Monday Nitro vs Monday Night Raw: a timeline of the war, 1995 to 2001
The Monday Night Wars lasted from September 1995 to March 2001. For most of that time, the WWF and WCW ran live or taped flagship shows head-to-head on Monday nights, and each week's ratings were treated like a scoreboard. These are the dates that mattered most.
1995: the war starts
Raw had launched in January 1993. WCW Monday Nitro debuted on TNT on 4 September 1995, from the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. It went head to head with Raw from its second week. On that first show Lex Luger, who had been on WWF television only weeks earlier, appeared and shocked fans. WCW executive Eric Bischoff also started giving away Raw's taped results on air, a tactic that became a trademark of the war.
1996: the nWo
Scott Hall appeared on Nitro on 27 May 1996, followed by Kevin Nash. Both had been top WWF stars. At Bash at the Beach on 7 July 1996, Hulk Hogan turned heel and joined them, forming the New World Order. Nitro began a run of winning the ratings for 83 straight weeks. Over in the WWF, Shawn Michaels was champion and Stone Cold Steve Austin won King of the Ring.
1997: Austin, Bret and Montreal
Austin and Bret Hart's WrestleMania 13 match in March 1997 turned Austin into the WWF's biggest star. At Survivor Series on 9 November 1997 in Montreal, Bret Hart lost the WWF title to Shawn Michaels in the Montreal Screwjob before leaving for WCW. Vince McMahon's on-screen role as an evil boss grew out of the fallout. In December WCW drew a huge buy rate for Starrcade 1997, Sting against Hogan, though the finish was widely criticised.
1998: the turn
Austin won the WWF title at WrestleMania XIV on 29 March 1998. On 13 April 1998, Raw beat Nitro in the ratings for the first time since 1996, with Austin's match against Vince McMahon as the draw. Goldberg won the WCW title from Hogan on 6 July 1998 but lost the streak at Starrcade in December. The WWF never really lost the lead again.
1999: the Fingerpoke and the slide
On 4 January 1999 Nitro ran the Fingerpoke of Doom, and its announcers gave away Mick Foley's WWF title win on Raw. WCW's ratings fell through the year, while the WWF's Attitude Era hit its peak with Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Mankind and The Undertaker.
2000 and 2001: the end
WCW tried a reboot under Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff in April 2000, but losses kept mounting. After the AOL Time Warner merger, WCW programming was cancelled and the WWF bought WCW's assets in March 2001. The final Nitro aired on 26 March 2001 as a simulcast with Raw, ending the war. What came next is in our article on the 2001 Invasion.