Rewatching The Last Wrestling Show To Beat WWE Raw In The Ratings

10. The Re-Run

Interestingly, the October 26, 1998 Nitro came one night after that year's infamous Halloween Havoc PPV.

If you remember, the broadcast feed of that PPV was cut off in millions of homes before the event could conclude. For those homes, that meant that the last thing they saw was Diamond Dallas Page about to lock up with Goldberg as DDP challenged for Da Man's WCW World Championship.

Desperate to make it up to its audience, WCW replayed Page vs. Goldberg midway through this particular Nitro. The match itself holds up to this day as a barn-burner that was was a highlight of both men's careers, and the spot where DDP reverses a Jackhammer into the Diamond Cutter will still generate a huge pop from anyone who revisits this bout.

In spite of Tony Schiavone's constant reasoning that airing this PPV match on free TV had absolutely nothing to do with any ratings war, it is interesting to note that WCW opted to air the match just as Raw was starting.

Page would follow this stellar Halloween Havoc bout up by dethroning Bret Hart as United States Champion in this Nitro's main event.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 18th Dec 2020

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WWE Raw WCW Halloween Havoc