Original subtitles

- I got a hell of an idea.

Consider this an open invitation, vince mcmahon.

- How do you describe the Monday night wars?

The yankees can't stand the boston red sox.

Well, in wrestling, we have wwe and wcw.

- Hulkamania lives at world championship wrestling!

- We just wanna be as successful as vince is,

And then we'd like to, you know, kick his butt.

♪ ♪

- He was there to try to put vince out of business.

- They beat us for 83 weeks straight.

We fought back.

- Go!

- I felt very competitive with 'em.

It's like, "hey, man, [bleep] these guys."

- This is going entirely too far.

- Such a unique time in the business.

[thunder booms]

- Everything had an edge.

It was kind of like the cool thing to do.

- Mike tyson!

- Uh-oh, here we go!

- You don't know what's going to happen next,

And you don't wanna miss it.

- It was a legit rivalry and competition

Between two companies.

- You want a war?

You're gonna get one.

♪ ♪

- This rivalry has just escalated into a war.

♪ ♪

- When two legends collide,

Their rivalry stays pinned in our minds forever.

♪ ♪

This is where we break down the legendary stories

Behind the greatest rivalries of all time.

♪ ♪

I'm freddie prinze jr.

And this is "wwe rivals."

♪ ♪

This was the craziest time in wrestling

That I had ever experienced as a fan.

We're gonna discuss wcw and wwe.

- As a fan, you're getting, like, the best of both worlds

To where you're tapin' "nitro" on the vcr in one room,

And then in the other room,

You're watching live 'cause you can't go back

And watch both, otherwise, you're missing the key points

Of the stories. So I feel like

It was just such a good job of really trying to honor,

I guess, the customer or the viewer

By putting out, like, good stuff.

[crowd roars]

- So, john, I'm wondering if you can

Sort of put into perspective--

How did this come about?

- Sure. It's because of television.

Look, television was regional, and they were talking about

Goin' national because they saw what was coming

With national television, and they knew somebody

Was gonna do it.

- Hello, everyone. This is vince mcmahon

In the studios of the usa cable network.

We wholeheartedly welcome you to the premiere

Of all-american wrestling.

- Vince is the guy that is going national.

- Welcome to wrestlemania iii!

- And look at the hulkster.

What an unbelievable individual he is.

- But guys weren't able to beat vince at it,

And the one guy that's left is jim crockett in the carolinas.

And jim crockett sells to ted turner.

So this is the last battle of the territories

In the united states.

- I wanna congratulate world championship wrestling

For continuing the tradition of bringing

Action-packed wrestling excitement to tbs.

The reason that I got involved from an ownership standpoint

Is that I had a vision that eventually,

We'd be successful with it.

- Wcw was the distant number two to wwe.

Nobody ever thought it would be competitive to wwe.

- We just wanna be as successful as vince is,

And then we'd like to, you know, kick his butt.

[sirens wailing] - welcome, everyone

To "Monday night raw"!

- "Monday night raw" starting on the usa network in 1993

Was revolutionary.

- Prior to that, shows felt very canned and put-together.

The launch of "raw"

Sort of completely changed sports entertainment.

- Is uncut.

- Uncensored-- - and uncooked.

- The live nature of it--

The sort of anything-can-happen quickness

Of it-- - wait a minute!

- One, two, three! [bell rings]

- He got him!

- There was a magic to that show,

And the way it was presented--

That sort of was a game changer.

All: Macho! Macho! Macho! Macho!

- Back then, vince was moving in a different direction.

Vince was moving to younger wrestlers at the time,

And it was like a youth movement.

- Unbelievable applause for lex luger!

- And it just seemed like the perfect time

For us to mutually part ways.

When I did "thunder in paradise,"

On the soundstage next to me, where I was filming,

Was ted turner's wcw.

Eric bischoff started coming over,

And he started bringing ric flair with him, goin',

"hey, hulk, we want you to come back

And be a part of wrestling."

I said, "no way."

This went on for a good five or six months.

I missed wrestling so much that finally, I caved,

And basically went to work for ted turner.

I told ya hulkamania was gonna run wild in the wcw, brother!

Look at all the hulkamaniacs!

[crowd cheering]

- That was the first blow of, like, "hmm."

Now they're taking established stars from the wwe

And bringing them into wcw.

That's gonna get 'em noticed.

- Hulkamania lives in world championship wrestling!

