So serious were WWE about making WCW a distinct, separate brand, that there were talks about turning the group's flagship show, Raw Is War into WCW Monday Nitro. It's surprising on many levels that this was even discussed, but the idea revolved about WCW running Nitro on Mondays, and WWE having Smackdown on Thursday nights. For one thing, it's shocking that the McMahons weren't looking to be more protective over what they now herald as the "longest running weekly episodic TV show in history". Surely it would have made more sense for Raw to remain a WWE show, and farm out Smackdown as the WCW event? This all came about once it became clear TV companies weren't really interested in running fresh timeslots for the WCW name, something which had been associated with failure for many years. To remedy this, WWE felt they'd simply incorporate WCW into their existing timeslots, but plans were apparently nixed after Vince witnessed the reaction to Buff Bagwell vs. Booker T on an episode of Raw in early-July. What other interesting tidbits from 2001 do you recall? What are your thoughts on the items on this list? Let us know down in the comments section below!
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
