The battle for ratings dominance between WWE and the now-defunct WCW served as perhaps the swan song for the professional wrestling industry. Previously, wrestling was demeaned as a circus show but the 1980s boom paved the way for the budding industry, with larger-than-life personalities such as Hogan, Savage, and Warrior enjoying mainstream recognition.
The burst of popularity lasted for a couple of years but by the mid-1990s, the surge had subsided. The steroid scandal in 1992 had battered the industry and professional wrestling was stagnant and watered-down, with cartoonish gimmicks and ideas dominating the programming. The leader in sports entertainment, WWE, was almost complacent and Vince McMahon carried on with the uninspired product but then WCW emerged, threatening to purge the promotion in Stanford.
The roots of the rivalry between two mega promotions can be traced back to the 1980s and the hatred predated the inception of both RAW and Nitro. Ted Turner and Vince McMahon harbored grudges towards each other but only in the 1990s were the two able to compete with each other, with Nitro and RAW going head-to-head in what is now known in wrestling lore as the Monday Night Wars.
The Monday Night Wars Will Forever Loom Over Wrestling
The two corporations were adamant and ruthless about tearing each other to bits and consequently, wrestling fans were blessed with the most entertaining couple of years in the history of the business. The Monday Night Wars gave birth to a number of megastars, with names such as Steve Austin, The Rock, Goldberg, and Sting becoming household favorites.
Moreover, popular wrestlers from the previous era, such as Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were still able to compete and therefore, the industry had an abundance of star power. Between the two shows, more than 10 million viewers tuned in to watch wrestling, and for a period of time, wearing a Steve Austin shirt made you the cool kid in school. Bluntly put, professional wrestling was the Call of Duty of the 1990s. Wrestling fans were spoiled and maybe far too much.
Fans and experts alike remember the Monday Night Wars fondly and the adoration is well justified as the era was indeed awesome. At the same time, it cannot be denied that the industry suffered in the long term and will continue to do so as the shadow of monstrous success will continue to loom over.
In many ways, the Monday Night Wars was equivalent to the entire industry catching lightning in a bottle, a one-off phenomenon that will never be replicated again. The business was brimming with once-in-a-lifetime talent and despite the cool down period in the years prior, professional wrestling was still a fairly recent addition into the entertainment culture and so the novelty was still there.
Moreover, the internet was still in its infancy and kayfabe was very much alive, fueling another layer of speculation and keeping the sensitive bits of information under wraps. With all of these factors coming together at the same time, the entire industry witnessed another massive surge in popularity, even surpassing the company had garnered in the previous decade.
Much like the initial boom period, the magic of Monday Night Wars lasted for a few years, and following the demise of WCW, the business entered another cool-down period but fans were left with bloated expectations and the entitlement persists to this day.
Every following era is deemed inferior and the aforementioned time period is praised as the pinnacle of the industry and fans will not settle anything but the recreation of the magic of Monday Night Wars. Therefore, anything in comparison is deemed trash without a second thought.
The Monday Night Wars were damaging in the sense that the entire time period is now set as the measuring stick and the success has distorted the perception of what encompasses a good wrestling program. As the majority of the programing was rated TV-14, fans nowadays consider blood and swearing as constituents of a good wrestling program when in reality, that opinion is far from the truth.
The Epoch Distorted Perception And Bloated Expectations
Nowadays, the majority of the fans will not settle for anything less than Austin and the Rock on every segment, and anything less than a bloodbath is lambasted as being mediocre entertainment. This might as well be the curse of the Monday Night Wars and instead of appreciating what they are handed, fans will forever long for the industry to catch lightning in a bottle for the second time.
Simply put, the Monday Night Wars was far too successful. The very essence of professional wrestling was redefined but in reality, that type of programming was not sustainable in the long term. As stated before, the stars had to align for the Monday Night Wars to work, and luckily, everything came together at the right time and the industry soared to great heights and then came crashing down.
Expectations were bloated and will forever remain so, as the shadow of the successful time period will automatically render everything else inferior. Lastly, the era was so successful that it led to the closure of WCW, the chief rival of WWE and a behemoth of entertainment. That is damage whichever way you look at it.