mobanmarketThe Monday Night Wars were an electric time in wrestling history. Never before, and almost certainly never again, did so many people jump ship from company to company, seeking more money and better opportunities. Each company, WWF, WCW and ECW, fought with the others with every scrap of influence that they could to stockpile the most talent possible in this wild free agent arms race. Some of these defectors made enormous impacts that still reverberate through the years, and some came and went with all the significance of a mildly scented fart. But today, we’re looking at those who made the biggest impact, as I ask you to answer the question…
Note: Hulk Hogan is not an option, as we’re establishing the Monday Night Wars as beginning with the debut of WCW Monday Nitro and ending with the sale of WCW to WWE.
The coin toss dictates that Nash Diesel will go first.
Arguably the greatest period of time for pro wrestling. WCW lead by Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were trying to find their place once again in North America, trying to get out of the shadows of a giant in the industry during a time where pro wrestling wasn’t exactly on the top of everyone’s must see list. They had arguably the better wrestling, but Nitro was still trailing behind the established WWF Raw. Uncle Eric had Daddy’s checkbook ready to rock and with the lure of less dates with guaranteed money, it made perfect sense for this man to move on and see if he could help turn around another company during a time where pro wrestling was struggling.
The Nitro where the wrestling world basically changed overnight was spearheaded by this man in one of the greatest “returns” of all time.
From this point on, WCW’s momentum kept growing, averaging over a million more viewers each week and counting compared to their rival Monday Night Raw. As the nWo’s popularity grew, so did the overall appeal of pro wrestling, again, spearheaded by Scott Hall’s signing to WCW. Hey yo….This was when the war truly started.
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So, what won the war?
What did Raw have that WCW didn’t?
One thing stands out.
A free agent picked up from a little backstreet promotion run by a crook with a ponytail, a wrestler tossed aside by WCW as being too injury prone, lacking in charisma, nothing special.
A free agent who went to ECW and completed his own talent jigsaw, who then joined the Raw roster as a midcard talent, until fate stepped in catapulting him into the position from where he would become the greatest talent of his generation.
The Monday Night Wars were won by Attitude, by brave decisions and a viewing public that bought into the new direction, one man exemplifies that, one man can be used as a metaphor for the whole period, going from sparkle and flash, seeing the change and riding the wave, seizing the opportunity when it was presented with both hands…
Dear reader it gives me great pleasure to give you the answer, the only answer that truely stacks up to examination, Steve Austin..
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The problem here is that Stone Cold would not have even had the chance to get that spot without WCW forcing Vince’s hand. If Scott Hall stays in the WWF for the next 3-5 years, there’s no revival of WCW, there’s no revival of pro wrestling to the level it reached during this time period. There’s no “Curtain Call” to fuck Hunter which completely derails Stone Cold’s path. One of the biggest moments that truly set the wheels in motion for Austin was the post-KOTR Austin 3:16 speech. Imagine a world where there are no black and white Austin 3:16 shirts.
Vince was already negative toward Austin, didn’t really see him as anything but a midcarder who shouldn’t even talk.
As sad as it is to say, The Klik were not going down without a fight and Austin was not going to be able to convince anyone that he should be booked over the likes of top tier draws like Razor Ramon based on his work as Stunning Steve and what little glimmer of the future we got a taste of during the Savio feud. This was a period where Vince was pretty comfortable using who he had at the top and didn’t seem to really want to risk much. Once the ratings started to go in WCW’s favor in considerable, consistent fashion, THEN Vince was willing to look around and go “Ok, who do we even have to put in this spots?”
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Can I, just for a moment, pause to point out my opponents name, Nash Diesel, all got that?
May I now point out the irony of this posters last entry into this debate?
Without Scott Hall the ‘curtain call’ incident would STILL have taken place due to Kevin Nash, sadly Hall was largely irrelevant to that piece of history as his large friend would have still provided the impetus to events.
I would however like to thank my opponent for acknowledging the massive impact Austin had not only on the Monday Night Wars, but on wrestling as a whole, as he said ‘imagine a world without the black and white 3:16 shirts’ put simply, it is unimaginable. The wrestling world has been indelibly marked by the image of Austin 3:16, to suggest that his impact is of less significance than Halls is simply laughable, let’s not forget that a handful of months before he jumped ship Hall had been banned from WWE(F) for drug abuse, his stock was greatly damaged and by his own admission he was looking for a reduced schedule, he gives this as the primary reason for his switch to WCW – they offered him a less intense work schedule.
Austin was the flag bearer for the Attitude Era, the Attitude Era won the Monday Night Wars, its that simple.
My opponents choice was a small, largely unimportant, cog in the machine, whereas my choice drove the machine.
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Hall staying with the WWF is a domino effect. Without the rise of the NWO, we don’t see the rise of The Rock, we don’t see the creation of DX, we don’t see Mr. McMahon who was no doubt inspired by the original heel authority figure Mr. Bischoff. Bret Hart doesn’t see the lure of leaving the WWF because WCW doesn’t flourish. All of these things affect Stone Cold and his impact on the company. No Rock feud, no Mike Tyson, no legendary Mr. McMahon feud. No Bret Hart feud to put him on the map because Vince still has top tier players like Razor and Diesel that he no doubt would still be pushing at this moment because there was no reason not to. WCW wouldn’t be a threat at all because they weren’t until Scott Hall made the jump.
There is no NWO idea coming to fruition as the idea is fueled by Hall being available.
Austin trying to play a role Diesel started doing might not work out as well as it did without Nash there, let’s not forget who first flipped someone off and didn’t care if you liked what he did or not and if you supported him, he had love for you.
Scott Hall’s arrival in WCW changed the business and it allowed Austin to make the impact he did. You’d be a fool to discredit what Austin accomplished but an even bigger fool to think it would have happened without Hall joining WCW.
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Well dear Reader we have reached the end of our first debate together, our options;
Scott Hall. Quite simply Scott Hall did not even have the biggest impact of the members of his own tag team, every point raised by my opponent in favour of Hall is in reality a nod to his more famous partner, Kevin Nash. My opponents last post drives this home, how little of his summation is impact by Hall on the Wars? He discusses Nash, the nWo, the Rock, Hart, don’t get me wrong I love Hall, but my opponent proves the point in his last post that as an individual his impact was, simply, minimal.
Steve Austin. The birth of Austin 3:16 was a monumental moment in the business, not just in relation to the Wars but in the entire business itself, I’d argue no one wrestler has changed the face of the industry as much as Austin. The Raw victory was built on the change in style, on the renewed connection to the fan base, the swell of support from the new breed of fan, that stood on the broad shoulders of one man, Steve Austin.
WCW lost because they invested in established names at the end of their careers looking to defend their place, like Hall.
Raw won because they backed younger, hungrier names that would go on to revolutionise the business, like Austin.
Hall had minimal impact on a losing side, Austin had long lasting global impact on the winning side.
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