Ricky Jackson Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 I wasn't TOO internet savvy in 96' or anything, but I can speak at least a little bit for late 97'-98', which isn't necessarily "light years" ahead of 96'. Specifically, I'll mention Montreal. It was known, on the day of the show, that Bret Hart was going to WCW by most internet/dirtsheet fans. Montreal was a really unique situation because it was picked up by the Canadian media as a significant news story and the WWF was forced to acknowledge the truth that he was leaving. The Internet definitely played a big part in that story gaining momentum, but I think the Canadian media being more willing than the U.S. media to cover wrestling seriously was equally, if not more, important. I can still remember how strange it felt grabbing a Calgary Sun one morning and seeing the news of Bret leaving for WCW reported the front page. This was about 2 weeks or so before Montreal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 I pretty much gave up on the Monday Night Wars show after hearing Eric tell about how he threw out two hours of prime time TV as the way to compete against WWF in the belief Ted would never go for it. Despite the fact Nitro was only an hour for the first year or so, there's no way that running against Raw wasn't the idea. Just like how he just happened to offer Lex a deal with no idea it ran out the day before the first Nitro. Come the fuck on. Also hearing Vince play the "They were trying to put us out of business! How DARE THEY" card is such stomach turning bullshit from a guy who literally put everyone else out of business. I think complaint is too literal, as I'd always heard that Turner planned to give them two hours once the slot opened up (or if the one-hour show even proved to be successful, more likely). I don't recall him saying that running against Raw wasn't the plan (not sure if I missed that in the show), and with the Luger thing, his contract was up some time before Nitro (not the night before) and he had been trying to come to terms on a new deal with Vince. He had one of those rolling contracts that had another year on it (taking him through '96) unless he gave his notice to open up the window for negotiations on a new deal. To expect Bischoff to recall the specific terms of someone else's contract like that years later I think is a touch unfair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Also hearing Vince play the "They were trying to put us out of business! How DARE THEY" card is such stomach turning bullshit from a guy who literally put everyone else out of business. Not only is it laughably wrong, it also makes the story more boring when Vince is the angel under fire and all his mistakes are opportunities for change and growth. How can you tell Black Saturday without the controversy and the cutthroat elements? How can you admit WCW took the easy lead without talking about how WWF got so far down, turning Raw into a snooze in less than three years, filling it with crap characters and pushes like Mabel's? Etc. My favorite "come on man!" lie was that Raw moved from Manhattan Center "to bigger arenas all over the Northeast." Bigger than the Manhattan Center, yeah. But the civic centers of Poughkeepsie-White Plains-Bushkill-New Haven aren't exactly the MSG-Spectrum-Garden loop. They even show a clip from Bushkill while putting this idea over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Not to mention that the WWF always wanted to put WCW out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNLister Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Mike Sempervive has a thread at the Observer site board where he takes talking points and checks up on them with whoever his contacts within WWE are. In response to various queries about the Network he got back the response: Also you all are pitching great ideas but a majority of the people working in the network dept. don’t know about wrestling or are/were wrestling fans and I think that’s one of the big problems with the network right now Figures. The same source also noted that most of the more interesting stuff on YouTube and the website is done without going through Vince, but he vets all the original content on the Network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man in Blak Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 I feel like calling the Monday Night War series a hagiography doesn't even do it justice. This is straight up propaganda. What a disappointment. "History is written by the victors," indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steenalized Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 I don't think that should be a surprise to anyone after the Monday Night War DVD they put out about 10 years ago, you know the one that claimed ECW was maybe the 2nd biggest promotion in the country, over WCW of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 Mike Sempervive has a thread at the Observer site board where he takes talking points and checks up on them with whoever his contacts within WWE are. In response to various queries about the Network he got back the response: Also you all are pitching great ideas but a majority of the people working in the network dept. don’t know about wrestling or are/were wrestling fans and I think that’s one of the big problems with the network right now Figures. The same source also noted that most of the more interesting stuff on YouTube and the website is done without going through Vince, but he vets all the original content on the Network. I kind of already assumed this based on the content available, but having it confirmed that the people running the Network don't know about wrestling just depresses me. I think I may have given myself CTE by how hard I just facepalmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 I am battling jet lag and have watched the two first episodes of the Monday Night War. There are three subjects that I never want to watch a documentary or ever read an article or long story about: the nWo, ECW and the Attitude era. Even less if it's something WWE produced. I'm not sure how are they going to stretch the MNW documentary into a supposed 20 chapters. Looks like I will be skipping most shows of this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNLister Posted August 27, 2014 Report Share Posted August 27, 2014 As far as I can work out, the episode guide is: 1) Nitro launches, Luger & Madusa jump 2) NWO helps WCW take lead 3) Vince invents Attitude era and regains lead. 4) Goldberg? 