10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 1995

6. The First Raws Opposing WCW Nitro Were Brutal

Vince McMahon Raw 1995
WWE.com

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.

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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.