- The first night on a pay-per-view

It had much more traction than they'd had ever.

One man, one champ,

And the only champion in the world today.

Everybody double-bobbed and said,

"whoa, what's going on over here?"

It made everybody look and not look away.

- And then from there, it was randy savage.

- I'm here for only one reason

And that's to take it to the limit, yeah!

- Mach and hogan came in. It was huge.

- All these wrestlers that we used to watch growing up

Were now going to a different

Place of business

To work for someone else

That we never thought we'd see before.

- Hulk hogan and "macho man" randy savage

Had been established as the two biggest stars

In all of sports entertainment.

So the idea that they were on another channel,

Wrestling for another company,

Instantly gave that company credibility

And gave that company eyeballs.

- Without a shadow of a doubt,

This is where the big boys play.

♪ ♪

- Look, they were out-vincing vince.

Both: Yeah. - You know, you look at what

Vince did at wrestlemania 1.

He poaches piper.

He brings in liberace.

He brings in muhammad ali.

They were doing the same things.

- The hulkster is in the ring!

High-fives shaquille o'neal!

- They poached hogan.

They bring in the celebrities.

This was his most formidable opponent by far.

♪ ♪

- We'd like to make an announcement today.

"wcw Monday nitro" live on tnt will be seen Monday nights.

- The first time I heard about "nitro"

Going head-to-head with us, I thought they were crazy.

Why wouldn't you go on a different day

Where you have an opportunity to have all of the audience?

- I wanted to go on Monday night,

'cause I wanted to go head-to-head with vince.

You can't beat anybody

Unless you get into the ring with 'em.

- We wanna give viewers a choice.

We believe we got the biggest stars in our industry.

- When wcw made the decision to go head-to-head

Monday nights, that was absolutely an act of war.

- It was real competition--

Same time spot, one channel apart.

- Buckle your seatbelt, because it's gonna be

A bumpy, bumpy ride.

♪ ♪

- Everyone in the minneapolis, st. Paul area getting ready

For "Monday nitro" on tnt this Monday night.

Check your local listings. It's coming your way.

I had just finished doing, probably, about six months

Worth of research.

I traveled all over the country,

Sitting in different focus groups.

The element of surprise is one of the things

That I kept hearing.

- And I've got the inside track on a scorching rumor

That has a very prominent wrestling superstar

About to sign with world championship wrestling.

- Lex luger was one of wwe's biggest stars.

Lex luger's contract had expired.

Lex didn't let anybody in wwe know

That his contract was coming up,

And somehow, wwe just let it slip between their fingertips.

- As we're getting closer and closer

To the debut of "nitro," lex came to me, and he said,

"look, my contract is up Sunday."

I thought, "whoa, huh."

"lex, it's eric.

I got an idea."

[laughs]

♪ ♪

- What a matchup we have got in store

In this debut broadcast.

- What in the hell is he doing here?

All: Luger! Luger! Luger!

- Lex came in, that was like, "whoa."

- He had jumped ship.

People are freaking out.

He really helped set us up

For great success, because there was already controversy.

- Now we have the opportunity to really surprise people.

- Well, you said things are gonna happen

Every Monday night, bischoff, and it's happenin'!

- It was definitely a big shocker for wrestling fans.

- "wha--how is this happening?"

- Wait, luger's in there!

- Lex luger in the ring!

- It was such a shocker to everyone.

It was a big deal.

- Lex luger has come from out of nowhere!

- It was gonna be different.

It was never gonna be the same ever again.

- This is the most amazing turn of events

I have ever seen.

- It worked magically, didn't it, bruce prichard?

- Damn, how did that happen?

- I am sick and tired

Of playing around with kids!

I'm here to get it on

With the big boys, and that means you!

- It was electric. I mean, this was our

Opportunity to gain some more momentum.

I know where you've been, brother!

- It told everybody that you have to tune into "nitro"

Every week because you don't know

What's going to happen next.

And you don't wanna miss it.

- Okay, we're gonna compete. Let's go.

We're in a fight. Let's go fight.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- Last week, debut edition of "nitro,"

We saw it-- lex luger stunning the world,

Making his appearance here.

That lex luger moment, it had a lot more to do

With "nitro's" success-- in its early success--

Than almost anything, because it set the tone.

Here's this new show coming on to compete

With "Monday night raw," head-to-head,

And we're doing things that

Nobody else in the wrestling business had ever done.

