10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 1995
6. The First Raws Opposing WCW Nitro Were Brutal
WWF officials, including McMahon, clearly didn't see WCW as a serious threat.
If they had, then the first episodes of Raw opposing their new Monday Nitro show would've been better. Try this on for size: Raw's 11 September edition (the first to go head-to-head with WCW) featured matches like The Smoking Gunns vs. Rad Radford & The Brooklyn Brawler and Isaac Yankem vs. Scott Taylor. Hardly thrilling fare.
The Shawn Michaels vs. Sid main event did feel a bit more like it, but there was a general malaise mulling around over Raw. The WWF had become accustomed to being the only show available on Monday nights, and they weren't exactly quick off the mark when it came to stamping authority over the time slot.
Nitro, by comparison, was live every single week and had a vibrant energy the WWF's product lacked. It's like McMahon thought he could put anything out there and it wouldn't matter, because the fanbase wouldn't check out WCW's program.
He was wrong.