ironworks
07-20-2013, 06:58 PM
Date: July 20, 1998 (15 years ago)
Event: In a head-to-head Monday night battle, WWF Raw decisively beat WCW Nitro in the TV ratings two weeks removed from Goldberg's famous WCW Title victory in the Georgia Dome. This turned out to be one of those turning points in the Monday Night Wars that pointed to WWE eventually winning out.
For Raw, the main event featured Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Kane leading to the Fully Loaded PPV. For WCW, the main event was Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page, plus WCW featured Sting & Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall & The Giant in a PPV-quality tag match on the show.
Torch Back-Issue: PWTorch Newsletter #504.
Not a VIP member? Find out how to access over 1,000 PWTorch Newsletter back-issues right now by CLICKING HERE - PWTorch.com/GoVIP.
PWTORCH #504: COVER SIDEBAR STORY
Raw scores a big win over Nitro...again
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
In recent months there have been higher-profile battles on Monday night between Raw and Nitro, such as Steve Austin regaining the WWF Title from Kane or Goldberg beating Hollywood Hogan for the WCW Hvt. Title. But there has never been a more even match-up on paper in the sense that the West Coast feed now matches up both Raw and Nitro in the same timeslots across the country.
Neither program featured hot-shot PPV caliber main events, but both were above average in content. WCW had one advantage -- they knew what had been pre-taped for Raw and could counter-program.
So how does WCW explain getting soundly beaten by Raw this past Monday, July 20? Raw posted a 5.0 rating compared to Nitro's 4.2 in the two concurrent hours. Raw won seven of the eight quarter hours and tied the other.
One of the more intriguing battles this week was how Bret Hart would do in his first real Nitro main event up against Steve Austin on Raw. The answer was decisive. Bret vs. Dallas Page (who should be hot considering his recent push) drew a 4.0 while Austin vs. Kane & Mankind drew a whopping 6.0 rating, surpassing the Austin vs. Kane title rematch a few weeks earlier which drew a 5.9. Also, in the battle of secondary main events, Rocky Maivia vs. X-Pac outdrew Curt Hennig vs. Lex Luger, 4.8 to 4.4.
WCW's counter-programming of the pretaped Raw is tough to justify. When Raw first came on the air with the McMahon-Undertaker angle, Nitro featured a replay of a Kevin Nash interview from Thunder days earlier and a match between Yuji Nagata and Saturn. Raw won that quarter 5.1 to 3.6. Opposite of the Austin interview that opened the second hour of Raw, Nitro featured Ultimo Dragon vs. Tokyo Magnum and Scott Norton vs. Jim Powers. Raw, not surprisingly, won that quarter 5.6 to 3.6.
The biggest disappointment for WCW is that the marquee tag title match that could have been built into a PPV main event -- Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Scott Hall & Giant -- lost to Raw 4.4 to 4.5. Raw featured D-Lo Brown vs. Hunter, Pierre vs. Steve Williams, and an angle with Yamaguchi-san during Nitro's tag title match.
The only consolation for WCW is that they didn't use Goldberg (who was there and did wrestle a dark match). Raw, though, has established a solid claim as the new number one show on Monday nights, having won seven of the last eight head-to-head battles.
Event: In a head-to-head Monday night battle, WWF Raw decisively beat WCW Nitro in the TV ratings two weeks removed from Goldberg's famous WCW Title victory in the Georgia Dome. This turned out to be one of those turning points in the Monday Night Wars that pointed to WWE eventually winning out.
For Raw, the main event featured Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Kane leading to the Fully Loaded PPV. For WCW, the main event was Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page, plus WCW featured Sting & Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall & The Giant in a PPV-quality tag match on the show.
Torch Back-Issue: PWTorch Newsletter #504.
Not a VIP member? Find out how to access over 1,000 PWTorch Newsletter back-issues right now by CLICKING HERE - PWTorch.com/GoVIP.
PWTORCH #504: COVER SIDEBAR STORY
Raw scores a big win over Nitro...again
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
In recent months there have been higher-profile battles on Monday night between Raw and Nitro, such as Steve Austin regaining the WWF Title from Kane or Goldberg beating Hollywood Hogan for the WCW Hvt. Title. But there has never been a more even match-up on paper in the sense that the West Coast feed now matches up both Raw and Nitro in the same timeslots across the country.
Neither program featured hot-shot PPV caliber main events, but both were above average in content. WCW had one advantage -- they knew what had been pre-taped for Raw and could counter-program.
So how does WCW explain getting soundly beaten by Raw this past Monday, July 20? Raw posted a 5.0 rating compared to Nitro's 4.2 in the two concurrent hours. Raw won seven of the eight quarter hours and tied the other.
One of the more intriguing battles this week was how Bret Hart would do in his first real Nitro main event up against Steve Austin on Raw. The answer was decisive. Bret vs. Dallas Page (who should be hot considering his recent push) drew a 4.0 while Austin vs. Kane & Mankind drew a whopping 6.0 rating, surpassing the Austin vs. Kane title rematch a few weeks earlier which drew a 5.9. Also, in the battle of secondary main events, Rocky Maivia vs. X-Pac outdrew Curt Hennig vs. Lex Luger, 4.8 to 4.4.
WCW's counter-programming of the pretaped Raw is tough to justify. When Raw first came on the air with the McMahon-Undertaker angle, Nitro featured a replay of a Kevin Nash interview from Thunder days earlier and a match between Yuji Nagata and Saturn. Raw won that quarter 5.1 to 3.6. Opposite of the Austin interview that opened the second hour of Raw, Nitro featured Ultimo Dragon vs. Tokyo Magnum and Scott Norton vs. Jim Powers. Raw, not surprisingly, won that quarter 5.6 to 3.6.
The biggest disappointment for WCW is that the marquee tag title match that could have been built into a PPV main event -- Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Scott Hall & Giant -- lost to Raw 4.4 to 4.5. Raw featured D-Lo Brown vs. Hunter, Pierre vs. Steve Williams, and an angle with Yamaguchi-san during Nitro's tag title match.
The only consolation for WCW is that they didn't use Goldberg (who was there and did wrestle a dark match). Raw, though, has established a solid claim as the new number one show on Monday nights, having won seven of the last eight head-to-head battles.