- At the time, "Monday night raw"

Was recorded live every other week,

And they were live every week,

And they would often give spoilers

As to what was gonna happen

On our taped shows.

Announcer: In case you're tempted to grab

The remote control, check out the competition,

Don't bother.

Shawn michaels beat the big guy

With a superkick he couldn't earn a green belt with

At a local ymca.

- He wasn't there to do good business for himself.

He was there to try to put vince out of business.

It was just, "try to attack vince mcmahon.

That's how I'm going to get recognized."

- Look at her.

- And alundra blayze, once again,

The wwe woman's champion!

- So alundra blayze never lost the wwe women's championship.

But her contract ran out,

And eric bischoff and wcw

Signed her right away,

And she brought the championship belt with her

To "nitro."

- That, indeed, it is. - Not in the trash can.

- And that's what I think

Of the wwe woman's championship belt.

- Alundra blayze throwing that title in the garbage can

Let the wwe know that the gloves were off.

- Competition is one thing,

But wcw, some of their tactics

Were a little on the personal side.

- Oh, sheet covers just got soaked up

On that one in connecticut,

Didn't they, my friend? - Wow!

- Competition's great, and it brings out the best.

It also brings out the worst sometimes,

And one thing that we had never done

Was acknowledge our competition.

"don't acknowledge them. They don't exist."

But we were in a fight,

And there are no rules in a fight.

- I built this company by doing one thing really well--

Buying old assets and repackaging them.

Heck, I even bought old wrestlers.

- The billionaire ted skits

Were something we had to do.

It was unorthodox.

- Joining us tonight, the huckster and the nacho man.

- Vince started doing the mockeries--

Not really the smartest move,

'cause all of a sudden,

The wwe wrestling fan

Who loved those two guys

And you mock those two?

That pissed wwe fans off.

- It kind of, like, made fans--

"we better turn to wcw to see if hulk hogan's

Really pushing a walker."

It made people look, you know,

To see if I was really that washed up.

- I was not that offended by 'em.

I said, "boy, vince must be hurtin'

To be resortin' to this kind of stuff.

- We're losing guys left and right,

And our business is suffering.

♪ ♪

- We were starting to lose in the ratings more regularly,

And it became clear

That wcw had, what I would call,

The hot hand.

- Am I on a roll, or am I on a roll, bobby?

- You're on a roll. - How 'bout it?

♪ ♪

- When I got there, business wasn't that great.

- I can remember very distinctly being in pittsburgh

In a half-full arena, standing in the curtain

With austin, him saying, "man, do you think it'll ever

Be as big as it was like in the '80s?

- I remember one show, we had like 500 people.

That was really, really bad.

- A lot of our big guys are leaving to go to wcw.

They had just kind of basically opened up their checkbook

And said, "come on down.

"you're not gonna have to work much,

And you're gonna get paid a lot of money."

- There was more money being offered

Than had been offered before to guys.

- The businessman in me is going, "this is a good thing,"

'cause I'm a wrestler.

So the more wrestling companies

There are, the better it is for me.

- Dallas page, who was really good friends with scott hall,

Kind of brought a ballpark number of what he would get

Guaranteed money for half as many dates.

So it was basically, for scott,

Almost three times the amount

Of money he made for half as many dates,

And it was guaranteed.

♪ ♪

I looked over at scott, and I said,

"see what they'll give me."

♪ ♪

- Dude...

- Say hello to razor ramon.

- Razor ramon and diesel had been built

As two of the biggest new superstars in wwe.

They left the wwe and decided to go for big money in wcw.

- It works because number one, the stars are aligned.

Scott hall walks on wcw tv.

- You want a war?

You're gonna get one.

- The next week, kevin nash walks on tv.

This is where the big boys play, huh?

- You know who I am,

But you don't know why I'm here.

- They're not saying they're razor or diesel.

Razor's got the same haircut. He's got the toothpick.

His "hey, yo,"

And diesel's, you know, out there

And doing big daddy cool stuff.

Perception as an audience member is,

Are we working together?

Wwe's invading wcw.

Oh, this is good stuff.

- These two rogues

Who think they're gonna come in and take over

World championship wrestling--

- So it seemed as if

Wwe was invading wcw.

- It made it so you never

Wanted to turn the channel off "nitro."

- The big mang

And the medium-sized mang

And our surprise buddy

Are gonna carve them up.

