6. That'll Put Butts In The Seats
It's not a secret that both WCW and the WWF resorted to some "cheap" tactics in an attempt to gain an advantage during the Monday Night War. Anybody that says they wouldn't have done the same in that situation is a liar. One of the more infamous tactics was WCW giving away the results of taped Raw episodes live, on-air, giving fans no reason to switch their channels to Raw (Nitro came on at 8pm, and Raw at 9pm). Nitro's announcers would say that the competition taped this week's show, and would then quickly go through the match results, offering snide remarks about certain results and certain people being pushed. Their most well-known example of this was on January 4th, 1999. That was the night when Mick Foley, as Mankind, won the WWF Title for the very first time. "If you're even thinking about changing the channel to our competition, fans, do not, because we understand that Mick Foley, who wrestled here one time as Cactus Jack, is going to win their World Title. Ha! That's gonna put some butts in the seats." That was the exact quote said by WCW play-by-play guy, Tony Schiavone, on Nitro, fed to him through his headset by Eric Bischoff. In theory, it makes sense. If you've already given your competitor's results away, it gives fans reason to stay and watch your show. On this occasion, though, WCW didn't think it through very well. Mankind was one of the most beloved names in the business at the time. People got excited that he was finally going to win the title. Hell, it was a World Title change, period. That always gets people talking. Raw would go on to win the ratings battle that week, as fans tuned to Raw in droves to see the title change. It was an example when arrogance and a lack of morals overrides common sense and good thinking. For those fans that decided to stick around and continue watching Nitro, though...