10 WCW Rip-Offs That Helped WWE Win The Monday Night War
1. PPV Quality On TV
The week before Nitro debuted, Raw's main event was Diesel and Davey Boy Smith vs. Men on a Mission - hardly earth-shattering stuff. The debut edition of Monday Nitro took place unopposed on 4 September 1995 and featured matches such as Jushin Liger vs. Brian Pillman, Ric Flair vs. Sting for the US Title, and Hulk Hogan defending the WCW Championship.
WCW's pursuit of ratings saw them push the boundaries of live TV and break the traditional conventions of wrestling booking. This led to some huge marquee matches taking place on free TV, despite the fact they would be a massive draw for PPV. This was never more evident than the epic Goldberg/Hogan bout for the WCW Championship on 6 July 1998 at the Georgia Dome.
WCW's insistence on booking big main events pushed the WWF to do the same and, soon enough, Raw's main event scene also seemed PPV standard. In a telling statistic, the WWF Title had never changed hands on Raw before Nitro debuted. At the height of the Monday Night War between '97 and 2000, it did so seven times.
WWE often still runs with this model today, presenting huge bouts like Nakamura vs. John Cena and Bálor vs. Reigns on free TV as a means of spiking ratings.