- Who is gonna show up to wcw next?

And who is going to join

This invasion organization

That razor and diesel--

Hall and nash--were starting?

♪ ♪

- I wanna confront you.

I don't see three men here tonight.

Where is your partner?

- Chico, you know too much already.

All you need to know, little mang,

Is he's here, and he's ready.

- I thought the buildup to "who's the third man?"

Was huge. It was one of the coolest

Things in wrestling.

- Hulkamania!

- Hulk hogan-- - hogan is here!

- Hulk hogan's here!

- Now, hulk hogan, since the early '80s

Had been the ultimate hero in wrestling.

So wcw decided to shock the world.

♪ ♪

- Hulk hogan arrived. - Go get him, baby!

- The white meat, baby face, good guy--

This was the role model for your children.

But the act had started to get stale with wrestling fans.

- What is he doing? - Oh, my god!

- Is he the third man?

- He's the third man!

- Hulk hogan dropped the leg on wcw.

Hulk hogan went villain.

- Like, are you kidding me? And not only that,

But literally have trash thrown at hulk hogan,

Beloved hulk hogan.

- The ring filled up with so much crap, I said,

"oh, my god, we got some heat."

As far as I'm concerned,

All this crap in the ring

Represents these fans out here!

You fans can stick it, brother!

[crowd jeering]

- "all you fans can stick it, brother."

Like, what a moment in wrestling history.

- This right here is the future of wrestling.

You can call this the new world order of wrestling, brother!

- He's like, "I'm bigger than wwe,

And I'm gonna make this company bigger than you."

- That fuse was lit.

- Oh. - And it was a short fuse.

- Yeah. - And when it blew up,

You guys took over.

["rockhouse" by 5 alarm music]

- The following announcement

Has been paid for

By the new world order.

- Well, you talk about the money.

You talk about beatin' people up.

Well, it's a new world order, and I hope it's okay,

Because there's nothing you can do about it.

- The nwo became the most popular thing

In sports entertainment--

The antiheroes that everybody was craving in that era.

- Here's...

The nwo!

- Ready or not, here we come!

- They were so hot.

They kind of, like, redefined wrestling.

- He is spray painting on the video truck!

Oh, you talk about a bunch of cowards.

- They were supposed to be the bad guys...

- Oh, no! - [grunts]

- But they were too cool to be bad.

- Everybody here just can't

Get enough of the nwo.

[crowd cheering]

- And so you were kind of

Wondering what's gonna happen next week.

"who's gonna be the next guy in the nwo?"

- I guess we're getting

The official coronation

Of the newest member

Of the new world order.

- Culturally, the most influential thing that was

Happening was west coast rap.

- For life.

- I remember hogan saying, "well, where'd you guys

'4 life' at?" I said, "it's at the beginning

Of 'mack 10.'"

All we did was just took all these different little culture

Things and kind of integrated 'em and then just ran with it.

- It kind of mashed what was really goin' on in society

Where everything had an edge, and nwo fell right

In that pocket with what was cool and acceptable.

[dramatic music]

- You gotta love this.

Once the nwo emerged,

That train just took off

And left everybody, including "Monday night raw,"

In the dust.

- Nwo for life, brah.

[crowd cheers]

- Wcw beat us for 83 weeks straight.

- The nwo is the reason for the success

Of "Monday nitro."

- Wcw was catering to that 18

To 34-year-old male demographic.

- Everything they did seemed to work.

We didn't have that yet.

- The wwe product in the mid-1990s

Was a cartoon.

- Yes, isaac yankem on his way.

- It was aimed at young people.

- Is it the whoopie cushion?

- Wha-- [fart]

- It certainly was.

- Wrestling fans around the world--

That's just not what they want.

♪ ♪

- We couldn't sell any tickets.

They're on fire. - Yeah.

- They're the innovators. We're not,

And they're kicking our ass.

- Back then, you know, you are true blue, wwe.

You get that loyalty, you know what I mean--

In this kind of a thing, but then you see this other side

Of these guys doing their thing over here.

You're captivated by it.

- I remember one time, we were flying back from "nitro."

It was hulk, me, scott, eric,

Randy, and all of us have worked for vince.

- Mm-hmm.

- We're all drinkin' and laughin' and bischoff said,

"ha, I'm gonna put him out of business."

