I do agree with those who say that from the spring of 96 to the winter of 97, Nitro was arguably the greatest wrestling show ever produce (in the United States, I almost have zero knowledge of promotions that are not based in my home country, unfortunately I wish I was interested). They had everything you wanted in a wrestling show every week. Which is probably why their pay per views sucked major ass, but that is not what I am talking about right now. But summarily I would say this was the verdict of every year of the war:
Late 1995- Tie. Nitro was just getting off the ground and Raw was just going through the motions until the road to Wrestlemania XII.
1996- Nitro. Raw was not necessarily bad that year but the NWO angle was so groundbreaking at the time (at least for those who did not watch the angle from Japan). But Raw would pick up steam again by Survivor Series. Nitro still wins the year though.
1997- Nitro barely wins in my opinion. The ONLY reason I give Nitro the nod here is because they were still on a ratings winning streak at the time. But creatively, both shows were on fire that year. This is why I consider 1997 to be the greatest year of my wrestling fandom from a creative standpoint. All three promotions that I knew of (WWE, WCW, ECW) were just putting out some great shit. This was the year that the WWE gave the maturing Hulkamaniacs the product they were ready to see as they were becoming teenagers. (I can't wait for this to happen for the kids wearing Cena shirts today)
1998- Tie. Austin was hitting his stride as the man and so was Goldberg in WCW. The new Austin/Mcmahon feud made the WWF main event scene pretty hot. While WCW's mid card saved Nitro despite the lackluster main events. I could be wrong but I think guys like Hogan were still closing Nitro while Goldberg played mid card World Champion until the fall. This is why they should have waited to do Hogan/Goldberg at Starrcade instead of some episode of Nitro. It showed that Mcmahon had a more leveled head than Bischoff. Eric started panicking way too soon and wasted a money maker on free TV.
1999- Raw regains it's number one status in my opinion. The reason is due to the fact that WWE was living in the present while WCW was living in the past. We saw a brand new WWE while seeing all this potential on Nitro being wasted for god knows what reason. Both shows were overbooked all year, but WCW did it on a whole other level. Just swerving for the sake of swerving. That being said, Raw wins though.
2000- early 2001- Raw. WCW started getting so desperate that Vince Russo and his kayfabe breaking self was one step away from going on live TV and asking his audience "why do you watch this fake stuff"? Meanwhile the WWE was so deep in terms of their roster that their face of the company Stone Cold Steve Austin was able to take a year off to rehab his injuries.
So basically the wars ended up being tied with the WWE being lucky enough to win the final battle. WCW should have never died. But when you have a monumental $62 million loss in one year and bad morale behind the scenes, it gives AOL/Time Warner all the ammo they need to pull the trigger. The inmates ended up running the asylum in WCW which is something you would never see in a company owned by Vince Mcmahon. You guys complain about Vince being to much of a control freak, but it is because has to be. And if an inmate(s) wants to test Vince's authority, then something like the Montreal Screwjob (if it wasn't a work) will show you how a man takes charge in a business full of egomaniacs. On that night, Vince basically told Bret "This is my fucking company". And I am a Bret mark.
Late 1995- Tie. Nitro was just getting off the ground and Raw was just going through the motions until the road to Wrestlemania XII.
1996- Nitro. Raw was not necessarily bad that year but the NWO angle was so groundbreaking at the time (at least for those who did not watch the angle from Japan). But Raw would pick up steam again by Survivor Series. Nitro still wins the year though.
1997- Nitro barely wins in my opinion. The ONLY reason I give Nitro the nod here is because they were still on a ratings winning streak at the time. But creatively, both shows were on fire that year. This is why I consider 1997 to be the greatest year of my wrestling fandom from a creative standpoint. All three promotions that I knew of (WWE, WCW, ECW) were just putting out some great shit. This was the year that the WWE gave the maturing Hulkamaniacs the product they were ready to see as they were becoming teenagers. (I can't wait for this to happen for the kids wearing Cena shirts today)
1998- Tie. Austin was hitting his stride as the man and so was Goldberg in WCW. The new Austin/Mcmahon feud made the WWF main event scene pretty hot. While WCW's mid card saved Nitro despite the lackluster main events. I could be wrong but I think guys like Hogan were still closing Nitro while Goldberg played mid card World Champion until the fall. This is why they should have waited to do Hogan/Goldberg at Starrcade instead of some episode of Nitro. It showed that Mcmahon had a more leveled head than Bischoff. Eric started panicking way too soon and wasted a money maker on free TV.
1999- Raw regains it's number one status in my opinion. The reason is due to the fact that WWE was living in the present while WCW was living in the past. We saw a brand new WWE while seeing all this potential on Nitro being wasted for god knows what reason. Both shows were overbooked all year, but WCW did it on a whole other level. Just swerving for the sake of swerving. That being said, Raw wins though.
2000- early 2001- Raw. WCW started getting so desperate that Vince Russo and his kayfabe breaking self was one step away from going on live TV and asking his audience "why do you watch this fake stuff"? Meanwhile the WWE was so deep in terms of their roster that their face of the company Stone Cold Steve Austin was able to take a year off to rehab his injuries.
So basically the wars ended up being tied with the WWE being lucky enough to win the final battle. WCW should have never died. But when you have a monumental $62 million loss in one year and bad morale behind the scenes, it gives AOL/Time Warner all the ammo they need to pull the trigger. The inmates ended up running the asylum in WCW which is something you would never see in a company owned by Vince Mcmahon. You guys complain about Vince being to much of a control freak, but it is because has to be. And if an inmate(s) wants to test Vince's authority, then something like the Montreal Screwjob (if it wasn't a work) will show you how a man takes charge in a business full of egomaniacs. On that night, Vince basically told Bret "This is my fucking company". And I am a Bret mark.