5 Possible Replacements for The Monday Night War

5 Possible Replacements for
The Monday Night War
Written by Mark Adam Haggerty

Anybody who follows my usual ramblings here at Cheap-Heat probably knows by now that I am a HUGE fan of the WWE Network. Whether it be old WCCW matches, episodes of Tuesday Night Titans, or brand new original content, I'm never without something to scratch my wrestling itch. The "Monday Night War" concluded about a month ago, and since then the �Network has been sorely lacking, without any sort of episodic documentary series to take its place. The new "WWE: 24" program debuted recently, allowing audiences unprecedented access to their favorite WWE Superstars like never before. But what about us fans that want to be immersed in the history of "Sports Entertainment?" The "Monday Night War" was a perfect blend of edutainment, and I hope the WWE has more shows of this genre in store for us loyal fans in the future. But what kind of historic events could span an entire series of 20-episodes, offering varied subject material along the way? Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Mark Adam Haggerty, here with five suggestions for the WWE Network— Replacements for the Monday Night War .

The Birth of Wrestling in America
As the industrial revolution paved the way for a lucrative 20th century, Americans clamored for more exciting entertainment. Baseball had yet to catch on as the national pastime, and football too, was just getting started. The problem with team sports had always been the need for entire groups of individual athletes, all of whom required to have the correct regulation gear. Professional wrestling came to prominence partly because it was the easiest spectator sport to sell; all a promotor needed for a wrestling match was a ring, a referee, and two musclebound brawlers. George Hackenschmidt came to prominence at the turn of the century for being one of the most athletically inclined "strong-men" traveling the European carnival circuit. Dubbed the "Russian Lion," Hackenschmidt was a native of Estonia and eventually embarked on a tour of America where he fought for the right to call himself the first ever world's heavyweight champion. At this time, wrestling was still a shoot, meaning matches could go on for as long as six hours. The honorable grapplers of the day wouldn't dream of "throwing a fight," to appease the will of the audience, but by the final three-hour-draw, it became clear that something had to give. Over the next few decades, media outlets proceeded to investigate and subsequently denigrate professional wrestling, vilifying it as a "fixed charade" rather than a true sporting event. This caused wrestling to "go underground," so to speak—unemployed wrestlers found work with traveling carnivals, which is where a lot of the modern day lingo comes from. Words like "mark," and "work," and even "Kayfabe" were terms originally conceived by circus folk, borrowed by the wrestling community. The 1940s and 50s saw a resurgence in professional wrestling. Legends like Gorgeous George were proud to be among the first wrestlers featured on television , which was a brand new device in itself, sweeping the planet and introducing a new generation of viewers to professional wrestling. The wrestling boom caused an expansion in the then-unnamed territory system; promotors who at one time only dabbled in boxing or vaudeville performances, were now booking pro wrestling events on a nightly-basis. The WWE has already done a phenomenal job of expanding upon various periods in wrestling history, whether it be through the WWE Network or their extensive home video library, but they've really never touched upon the evolution from national phenomenon to circus sideshow, and back again. If broken down into a 20-episode format, the show could very easily go decade by decade from the 1880s up until the advent of television, with numerous side-episodes in between covering characters such as Hackenschmidt and Gotch, as well as their effect on the American populous. While there are sure to be a number of younger viewers unable to sit through an hour of black-and-white still photos and interview segments, I for one, would be happy to hear WWE Superstars from the past and present reflect on what events of this magnitude meant to them.

The Ruthless Aggression Era
I would very much like to see more �Network programming revolve around the territories outside of the mainstream bubble, but I'm completely satisfied in admiring the already rich tapestry known as World Wrestling Entertainment on its own. By the springtime of 2001, both World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling ceased to be—Vince McMahon WON the "Monday Night War." But where does a pop culture juggernaut such as the WWE go once it's finished decimating its only viable competition? Without a nemesis around to illicit the same sort of "Attitude" for which the previous four years were named, the WWE embarked on a new "business plan," choosing to showcase up-and-coming athletes on either one of two "brands." The first draft was held in 2002 whereby Vince McMahon and Ric Flair were each allowed to pick several Superstars, who would then compete exclusively for Raw or Smackdown. During this time, Raw became known as the "A-show," featuring proven main event talents like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Bill Golderg, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Smackdown on the other hand, was used to help highlight younger talents who had otherwise been forced to stand in the shadow of their top-drawing counterparts. The Thursday night "B-Show" was headlined by a group of underrated performers dubbed the "Smackdown Six," including former-and-future world champions Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and Chavo Guerrero Jr. The "Ruthless Aggression Era" began with a challenge by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who provoked an entire roster of wrestlers to prove how "ruthless" they could be inside the squared-circle. One of the first faces to answer the charge was the future "Doctor of Thuganomics" John Cena. The period of time between 2002 and 2007 is infamous for being one in which the WWE Universe was less engaged than ever before; In terms of Wrestlemania buy-rates, �Seventeen' was seen in over one million households, �X-8' did less than 900,000, and XIX came in at just over 500,000. Then in 2005, John Cena and Dave Batista each won world championship gold at Wrestlemania, ushering-in a new age where the main event was no longer a secret society for the politically savvy. While the "Attitude Era" was based solely on name-recognition with very little emphasis on athletic performance, the "Ruthless Aggression Era" allowed undercard wrestlers to excel like never-before. The WWE Network could most certainly create an extensive program dedicated to the most famous Superstars of the time, as well as historic events that helped shape the years to come. The debut of the Elimination Chamber, the formation of Evolution, the destruction of Vince McMahon's limo, and the reemergence of the "Showstopper" Shawn Michaels—all make the "Ruthless Aggression Era" a considerably curious period in wrestling history, definitely worth exploring over the course of three-to-four months.

