10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2003
3. It Was More WCW Than The Invasion!
This guy had to double-check he was watching Raw and not WCW Monday Nitro more than once. OK, so that's a slight exaggeration, but the parallels were plain for all to see. Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Ric Flair, Eric Bischoff, Kevin Nash and more were elevated to lofty status during 2003, and all of them had been hot properties in 'Dubya-C-Dubya'.
Meanwhile, over on SmackDown, Hulk Hogan dipped in and out as a major draw for the other show. In short, WWE had become its own competition from a few years before, and they did so after scripting a WCW invasion angle in 2001. Work that one out, folks!
Wild.
Perhaps this was inevitable, but it's still fascinating to watch with the benefit of hindsight. Further, sagging interest in the WWE brand overall meant Raw started to play before smaller arenas by mid-2003. That sounds a heck of a lot like WCW's flagship towards the end, doesn't it?