Monday Night Wars

The television ratings rivalry between WWE and World Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 2001, centered on their competing Monday-night wrestling programs.

WWE Raw: WWE’s flagship weekly professional wrestling television program, first broadcast in 1993. Its Monday-night episodes competed directly with WCW’s Nitro for viewers.
The Fingerpoke of Doom: A 1999 WCW match in which Hulk Hogan defeated Kevin Nash with a light finger poke to the chest. The angle became a symbol of WCW’s declining credibility during the ratings contest.
Vince McMahon: An American wrestling promoter who led the company now known as WWE for decades. He steered WWF’s response to WCW and became a central on-screen antagonist.
Ted Turner: An American media entrepreneur who founded Turner Broadcasting System and owned the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks. His television empire gave WCW access to a national cable platform.
WCW sale to WWF: The 2001 purchase of WCW’s selected assets by the World Wrestling Federation from AOL Time Warner. The sale ended WCW as WWF’s weekly television rival.
WCW Monday Nitro: World Championship Wrestling’s weekly professional wrestling program, broadcast from 1995 to 2001. Nitro launched opposite Raw and became the rivalry’s central opposing broadcast.
The Montreal Screwjob: The controversial 1997 WWF match in which Bret Hart lost the WWF Championship without his expected agreement. The real-life dispute helped shape WWF’s darker Attitude Era storytelling.
Eric Bischoff: An American television executive who led WCW during much of its competition with WWF. He drove Nitro’s head-to-head scheduling and aggressive programming strategy.
Turner Broadcasting System: An American media company founded by Ted Turner and later acquired by Time Warner. Its cable channels provided the broadcast home for WCW programming.
AOL Time Warner: A media company formed by the 2001 merger of AOL and Time Warner. Its cost-cutting and corporate priorities contributed to WCW’s cancellation and sale.

Linked from 10 pages