The Territory System
In 2015 the world of professional wrestling is dominated by one internationally-renowned, publically-traded powerhouse known as World Wrestling Entertainment. Outside of the WWE, there are a plethora of independent promotions around North America and throughout the rest of the world. If somebody were to ask me to name the biggest wrestling promotions on the planet, I'd probably come up with about five sets of initials including NJPW, TNA, ROH, WWE and a few others. The "Golden Age" of wrestling encompassed the 1940s and 50s when millions of Americans were investing in a brand new invention known as television. Promotors sold their shows in every major city from Toronto to Los Angeles, back up to Seattle and across to New York. Stars of the day like Gorgeous George became household names, each claiming to be the "heavyweight champion of the world." This led to widespread confusion from territory to territory; the days of Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt were easily regulated due to so few participants willing to step between the ropes. But now there were hundreds of professional wrestlers, dozens in each promotion, all vying for the honor of being the best. In 1948, a collective of promotors from North America and Japan entered into a coalition that would help shape the entire wrestling industry as we know it. The National Wrestling Alliance worked via committee to name one individual champion of the entire system of territories, who would then tour the country, defending their title against hometown heroes and villains. Of course this brotherhood of bookers would meet with their share of challenges as they sought to develop the most practical presentation possible; there were oftentimes disputes over who should win certain matches, who should tour specific towns, and so on, leading several promotors to leave the NWA entirely. Verne Gagne was one of the most prominent members of the �Alliance, but after refusing to do business in a championship bout, opted to separate himself and renamed his promotion the "American Wrestling Association." Just a few short years later, Vince McMahon Sr. withdrew Capitol Wrestling from the NWA after the board voted to put decorated-shooter Lou Thesz over McMahon's champion Buddy Rogers. The �Alliance slowly lost its grip on several more promotions until investing the majority of its efforts into Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW, as Vince McMahon Jr. set to reap the rewards of the NWA's systematic collapse. The last major promotion to leave the NWA before the territories were declared dead was Todd Gordon's Eastern Championship Wrestling. With more than sixty years-worth of history to relive, I imagine a docu-series on the territory system would be a smash-hit. Each episode would introduce a new generation to iconic personalities; time could be explored by the decade, from the tail-end of the 1940s right up to 1994; real insights might be explored as to why the territories failed and who was ultimately at fault. The WWE Network has a ton of really great material spanning the 1970s to the most recent episodes of NXT, but is desperately deficient in terms of territorial TV shows. What about Roy Shire in San Francisco and Jerry Jarrett in Memphis? The car rides from city to city, the racial tensions of the day, the backward politics—these are the stories I want to hear, and what better place to hear them, then on the WWE Network?