It's just like, "ha ha--"

[laughter]

And hogan's the first one. Hogan goes,

"you'll never put that man out of business."

- You're looking at a company

Where top stars are leaving to go there,

And the tide shifts, and all of sudden,

You have to recreate from what you have left.

- Guys, we're gonna be doing--

Is--some of you,

I think, were in this last meeting that I had

In terms of where we're going with our product.

To give us more of an edge,

One of the things we're doing

Is putting more sex appeal into our product.

- Viewer discretion is advised.

- When we really made the change and dove in head first,

There was no turning back.

- We are d-generation x.

You make the rules, and we will break 'em, yeah!

- Shawn michaels and hunter hearst helmsley

Started gesturing to their crotches,

Became d-generation x.

- Took on a life of its own.

You're not gonna tell us what to do.

You're not gonna tell us what we can say.

You're not gonna tell us how to dress.

We're gonna tell you to suck it.

Shawn and I both got jumbo weenies.

I don't think you saw yourself hanging out with the nwo.

You saw yourself hanging out with dx.

It resonated in the same voice of kind of a culture

And where it was at at the time.

- Surely, the era of the superhero who urged you

To say your prayers and take your vitamins

Is definitely passé.

We encourage some degree of parental discretion

As it relates to the younger audience

Allowed to stay up late.

- When he committed to,

"okay, we're leaving the kid stuff behind,

Now we're moving to this"--

Hell yeah.

- Whoa!

- The product needed to change and be more realistic,

Hence, the birth of the attitude era.

- We're gonna push it.

We're gonna walk to the line

And step over it.

We're gonna try and move that line a little bit as well.

- Wait a minute.

This is going entirely too far.

- The attitude era represented the seismic shift into a more

Edgier program. - [bleep]!

- It was such a unique time in the business,

And there was one man in particular who was responsible

For ushering in the attitude era, and that man was

"stone cold" steve austin.

[glass shattering]

- Steve austin does what he wants, when he wants,

And that's the bottom line, 'cause stone cold said so!

- The style of delivery was so much different

Than other wrestling promos.

- The only thing that I'll deliver is

A big can of whoop ass right to your front door!

- Austin is entertaining as hell.

- Someone's gonna get their ass whipped!

- He's impactful.

[dramatic music]

- Steve was unique, and he was special,

And what that did just in terms of moving the needle

And raising the bar--

- Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!

Tune in next week,

Same stone cold time, same stone cold channel!

I knew that we were in competition with wcw,

And I felt very competitive with 'em.

It's like, "hey, man, [bleep] these guys."

♪ ♪

- "Monday night raw" began

To have a little bit more of an edge,

And I began to notice it,

But it didn't really concern me too much...

♪ ♪

Until mike tyson showed up.

- "iron" mike tyson!

- Mike tyson was, at the time, one of the biggest celebrities

On the face of the planet and certainly, the baddest man

On the face of the planet.

- Mike tyson in a wwe ring.

- This is big, ladies and gentlemen.

- I thought, "oh, [bleep]."

That's gonna sting.

♪ ♪

- Mike tyson in a wwe ring.

- Mike tyson brings a lot of eyeballs

From boxing and mainstream media

And everywhere in the world to what we do.

- Mike tyson is standing in stone cold's ring.

- To see mike tyson go nose-to-nose

With "stone cold" steve austin,

That was very interesting.

- I respect what you've done in the boxing world.

But [bleep], son, when you step

In this ring, you're messing with "stone cold" steve austin,

And that's something you don't do.

- Whoa!

- Whoa, here we go!

- Here we go! - Here we go!

- Tyson and austin! Tyson and austin!

All hell has broken loose! - Look at this!

- I sat there, and I said, "oh, my god, they got it."

[dramatic music]

They figured it out.

- You ruined it, damn it! You ruined it!

You ruined it, you son of a bitch!

- That was the first time that I knew

We were in for a rough fight.

- This is pandemonium!

[crowd cheering]

- Vince realized from the numbers

That people were not watching "raw" like they used to.

What does vince do--is he takes

The number one pay-per-view name, mike tyson,

And puts him into wrestlemania.

- I would like to thank mike tyson,

Being the media magnet that he is.

- It's just what I love to do. I love wrestling,

And I was just so happy to be involved with that.

I'm happy with the wwe. I'm very happy.

- Mike tyson is the hottest thing in sports.

