat tactics to try to compete with the competition. In mid-1996, Nitro began to draw better ratings than Raw based on the strength of the nWo storyline, an anarchist wrestling stable that wanted to take over WCW. Nitro continued to beat Raw for 84 consecutive weeks, forcing WWE owner Vince McMahon to change the way he did business. As the nWo storyline grew stagnant, fan interest in the storyline waned, and Raw began to edge out Nitro in the ratings.

The turning point for the organizations came during the January 4, 1999 broadcast of Nitro, during which lead commentator Tony Schiavone gave away the results of matches for that night's Raw broadcast. As Raw was taped and Nitro was live, Bischoff believed that knowing the outcome would dissuade viewers from watching the program. Excited by the prospect of seeing perennial WWF underdog Mick Foley win the WWF Championship, a large number of Nitro viewers changed channels to watch Raw, switching back to Nitro after Foley won the title. From that week forward, Raw beat Nitro in the ratings by a significant amount, and WCW was never able to regain the success it once had.

Loading countdown...
WWE SmackDown

WWE SmackDown

1999

WCW Saturday Night

WCW Saturday Night

1992

CACC

CACC

Monster Factory

Monster Factory

2023

WWF Superstars Of Wrestling

WWF Superstars Of Wrestling

1986

WWE Rivals

WWE Rivals

2022

Half Pint Brawlers

2010

WWE Table For 3

WWE Table For 3

2015

Legends with JBL

Legends with JBL

2015

Biography: WWE Legends

Biography: WWE Legends

2021

WWE Icons Revisited

WWE Icons Revisited

2021

WWE Beyond The Ring

WWE Beyond The Ring

2004

Lucha Underground

Lucha Underground

2014

Mr. McMahon & His Ass

Mr. McMahon & His Ass

2006

La théorie du K.O.

La théorie du K.O.

2014

Celebrity Deathmatch

Celebrity Deathmatch

1998

USA Championship Wrestling

2003

Dark Side of the Ring

Dark Side of the Ring

2019

DOSUKOI Sumo Salon

DOSUKOI Sumo Salon

2022

Total Divas

Total Divas

2013