10 Most Important Weeks In The Monday Night War
6. July 6th 1998 - Hogan Vs Goldberg
History is written by the winners, and f*cking christ almighty have WWE used that position to stub out everything amazing about a moment that - yes, objectively - probably should have been saved for pay-per-view.
Goldberg's World Title win over Hulk Hogan nearly two years after the formation of the nWo was the most cathartic babyface payoff WCW still had in their locker, and their biggest available audience saw it in all its glory on July 6th.
A euphoric and double-stuffed Georgia Dome crowd helped present the match as the biggest prize fight in pro wrestling. WWE had the real one in the form of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker on SummerSlam's Highway To Hell, but to dismiss the Nitro moment as mere hotshotting is to rob it of the prestige and glory it very clearly has in spades.
What's deliciously ironic about all this is that it's not been a philosophy they've subscribed to since then. Not least in 2020. As television rights fees became king and in the absence of a pay-per-view market they'd cannibalised, the company began offering all sorts if it meant reversing two decades of decline. Meanwhile, the organisation Triple H once referred to as a "p*ssant company" batters his brand with such consistency that the prestigious TakeOver label (and NXT's initials in general) risk permanent bastardisation.