TOP TEN: Biggest Moments Of The Monday Night Wars

December 18, 2009

1. Mankind Wins the WWF Title After WCW Announces it on Nitro

In what most consider to be the biggest backfire in pro wrestling history, Nitro broadcast live once again on January 4th from the Georgia Dome. In the second of three hours (the show had expanded to two hours in 1996 and three in 1998), Eric Bischoff, who had learned of the results of the taped Raw that was set to air that night, ordered announcer Tony Schiavone to make the following statement:

"Fans, if you’re even thinking about changing the channel to our competition, do not. We understand that Mick Foley, who wrestled here at one time as Cactus Jack, is gonna win their World title. Ha! That’s gonna put some butts in the seats, heh."

Almost immediately after Schiavone made those comments, 600,000 people switched channels to Raw to see Mankind win the WWF Championship, many of whom wished to see a guaranteed title change and/or a title victory by Foley. After Mankind won the title, many fans then switched back to Nitro (which still had five minutes of air time left), suggesting that WCW had a show that the fans wanted to see and might have emerged the victor that night had they not given away the Raw main event results. The final ratings for the night were 5.7 for Raw and 5.0 for Nitro. During the year following the incident, many WWF fans brought signs to the shows saying "Mick Foley put my ass in this seat."

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Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
Nick attended New York University and graduated in 2001 with a degree in Drama.
Nick first entered the internet wrestling community back in 2004 when he became the co-host of The Voice of Wrestling Radio Show. From there, Nick made the transition from radio personality to editor when he began working with WrestleZone in 2008.
Nick is a member of two Off-Broadway theatre companies, Another Urban Riff, and the Drama Desk Award winning Godlight Theatre Company. Nick has appeared in over a dozen Off-Broadway plays since he moved to New York City, and has shot several short and feature length films. In 2010, he completed principle photography on a film titled "How to Score Your Life," which also features TNA Knockout ODB.
Inspiration in his life has come from many people including his family, Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, The Beatles, and of course, Lassie.