Vince McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff: The Monday Night Wars Revisited

Back in the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, Vince McMahon led WWF (now WWE) and Erich Bischoff’s WCW was engaged in an intense battle for ratings and viewership. This period of history is referred to as the Monday Night Wars. This was a battle of epic proportions between WWF’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, and WCW’s Monday Nitro. It is often referred to as a sort of golden age in professional wrestling and is still referenced today.

Continue reading to learn more about the Monday Night Wars.

Everything You Need to Know About the Monday Night Wars

It all began when WCW decided to air their show, Monday Nitro during the same time slot as Monday Night Raw. As a result, fans had to choose which show they would rather watch. The aim of both companies was simple, they wanted to outdo their competition and run them out of the wrestling business. To achieve his goal, Eric Bischoff used Turner Broadcasting’s vast resources and gave ridiculous contracts to WWF’s biggest stars like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and more.

WCW also introduced the nWo storyline which effectively blurred the lines between what was real and what was fake. Through this, WCW managed to beat RAW in ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. However, Vince McMahon had an ace up his sleeve. McMahon switched up his strategy and started to target teen and adult audiences with violent, sexual, and edgy content.


This saw the birth of the Attitude Era that gave rise to stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin. WCW was able to sign a lot of WWF’s biggest stars but Vince McMahon just made more. WCW also made a major mistake when they gave away RAW’s pre-taped results. This move backfired massively as fans chose to tune into RAW to witness Mick Foley winning the WWF Championship.

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Over time WCW ran itself into the ground by making poor financial and creative decisions. They milked their nWo storyline to the point where fans were exhausted by it. Furthermore, they offered ridiculous contracts to just about everyone and eventually ran out of money. This marked a massive win for Vince McMahon and WWE. McMahon’s bet on edgier content and the superior storytelling of his stars allowed him to run WCW out of business.

The battle ended bitterly for Eric Bischoff as Vince McMahon acquired WCW on March 26, 2001. This might’ve been the stressful time of WWF’s existence, but it gave birth to everything that professional wrestling is today.