5-20) LOL, look what Russo did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 I just finished watching one of the most recent episodes. Was Austin/Mcmahon REALLY the most profitable angle of all time? Surely Sting vs. NWO/Hogan around that same time period did better business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Seeing how they labeled Bill Apter as Sports Entertainment reporter is so wrong on the current Monday Night War episode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 1. It seems really stupid to show the attitude era and create a "modified" version that is the PG version of the show. I guess that is what that version is because in the non-modified version they show Pillman pointing the gun at Austin 2. I can't imagine there are wrestlers in 1996 looked at the Pillman/Austin gun angle and think that is could be real. 3. Love the idea that the legacy of ECW was more violent matches in the WWE. Talk about your stereotypical view of that company. Oh well not the first time I have heard that from Vince 4. Definitely agree that this idea that WWE was near extinction around 1995 is easily the worst version of revisionist history. 5. I forgot about the WWE's Super Bowl commercial. One of the few things in the Attitude era that still holds up Like I said before I have no idea how they are going to fill up the rest of this series because they have already shown that WCW lost the war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 I just finished watching one of the most recent episodes. Was Austin/Mcmahon REALLY the most profitable angle of all time? Surely Sting vs. NWO/Hogan around that same time period did better business? Very possibly. Sting/Hogan at Starrcade did the best business any WCW PPV ever did. Austin/HBK with Tyson a few months later beat it, and while that was very much due to Tyson's involvement, Austin/Vince the following February and Austin/Rock at Mania the next year with zero celebrity bump and no McMahon novelty also beat it. That's also without getting into how the Vince feud helped set Austin up as the top face in the company to a level that let them go public and go to a whole other level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Is it really 20 chapters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Actually, Hogan/Rodman vs DDP/Malone at Bash at the Beach '98 drew a higher buyrate than Starrcade '97. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Does anyone know the differences between the regular episodes and the Modified ones from the MNW? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 I am battling jet lag and have watched the two first episodes of the Monday Night War. There are three subjects that I never want to watch a documentary or ever read an article or long story about: the nWo, ECW and the Attitude era. Even less if it's something WWE produced. I'm not sure how are they going to stretch the MNW documentary into a supposed 20 chapters. Looks like I will be skipping most shows of this one.Well, if you want to never watch shows about nWo, Attitude, and ECW then I'd reccomend just not watching it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Is it really 20 chapters? That's what was mentioned in one of the previews some time ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Mike Sempervive has a thread at the Observer site board where he takes talking points and checks up on them with whoever his contacts within WWE are. In response to various queries about the Network he got back the response: Figures. The same source also noted that most of the more interesting stuff on YouTube and the website is done without going through Vince, but he vets all the original content on the Network. Call me crazy, but I doubt it's that hard to find wrestling fans in the frigging video production business unless you're just not trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Actually, Hogan/Rodman vs DDP/Malone at Bash at the Beach '98 drew a higher buyrate than Starrcade '97. Great point, things didn't fall off the rails that quickly. Man BatB did ridiculous numbers, had the Finals tie in, and your hottest star and world champion doing nothing and then in a mid-card battle royal the next month. Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Is it really 20 chapters? That's what was mentioned in one of the previews some time ago. Maybe the rest is non-linear stuff about production, individual players behind the scenes, etc, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 The same source also noted that most of the more interesting stuff on YouTube and the website is done without going through Vince, but he vets all the original content on the Network. That is so depressing. It just makes the Network sound like one of those things where it may only live up to its potential once Vince loses interest in it, turning it into a self-fulfilling failure just as it starts to really get good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboy hats Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Mike Sempervive has a thread at the Observer site board where he takes talking points and checks up on them with whoever his contacts within WWE are. In response to various queries about the Network he got back the response: Figures. The same source also noted that most of the more interesting stuff on YouTube and the website is done without going through Vince, but he vets all the original content on the Network. Call me crazy, but I doubt it's that hard to find wrestling fans in the frigging video production business unless you're just not trying. If I took a job working at a new streaming service for, say, the EPL (and one that, in this alternate universe, upended the league's decades-long business model), knowing nothing about the league or its history, I trust I would immerse myself in it and also hire/consult peeps who are very interested. So so dumb. Haven't had a chance to watch the new MNW episodes, but after the first episode my expectations were set pretty low, so this all sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR Ackermann Posted August 28, 2014 Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Does anyone know the differences between the regular episodes and the Modified ones from the MNW? I believe the modified ones censor minor things like blurring out the middle finger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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