Raw vs Nitro - Reliving The War

The date is 9.30.96 and there's a Monday Night War going on. WWF Raw and WCW Nitro are going head to head for ratings supremacy, and the way things have been going lately, the WWF needs to seriously rethink their strategy. WCW Monday Nitro has been a consistently better show, and the TV ratings prove it.

The date is 9.23.96 and it's the night after WWF In Your House: Mind Games. The WWF are presenting a live episode of Raw tonight, and a new Intercontinental Champion will get crowned when the IC Title Tournament comes an end. Faarooq vs Marc Mero opens up the show. Also, Jim Ross has promised to bring back Razor Ramon and Diesel, but it clearly wasn't the Razor Ramon we thought it was going to be.

After winning in the War Games match at Fall Brawl, the New World Order decide to announce yet another new member on this week's WCW Nitro. Sean Waltman, who worked as the 1-2-3 Kid in the WWF, has signed up with the nWo. Not only does Waltman show up on Nitro, but Glacier makes an appearance too.

Over on the WWF side, the Intercontinental Title Tournament semi finals take place. Owen Hart vs Marc Mero & Faarooq vs Sycho Sid happen on Monday Night Raw, and Jim Ross is still telling WWF viewers that Razor Ramon and Diesel are coming back to the World Wrestling Federation. The WWF also do some last minute promoting this week for In Your House: Mind Games.

This week's Reliving The War features the final build towards Fall Brawl 1996. Team WCW gets thrown into chaos when a member seemingly joins the nWo and things begin looking very bleak for World Championship Wrestling. Matches on Nitro include Lex Luger vs Rick Steiner, Rey Mysterio vs Billy Kidman and Randy Savage vs John Tenta.

Reliving The War continues this week with a special "Championship Friday" episode of Monday Night Raw. Shawn Michaels defends the WWF title against Goldust while other competitors participate in the IC title tournament (including Sid, Steve Austin and Hunter Hearst Helmsley).

WCW Nitro is unopposed tonight as Raw jobs out to the US Open. This means WCW has a chance to capture some WWF viewers who are still searching for their wrestling fix. This week's episode of Monday Nitro includes more Fall Brawl 96 announcements, Sting & Luger vs Mongo & Benoit, Rey Mysterio vs Mr. JL, Chris Jericho's Nitro debut and insane promo skills from Rick & Scott Steiner.

This episode of Reliving The War covers WCW Nitro and WWF Raw from the 19th of August 1996 (the night after SummerSlam 1996). 

Another Monday Night War takes place as Raw and Nitro go head-to-head and this time, both the WWF and WCW are presenting fallout shows. WCW Clash of the Champions 33 took place a few days prior, and we are 1 night removed from SummerSlam 96. Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan was our main event for the Clash show while Shawn Michaels vs Vader main evented SummerSlam. This week's Nitro sees the formation of Team WCW, a team that will take on the nWo at Fall Brawl, and the WWF begins a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion. This epiosde of Reliving The War also includes appearances from Harlem Heat, Yokozuna, DDP, The British Bulldog, The Giant and loads more. 

The date is now 8.12.96, we are one night removed from WCW's Hog Wild 1996 pay per view yet the promotional work by Eric Bischoff and company doesn't stop tonight on Nitro. WCW presents Clash of the Champions 33 in just a few days time, and WCW has to scramble to get in some last minute advertising for the Clash special on TBS. Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair will main event Clash of the Champions. Tonight's Nitro main event, however, features the in-ring Nitro debut of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. 

Over on the WWF channel, Shawn Michaels faces Owen Hart just 6 days before HBK's big title defense against Vader at SummerSlam 1996. The WWF also air a Bret Hart promo where Bret talks about his WWF future and how he feels about making a return to the company. We also see the WWF Raw in-ring debut of Faarooq this week, and Crush also makes his WWF Return. 

The WWF are on the road to SummerSlam 1996. On today's broadcast, the next number 1 contender for the WWF Championship will get decided via a main event Battle Royal. 11 men will step into the ring to see who faces the WWF Champion the night after SummerSlam. Superstars included in the Battle Royal include Sycho Sid, Mankind, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Ahmed Johnson and Goldust. 

Over on TNT, the superstars of WCW have decided to provide their own security should the nWo make an appearance tonight on Nitro. Sting and Lex Luger take on The Nasty Boys in our main event, and The Booty Man also finds himself in trouble thanks to his friendship with Hulk Hogan. 

We are currently at 7.29.96, World Championship Wrestling’s Nitro show is live from Orlando, Florida while the WWF are showing more taped matches from Seattle, Washington. WCW are promoting their Hog Wild pay per view where Hulk Hogan will take on The Giant for the WCW Championship. The Outsiders are on Nitro this week and they are wrecking havoc backstage, this Nitro features the infamous Rey Mysterio “lawn dart” bump as Kevin Nash and Scott Hall completely turn WCW Nitro upside-down.