The battle between WWE and WCW was known as the biggest wrestling war in history. Going head to head with WWE's Monday Night RAW, WCW's Nitro aired its very first episode in 1995. With some big stars on the roster, WCW enjoyed an amazing run in the early days of the weekly television show, and they even defeated their rival company for weeks. Despite such initial success, WCW went of business within a few years.

RELATED: 5 Ways Goldberg Was Better In WCW (& 5 Ways He Was In WWE)

The Atlanta based defunct company produced nearly three hundred Nitro episodes in seven years. From 1995 to 2001, WCW had many highs and lows. There were epic moments like Goldberg winning the World Title and awful things like the "Fingerpoke of Doom."

7 2001

booker t

Considering WCW was forced to shut down in 2001, it should be the worst year for Nitro. This was the year when there was complete mayhem in the company and the fight with WWE was long lost.

WCW stayed in business for only three months in 2001, as WWE bought it at the end of March. Since the big stars as well as several young talents departed, WCW saw only two WCW Heavyweight Champions in 2001. Booker T was the last WCW Heavyweight Champion when Nitro was on the television for the last time in 2001.

6 2000

hogan bash at the ebach

2000 was the beginning of the end for Nitro because it was when WCW started to lose momentum. With plummeting ratings and over-reliance on past Superstars, WCW acknowledged the issue, and they attempted to make several changes to the product. For instance, the company went back to having a two-hour show instead of three hours.

RELATED: 10 Things From WCW That Have Surprisingly Aged Well

On the other hand, Nitro was also rebooted this year to have a fresh start of the program, but it didn't help to improve the ratings. It was the year when WCW lost their biggest draw, Hulk Hogan, who walked out of the company after the infamous Bash at the Beach incident.

5 1995

nitro debut

1995 was the debut year of Nitro, as the show televised for the first time in September. Although Nitro was on the TV for just three months in 1995, it made a great first impression and looked like RAW could finally have serious competition. Likewise, the first episode of Nitro created a buzz, and it beat WWE's flagship show. Furthermore, Hulk Hogan was the WCW Heavyweight Champion when Nitro first aired on TV, which helped to garner attention.

Besides Hogan, Randy Savage and Ric Flair were primary reasons for the growth of Nitro in the first year. Savage and Ric Flair had an astounding feud in the latter part of the year.

4 1999

sting hart

1999 was a subpar year for Nitro, even though they had an incredible previous year. WCW started the year on a positive note, and the ratings were still going strong. It, however, wasn't good enough to beat the rival company regularly. Nitro saw a significant drop in ratings in the last few months of 1999.

RELATED: 10 Things About WCW That Made No Sense

Chris Jericho, who wasn't treated well by Eric Bischoff in WCW, joined WWE and started getting the main event push to put a question mark on the potential future of young talents in WCW. Several seasoned performers were WCW Heavyweight Champions on Nitro, including the likes of Bret Hart, Hollywood Hogan, and Sting. WCW's attempt to make changes in the product didn't allow any WCW Champion to have a long run in 1999. At the end of 1999, WCW brought in writers like Ed Ferrara and Vince Russo, but they failed to prevent the downfall of the company.

3 1996

nwo

1996 was the year of a new era in the world of professional wrestling, and it was the break out year for Monday Nitro. As the company landed almost all established stars of this business due to their financial backing, it abruptly started getting mainstream attention. Nitro began to see an upper hand in The Monday Night Wars around June of 1996, and they managed to beat WWE for eighty-four consecutive weeks, which was an incredible achievement.

The formation of the nWo was the highlight of WCW in 1996, which essentially changed the game for Monday Nitro. Riding high on the most unexpected heel turn in the history of pro-wrestling, Hulk Hogan led Nitro to have their first successful year.

2 1997

hogan wcw champ

1997 was a tremendous year for Nitro, as it commenced while continuing the dominance over RAW in Monday Night Wars. The year focused on nWo, but it also saw the rise of some new stars in the company. Hollywood Hogan had two impressive title reigns this year. Also, Goldberg emerged on the scene in 1997 and began his popular unbeaten streak.

Even though ratings were good for Nitro, the storylines were humdrum and repetitive in 1997. In comparison, RAW did an awe-inspiring job, which resulted in starting the golden era in WWE, the Attitude Era.

1 1998

goldberg

1998 was the most profitable year for Nitro and WCW. It was certainly the most competitive year in the history of Monday Night Wars because both RAW and Nitro were drawing big numbers every single week. Some of the highest-rated Monday Night Nitro episodes took place in 1998, including the highest ever ratings in the history of WCW.

Besides Hulk Hogan, it was also the year of Goldberg, who not only won the WCW Heavyweight Championship for the first time on an episode of Nitro but also headlined a couple of pay-per-views. Goldberg's winning streak came to an end this year at Starrcade.

NEXT: 5 Most Successful WCW Free Agent Signings (& 5 Big Signings That Flopped)