The Rise and Fall of ECW
Before it was a landmark �Network series, "The Monday Night War" was an incredibly popular DVD, featuring interviews from WCW personalities, fresh off the heels of being released. The only DVD that comes close in terms of popularity was another documentary chronicling the radical transformation from Eastern to Extreme. "The Rise and Fall of ECW" was unlike anything the WWE had ever released on home video as it blurred the lines between reality and fiction like never-before. Beginning during the dark days of the NWA, the DVD feature told the tale of a rag-tag team of rookies who earned their place in history at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. The original release was highly-acclaimed and provided a thorough account of how ECW came to prominence only to collapse under the weight of its own popularity. I think if the WWE Network was able to create 20 episodes based on a two hour documentary, a three hour DVD with dozens of extras should make for an exciting few months of programming. In addition to expanding upon the same stories told on the original release, "The Rise and Fall of ECW" series could go into detail about individual wrestlers like Rob Van Dam and Sabu, as well as explore previously uncharted territory such as the "Mass Transit Incident." ECW was a stepping stone so-to-speak for superstars such as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Brian Pillman, which in itself would make for a provocative 60-minutes of original content. Extreme Championship Wrestling had a number of historic milestones throughout its seven-year history: Shane Douglas officially distanced both himself and ECW from the NWA in 1994; ECW's first pay-per-view in 1997 might not have ever happened; Going mainstream during the late 90s meant action figures, video games, and of course a nationally-distributed cable show on TNN. There's a lot of ground to cover as far as ECW, and while I loved the original DVD, I think there's plenty more to discuss now farther removed from its downfall. Extreme alumni working with the WWE at the time, such as Tommy Dreamer, Taz, and Dawn Marie, gave jarring interviews as they recalled ECW at its best and its worst. But ten years later, the WWE is on better terms than ever with a number of ECW veterans. Maybe the new series would have to use stock footage of Tommy Dreamer and Taz, but I'd happily trade the two of them for Shane Douglas, Raven, Justin Credible, the Sandman, and anybody else who's too deep in debt to deny an offer from the WWE. The original DVD was released around the time that the WWE invited a slew of ECW Originals to perform at the Manhattan Center for the first "ECW One Night Stand." A year later, the WWE would produce another show in New York featuring ECW wrestlers, but this time used it as a catalyst for the brand new "ECW on Sci-Fi." I think there's a lot to talk about in terms of whether or not this "reboot" of Extreme Championship Wrestling was a success—at first the one-hour Tuesday night series had all the makings of its original predecessor. But by the end of 2006, ECW was just another brand like Raw or Smackdown. There's so much ECW content on the �Network already, and without venturing too far outside their wheelhouse, I think WWE producers could come up with an "EXTREMELY" entertaining show chronicling the "Rise and Fall of ECW."

The Capitol Wrestling Corporation
I spoke earlier about wanting to see more from the early days of professional wrestling. I mentioned the territory system and how Vince McMahon Sr. broke away after a difference of opinion as to who should wear the NWA World Heavyweight championship belt. But the story of the McMahon family and the WWE extends well beyond the schism of 1963, dating back to the days of Roderick "Jess" McMahon and the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. Jess was a successful boxing promoter in the 1920s who established record gates at the third Madison Square Garden, and soon entered the world of professional wrestling, booking events for Toots Mondt and his New York City territory. The two became partners and founded the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1952, and joined the newly established National Wrestling Alliance one year later. Jess McMahon was the business-savvy man behind the curtain, while Toots helped influence the nonsensical chicanery that would come to define the WWF. The over-the-top theatrics of Broadway were now featured on a regular basis inside both the third and fourth incarnations of Madison Square Garden. Before long, McMahon and Mondt controlled up to 70% of the NWA's booking, due in large part to the densely populated areas of New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Roderick "Jess" McMahon died in 1954, leading Toots and associates to hire the only person they thought could fill his shoes—his son Vincent James McMahon. After the NWA's Championship Committee decided to award the world title to Lou Thesz rather than McMahon's own "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, Capitol Wrestling packed up and declared their independence. They would now be known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation, with Capitol Wrestling acting as its governing body—similar to the IWGP in New Japan or Titan Sports in later iterations of WWF TV. Buddy Rogers was awarded the first ever championship belt, before dropping it one month later to Bruno Sammartino. Vince Sr. possessed the same sterling business acumen as his late father, and through his diplomatic nature, helped forge working-relationships across the industry. In the late 1960s, Toots Mondt left the WWWF, leaving the entire franchise to Vince Sr., who in 1971 quietly rejoined the National Wrestling Alliance. In 1979, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation, and switched hands to yet another generation of McMahon. Vincent Kennedy McMahon founded Titan Sports, Inc. and by 1982 had acquired all of CWC's operations. Vince Sr. passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 69 in 1984, the same year Vince Jr. began his massive expansion, turning the New York-based CWC into the internationally-recognized WWE. The WWE and the McMahon family's history go back nearly 100 years and are simultaneously intertwined with the primordial ooze of the wrestling industry. A show of this nature could start at any point in time, introducing pro wrestling pioneers like Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt, as well as the "Superstars" of the day. I'd be interested in learning more about the early Madison Square Gardens, as well as potential hardships brought on by the Great Depression and World War II. The story of a humble boxing promotor-turned-patriarch of the biggest dynasty in wrestling history is a tale of triumph in the face of tragedy, and the tenacity of the American spirit. I think there are a number of very cool potential replacements for the "Monday Night War," but none as inspirational as the story of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation.

I'm quite fond of catching up on episodes of Monday Night Raw from 1996, as that was the year my parents decided I was "old enough to stay up late." But the best thing about the WWE Network will always be the original content and the weekly programs that give wrestling fans something to look forward to on an otherwise BORING Tuesday Night. If another docu-series isn't in the works, then can we at least get a revamped version of Tuesday Night Titans in its place—starring Cory Graves at the desk with Jason Albert on the couch? Just an idea. Until next time everybody, my name is Mark Adam Haggerty reminding you to keep it here with Cheap-Heat for all the latest and greatest countdowns and columns covering the world of wrestling.