9. Nitro Was Beating Raw Yet WWE Didn't Give Up
The "Monday Night Wars" that saw WWE's flagship show Monday Night Raw deal with WCW Monday Night started in September 1995. Even though Raw was a couple of years older, Nitro quickly passed them in the ratings. It was a tough time for WWE in 1996 as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall formed the NWO. People tuned in to Nitro more than Raw. There was legitimate concern that WWE was in trouble. It was reflected not just in the TV ratings, but the attendance at shows and PPV numbers too. When you have to deal with that sort of thing, you can either sink or swim. Eventually WWE got it right and passed them in the spring of 1998, but for 82 weeks in a row they lost to Nitro in the ratings. What was interesting about 1997 is that WWE's product wasn't bad at all. They were starting to turn that corner. It's just that took a year until the numbers showed it. Part of that reason is because the talent had to be built up and also to WCW's credit they had an entertaining show. Back in 1997, Nitro was going full steam ahead with the NWO. It was a very exciting time for them with Sting opposing them in his Crow gimmick where he didn't speak at all. It all built up to Sting vs. Hogan at Starrcade in December. Fans were interested in that. They also did a good job with the cruiserweights and Goldberg started to gain a lot of fans towards the end of that year too. There will likely never be another year like 1997 for WWE where their backs were against the wall and the future of the company was in doubt. That's why it's so amazing to see the angles they built there and how they were able to conquer WCW the way they did.