With mike there, it'll draw more attention

To the athleticism and showmanship of the athletes

In the world wrestling entertainment.

- Get ready--

The world wrestling entertainment title at stake,

And the enforcer, the baddest man on the planet,

Mike tyson.

- Austin--he got it! - Ah!

- The stunner!

Mike tyson in.

Austin is the champion! [bell rings]

The austin era has begun!

- I think the mike tyson/steve austin

Storyline, and the way it was presented,

Was so believable.

That not only set up steve austin,

But it launched the mr. Mcmahon character

In such a credible, believable way.

- Nobody, especially vince mcmahon,

Tells "stone cold" steve austin

What to do, and that's the bottom line.

- Oh! Oh!

Stone cold just stunned the owner of the wwe!

♪ ♪

- All of a sudden, it wasn't just about wrestling.

It was about this guy against his boss.

[crowd cheers]

Mcmahon 3:16 says I just pissed my pants.

If you wanna see austin/mcmahon,

Give me a "hell yeah!"

All: Hell yeah!

- Just brought viewers in.

- Austin and mcmahon

Turned the tide for wwe.

♪ ♪

- I can't believe

What we're about to witness.

- And wwe started winning the ratings.

♪ ♪

- You know, you've heard the saying,

"all boats rise with a high tide."

Wwe, wcw was at its highest tide.

Announcer: Welcome to "wwe raw!"

We are absolutely sold out!

- All my friends would come over, and so we would just

Be, like, flipping back and forth, flipping back and forth.

- It's austin! It's austin!

- I mean, arenas are full.

Everybody's household names.

- Sting is heavyweight champion of the world!

- The greatest time, I think,

In the history of wrestling.

- If ya smell!

- This was two mega companies going head-to-head

With one another.

- The wrestling universe got bigger

Than it had ever been before.

I mean, millions and millions of people

Watching every night.

- The mailman, karl malone, teaming

With diamond dallas page against the tandem

Of "hollywood" hogan and dennis rodman.

Jay leno in command!

- Bullseye!

- I feel like nwo was really cool up to a point.

And then austin and dx kind of made wwe cool.

So wcw now needed an answer to that.

Who was their answer?

Goldberg.

All: Goldberg! Goldberg!

- And goldberg just went on a streak

Of just beating people's ass.

- 173 and 0.

- It was completely different.

It was shock and awe.

What you see is what you get.

- The first undefeated man

To ever win the world championship!

- It was perfect.

- Who's he think he is, dick clark?

- The amount of rivalry that wcw and wwe had

At that moment in that time.

They would throw jabs at each other live on television.

- Me and you, mcmahon, in the ring.

- You didn't see the red sox or the yankees doing that.

- It really was a legit rivalry.

- And I'm gonna knock you out.

- Wcw is now going in and actively going in

And trying to hurt business.

They're going in, and we booked tv at a venue,

And our stuff is announced earlier.

They shift, and they booked the scope

Right just down the road,

And things are thrown out, like,

"we should go down there, and do something live

"in their parking lot, or just, like,

Get that attention on it."

Go!

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are the number one wrestling promotion

In the world!

All: Dx! Dx! Dx! Dx!

- Oh, my gosh, we're talking about it being

The Monday night wars, and here's dx

Driving up outside their arena while their show is going on.

That's just something that had never been done before.

- It was so, like, "holy [bleep]."

- Wcw is a bunch of cowards--

- If someone came to your house, trying to fight,

You'd close the drapes.

- They closed that door because they knew scott and I

Were trying to get out there.

[laughter] - well, let 'em out!

From watching it as a fan, it just looked like,

"oh, my god, they just came to the doorstep."

- Yeah, "let's do it." - "this is goin' down

Right now."

- Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo!

- There was a 68-year-old man running that door.

We're like, "open the door. Open the door."

[all laughing] all I'm thinkin' of--

"I'm gonna walk on 'raw' here in a minute."

- We're thinkin', "boy, [bleep] about to go down."

Something's about to go down. We don't know what it is.

But we're gonna be a part of it.

That's how crazy it was-- and then nothing.

Nothing.

- Tell me who rules professional wrestling!

All: Dx! Yeah!

- I remember there was a moment

Where bruce prichard had said,

"what if they put a bunch of guys in a car

"and they come here, and they try to do

"the same thing back to us, and they just shoot it

"and then they put it in the show next week?

What do we do?" and vince was like,

"open up the garage doors. Let 'em in.

