20 Mind-Blowing Facts About WCW

6. Tony Schiavone Caused 600,000 People To Switch To Raw

WWE.com
WWE.com

One of the most infamous moments in Nitro history, and a moment which defined the 'Monday Night Wars', Tony Schiavone's assertions that fans shouldn't switch over to WWF Raw Is War and watch Mick Foley (as Mankind) win the WWF Title led to over half a million people doing exactly that.

The concept was simple, Raw was often taped in advance, whereas Nitro was live, so Eric Bischoff instructed his announcers to try and hammer home that fact to those watching. After all, if Nitro was live anything could happen, whilst Raw was already in the can so there was little room for excitement transpiring on the fly.

Conversely, WCW didn't get their own idea. Instead of simply letting people know their program was live and anything could go down, they gave away what was about to happen on Raw, which would let people know if it was worth switching over. For a big WWF Title change, switching was the only option, and this was just one example of WCW shooting themselves right in the foot.

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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.