9 Ways WWE Raw Broke GOOD Ratings Records 20 Years Ago
1. WWE's First Unbeaten Full Calendar Year - 1999
Happy Christmas (War Is Over).
By December 1999, WWE had so profoundly re-taken control of the ratings battle than every other metric suddenly skewed their way too. WCW was losing viewers and losing money, despite efforts to arrest a slide late in the year by purchasing the services of Vince Russo - then considered something of a secret weapon and backstage architect of a transcendent era.
The received wisdom was only half correct - Russo was an absolute weapon, alright. A loaded one that went off in the direction of everybody in range rather than the opposition once it wasn't kept under the restrictive restraint of Vince McMahon. The mere notion of The Chairman in such a role at the time only emphasises Russo's untethered insanity.
Indeed, the best was yet to come from the company after their decisive and dominant annum. 2000 took WWE's electrifying wild west year and smoothed the jagged edges to magnificent effect. The in-ring was refined to augment and enhance the Sports Entertainment, rather than inconvenience it.
Plots dovetailed as characters became more consistent. A team headed up by Chris Kreski and his oft-maligned storyboarding process drew literal lines between Point A and Point B, despite the fact that Point C - Vince McMahon monopolising mainstream professional wrestling - had effectively already been achieved.