"what show are you gonna watch? The one with all the wrestlers

"or the one with none of the wrestlers?

"let 'em go right to the ring. They drive straight out there

"into the ring, and then we'll all come out.

That's--that's--that's the greatest tv ever."

And I remember thinking at that moment, like,

"this is why we're gonna win. Like, that's genius,"

♪ ♪

- 40,000 fans are on hand for "wcw Monday nitro"!

- There's nothing like a good battle.

It was not only the creative battle that took place

Between the characters inside the ring,

It was the battle between two companies.

I suggested to tony schiavone that he give away the finish

To "Monday night raw" and kind of downplay it.

- If you're even thinking about changing the channel

To our competition, fans, do not.

- I hear tony schiavone tell their viewers

To not even think about changing the channel.

- We understand that mick foley

Is going to win their world title.

[scoffs] that's gonna put some butts in the seat.

[scoffs]

- "they're taped, and here's what happens.

So you might as well stick around here."

That was the idea, and it worked very, very well

All the way up until the night I tried it

With the rock and mick foley,

Because a lot of my audience went,

"oh, really? Rock, mick foley?

Ah, I'm gonna go check that out."

- The rock against mankind,

And the odds are stacked against mick foley.

- 500,000 to 600,000 people

Had switched channels instantaneously.

- No! No!

Don't do it!

[crowd roars] [bell rings]

- Foley was so beloved, and it backfired on "nitro."

- Sometimes, things work really, really well,

And sometimes, they suck.

That one sucked.

- Did you watch "raw"?

- Yes. [laughter]

I watched every Monday.

Back then, we would have our show, and then we would have

The "raw" show, both monitors.

- What the hell?

Austin's driving the beer truck!

- Look out! - Wait a minute,

King!

- Steve was such a mega star,

And rock was such a mega star...

- Wait a minute!

- Ah! - Stone cold!

- That's beer! - Stone cold

And a beer bath! - Ah!

- But when you watched

The landscape of sports entertainment

At that time, from the minute that show started,

Everybody was a star.

Every Monday was woodstock.

- Jeff hardy-- - look at that!

- Leapfrogged the ladder,

For god sakes!

- Triple h has realized his dream!

He is now the world wrestling entertainment champion!

- To go up against this thing, that's when I just sat back,

And I went, "I am so glad I got guaranteed money."

[laughter]

- [sighs]

This is ridiculous.

At wcw, for the first time in a year and a half, two years,

Almost three, we're playing catch up.

- The wcw world television champion,

Chris jericho.

- For a while, it felt more like,

"oh, wwe guys are jumping ship to go there,"

And when it started becoming the opposite,

That was pretty exciting as a fan, for sure.

["break down the walls" by wwe & jim johnston"]

Jericho's tron hits, and I lose my mind.

My dad's, like, gotta work in the morning.

I wake him up. I'm just losing my mind.

It just felt like a really big deal.

- That one stung.

When you start losing key talent

At the same time you're losing ground competitively,

It's kind of a double whammy.

- I fell out of wwe for about a year,

So now, I just got back in.

I think it's the best thing in sports entertainment.

- Fans started to realize how much was really happening

On "Monday night raw."

- We're talking about sable.

She's on the cover of "playboy magazine."

- And when they changed the channel,

They didn't change back.

- Ted turner really doesn't care about his fans.

He just throws together a program.

- Wcw sucks!

- Wwe, number one. Wcw sucks.

- Wwe has always greatly benefitted

By having one genius in charge of everything.

And wcw, they were part of a much larger corporation,

Which was time warner.

- We are very excited

About joining forces with time warner,

Because we share a common vision for the future.

- The subsequent aol time warner merger

With turner created a lot of radical changes

Within turner broadcasting.

People within turner broadcasting didn't want wcw

In that prime-time real estate position

On Monday night on tnt.

They wanted those time slots for movies.

Everybody looked down their nose at wrestling,

With the exception of ted.

He had been relegated to a back office with a view,

Had absolutely no influence.

- Wcw was in shambles at that point.

The people at aol time warner,

They weren't wrestling fans, and they wanted to get rid

Of that property, the wcw property.

We made an offer.

It was, "look, we're gonna buy certain assets.

"we'll buy the library.

"we'll take a look at your contracts.

"if there's any contracts we may want to pick up,

We'll pick up some of 'em."

