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Major Stars Talk Monday Night Wars

Posted: Jan 8th 2013 By: CMBurnham

n the midst of what was dubbed the 'Monday Night Wars', WWE and WCW clashed on a weekly basis. Offering Raw and Nitro respectively, it was an exciting time to be a wrestling fan; tuning in to see what these massive companies would do to try and outdo one another.

On January 4th 1999, Mick Foley (as Mankind) captured his very first WWE Championship on Raw. On Nitro, Kevin Nash took a dive for Hulk Hogan in what is now known as the infamous 'Fingerpoke of Doom'. WCW announcer Tony Schiavone tried to make light of WWE's decision to hand the belt to Foley. ?We understand that Mick Foley, who used to wrestle here as Cactus Jack, has just won their world title. That'll put some butts in seats...?, Schiavone said sarcastically, right before thousands of viewers changed channels to Raw.

Speaking to WWE.com, both Foley and Nash (pictured battling it out in TNA) gave different perspectives on whether or not this was the night which changed the war completely in WWE's favour.

?In retrospect, if people say it?s the night that changed wrestling, I?ll believe it. I?m happy to take that credit, but certainly think it was a night that changed people?s perception about me within the wrestling industry.

When the taping results came out, and there was the instantaneous switching of hundreds of thousands of TV sets, I think I went from being a highly recognized role player to a leading man in WWE. I still sometimes wonder if I wasn?t just a very good role player, but at least for a period of time, the results begged to differ?, Foley stated.

Kevin Nash has a different outlook on when the ratings battle shifted significantly in Vince McMahon's favour, citing an earlier incident.

?That was the night that changed wrestling? Oh, I disagree. The year that (Mike) Tyson showed up for WrestleMania (XIV) in ?98 changed wrestling. Who thinks Jan. 4, ?99, changed wrestling? A lot of (know-it-all fans)? It was already back and forth at that point with who won Mondays, so how did that change anything?

I don?t believe in it. There?s nothing spiritual about it. When Tyson came to WrestleMania, Vince knew that everybody was going to be watching that WrestleMania. They put a movie-trailer-quality piece before every match that caught everybody up to date if you hadn?t been watching the show every week. It got a great buyrate. When I watched that WrestleMania, I said, 'We?re dead in the water.' That?s what changed wrestling?.