10 WCW Rip-Offs That Helped WWE Win The Monday Night War

WWE has often made note of its introduction of SmackDown as a natural progression and a sign of increasing demand and growth for the company. The explanation is often done in a manner which alludes to it as revolutionary concept and a huge innovation for the wrestling industry.

However, once again WCW beat WWF to the punch on this one, when they introduced their own second weekly show, WCW Thunder, in January 1998. The popularity of WCW Nitro on TNT led Turner executives to offer Eric Bischoff another slot on TBS every Thursday. Even the branding of Thunder with the blue colour scheme was adopted by WWF.

Unlike McMahon, Bischoff was reluctant to produce a second show as he thought it may overexpose his talent and hinder his Monday night product. However, the introduction of Thunder did allow WCW to secure the services of Bret Hart, who was signed primarily as a high-profile performer to appear on Thunder.

In August 1999, the introduction of SmackDown on Thursday nights directly opposing WCW Thunder was a poetic reversal of fortunes to the introduction of Nitro four years earlier. Available on network TV, SmackDown gained a huge advantage over its cable counterpart and began to soundly defeat Thunder on a continuous basis.