We had a real cash offer on the table

That-- [snaps finger]

Could be done like that, and they took it.

[dramatic music]

- Many of you may already know

That wcw has new owners.

- We couldn't believe it.

Somebody's going out of business,

And at the end, we realized that wwe had won,

And we were staying there with them,

And we had been with them throughout--

Through the thick and thin.

I mean, it was a pretty, I don't know, euphoric,

Because we didn't dislike the boys down there.

- Of course. - They were us.

- Of course. - They were us.

They were our friends.

- The fans weren't the ones who were fighting.

We were just enjoying all of the product

That we were gettin' to see. But it wasn't like,

"oh, good job, wwe. You won."

It's like, "aw, this is one less product

That I get to watch."

- 'cause the whole time, I was a double agent with vince.

- Of course. - Oh...

- See? [laughter]

[dramatic music]

- Imagine that. Me, vince mcmahon,

Here I am on wcw television.

How can that happen?

- Rival networks, and we were simulcasting this thing--

Huge deal.

- Here's wcw, and here, we have the owner

Of the world wrestling entertainment

And, now, the owner of wcw.

- The Monday night wars are over.

- The strongest passion won out.

Time warner had no skin in the game.

They didn't care. They hated the property,

And wanted to get rid of it.

We loved our property, loved what we do,

And that was the difference.

- Shane mcmahon is on "nitro"!

- The decision was to let shane go down

And shock vince and say that he had bought wcw.

- The name on the contract does say "mcmahon."

However, the contract reads "shane mcmahon."

- Oh, my god!

- The storyline was my brother against my dad.

But in reality, it was the moment

That we knew wcw was done.

♪ ♪

- Wwe didn't buy wcw.

Wwe bought the assets of wcw, bought the tape library,

Bought the intellectual properties--

Smart purchase.

- You have to grab your competition by the throat,

And you've gotta squeeze the life out of your competition,

Just like I did to wcw!

- In the end, wwe put the boots to wcw,

And we wound up winning the war.

- The landscape of our industry is changing.

- As a fan, the idea that your experience

Watching wrestling on a Monday night

Was never going to be the same again

Was a tough pill to swallow.

- I remember one guy crying, and he was like,

"man, it's the final night. What are you gonna do, book?"

I was like, "man, I'm going to wwe."

♪ ♪

- Flair, sting,

Hogan, the nwo--

Those contracts were paying so much money to people

To just sit at home--didn't get sting versus austin,

Flair versus the rock,

The nwo versus dx--

Didn't get the dream matches I wanted

Until it was done ten, 15 years later.

♪ ♪

- Sting's first-ever appearance

On the grandest stage of all,

Wrestlemania.

- You know, there had been periods of time

When there had been overtures

Of sting to come in,

And they had been shut down.

When sting finally signed to come in,

We end up making the match with me and him.

♪ ♪

- I was sitting in the third row

For wrestlemania 31.

To see him in the ring, face-to-face with triple h,

Who is a symbol for everything that wwe is,

Is enough of a mind-blowing moment.

But then, halfway through the match,

The nwo music plays.

The dx music plays.

- Dx, the nwo!

The Monday night wars have come to wrestlemania!

This place is buzzing!

- And you're like, "oh, my god,

"this is all happening right in front of me

All these years later."

- Look out! - Shawn michaels!

Sweet chin music!

- Like the Monday night war is still happening.

- What an absolutely incredible moment.

History in the making, tonight at wrestlemania.

- These two great, iconic, legendary groups

That people will remember as long as

There's sports entertainment in the world,

They finally hook up.

To me, it was just a magical moment.

- When the match was over,

We kind of all just stood there in the ring,

And sting and I sort of shook hands,

And it was, "we all did this war.

It's all over," and to me, that's what made it work.

- The rivalry between wcw and wwe, the Monday night wars,

It completely changed the wrestling industry.

Announcer: Goldberg dominates again.

- Who's next?

- Suck it!

- That was a great time for television.

- Ah! [bedpan clanks]

- It was hot.

- There will be nothing like this ever again.

The two number one rated shows on two networks,

And they're fighting each other on live television.

- Good god, almighty! He killed him!

- The battle between wcw and wwe was real.

People gravitated towards it.

- It doesn't matter what your name is!

- It was the right time and the right companies

Going head-to-head.

It stands the test of time.

We're still talking about it to this day.

♪ ♪