At its best/peak, what was the better show: Nitro or Raw

[Gertner]

I'd consider Nitro at it's best/peak between late 1996-early/mid 1998

Raw I'd go from late 1998-late 2001

So at its best, which was the better show?

On Nitro during that time you had awesome cruiserweight matches, great technical matches, angles which were hott at the time like the NWO, Raven's Flock, etc...

On Raw during the time you had better characters like Stone Cold, The Rock, Undertaker. Also had factions like DX, The Nation, The Radicals.


So in your opinion, which was the better show?

[captaincharismark]

I personally think the shows at their peaks were pretty much equal. I know I was flipping back and forth during RAW and NITRO before the invention of the DVR. Wrestling in general was so much better then. It sure as hell beats the current WWE that lacks effort. WCW motivated WWE to become as great as it did, and without the Monday Night Wars, I'm sure alot of fans wouldn't even be watching now...

[DLVH84]

I personally think the shows at their peaks were pretty much equal. I know I was flipping back and forth during RAW and NITRO before the invention of the DVR. Wrestling in general was so much better then. It sure as hell beats the current WWE that lacks effort. WCW motivated WWE to become as great as it did, and without the Monday Night Wars, I'm sure alot of fans wouldn't even be watching now...

Great point. When they bought out the competition, they became lazy.

[dhellova guy]

I personally think the shows at their peaks were pretty much equal. I know I was flipping back and forth during RAW and NITRO before the invention of the DVR. Wrestling in general was so much better then. It sure as hell beats the current WWE that lacks effort. WCW motivated WWE to become as great as it did, and without the Monday Night Wars, I'm sure alot of fans wouldn't even be watching now...

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[TheAdamEvansFan]

I loved WCW and Nitro. I enjoyed the 3 announcers especially.

I liked the factions and the tag team push along with the strong cruiserweight division.

I also liked the Nitro Girls acting like cheerleaders! It was cool for a 13 yr old like myself in those days.

I would have to say that TNA isn't like WCW because it's in a small arena and is ALOT more edgy then WCW.

WCW had the PG feel with the factions giving the only real edge to it.

Nitro was better in my opinion as it always kept my remotes attention but I enjoyed Austin vs WWE/McMahon and if they can do that with Cena then I think Attitude Era can indeed reemerge, just on a big network with more restrictions due to its now global appeal and PG Status.

Turning CM Punk into a crowd favorite isn't going to lead to the re'emergance of the Attitude Era, it'll need Cena to team with him to launch a war against Triple H and his new company on behalf of the fans and against the powers to be in Stanford. A babyFace and heel combining to fight the company.
Or it'll need for Cena to screw over Punk and go against everything he stands for, like how Hogan screwed over Macho Man and there started the NWO.

I wonder where Nexus lies, but it would be intense to see The Corre and the rememnants of Nexus to join with CM Punk and Cena and to lead this INVASION. NWO/WolfPac Style.

[Heisenberg]

Great point. When they bought out the competition, they became lazy.

I can see where you'd think WWE's lazy and it comes off like that. After Cena said he'd show up on another show and said brother, I see them as just cocky. Which is not a bad thing.

[captaincharismark]

Great point. When they bought out the competition, they became lazy.

Yeah, being forced to produce results or risk going under has a way of motivating you. WWE needed WCW around so they could keep their competitive edge. It's clear now that WCW isn't around, WWE doesn't feel the pressure to be as creative as they were before.

I know I miss the days of flipping back and forth between RAW and NITRO to see who jumped shows next...

[Fox]

That's a REALLY tough question. Both shows, at their peaks, offered different great things. RAW had great main event wrestlers, great promo guys, legendary segments, amazing women... Nitro had amazing mid-carders/cruiserweights, the "cool factor" of the nWo, awesome heroes like DDP, Goldberg and Sting...

I think I'd have to go with RAW, just by a very small margin. Nitro's 3-hours were usually very good, but sprinkled throughout those 3 hours were terrible jobber matches that nobody wanted to see, long-winded promos by Hogan, Bischoff, etc, and the main events pretty much never delivered. Nitro was also big on the bait-and-switch technique to keep people tuned into the very last moment - announcing main events that never happened/broke down into pointless brawls. Only twice (Hogan vs Luger, Hogan vs. Goldberg) that I really remember did they come through with a real big time main event on Nitro.

RAW, at its peak, on the other hand, was pretty much always entertaining from start to finish. The only thing I would say WCW did better than WWE during their respective "peaks" is the cruiserweight matches and mid-card action, and by late 1999/early 2000, the WWE had brought in and elevated enough young talent (the Radicals, Hardys, E&C, Kurt Angle, Jericho) that they weren't too far behind WCW in that respect either.

[Kal-El]

Very close to call as I was one that flipped back and forth between shows . . . but I got to give the edge to Nitro because it seemed like it had better wrestling with it having cruiserweights and technical wrestling.

[lam1610]

well the only thing i liked with wcw was sting. i loved most of the talent in wwf. I know nwo came first but the dx was so much better.

[RiX1024]

WWE Raw....much better product, only watched Nitro for an hour just to wait for Raw and then switch to Raw.

[Gertner]

I was a huge WCW mark at this time, so I'm kinda biased towards WCW.

[Malfeitor]

I am the same way, Gertner. Huge WCW mark at that time. Looking back though, I can say that Raw was way better than Nitro. I didn't get back into wrestling until about Slamboree '98. So I missed a lot of good stuff.

[captaincharismark]

I am the same way, Gertner. Huge WCW mark at that time. Looking back though, I can say that Raw was way better than Nitro. I didn't get back into wrestling until about Slamboree '98. So I missed a lot of good stuff.

Yeah, I was a huge mark for both shows back then. Looking back objectively now though, there really was no comparison. RAW kicked WCW's ass as far as superior characters and more compelling storylines. NITRO had the better wrestling matches with the cruiserweights. Not to mention the nWo/Sting angle was always entertaining.

Had the Monday Night Wars been now, I would've easily watched the first hour of NITRO, then flipped to RAW for the remainder of the night. Back in the day, I tried to catch both shows in between commercials...

[Jaded-Dragon]

I agree. Nitro had the better wrestling matches from 96 - mid 98. But, Raw had the better characters and a higher shock value.

It depends on what your looking for in the program. I remember they would replay Nitro from 10-12am. I would watch the first hour of Nitro from 8-9, then watch Raw from 9-11, then switch back and watch the last hour of Nitro during the replay from 11-12. Good times.

I recorded them both on VHS for over two years. I eventually recorded over my WCW tapes with WWF programming, so I guess that answers the question for me. BUT, I highly regretted it after WCW went out of business. WCW was the company that made wrestling a national phenomenon in the late 90's . Even though they stole 95% of their material from ECW or various Japanese promotions, they were the ones that put it on the national stage and made wrestling cool again.

[Aguakate]

...there's no way to go one way or the other...both shows at their peak were awesome, in their own way...apples and oranges.

[Jordan]

Nitro at it's peak still annoyed me and I was always and always will be a die hard WWE fan. I would always watch Raw unless the Los Borriqua's or some shit was on.

To me the start of the NWO was amazing, it was like Punk/Cena it broke new grounds, broke kayfabe, but after Starcade 97 that heat died big time when I realized Starcade was one of the worst PPV's (except the opening match with Dean/Eddie) I had ever seen. I then realized that even though WCW had amazing wrestlers like Jericho, Rey, Eddie, Dean, Booker T and my personal favorite Benoit, they were never going to take the spotlight away from Hogan and Nash and Piper and whomever else they pushed.

With all of those talented guys on the mic and especially in the ring they could never compete with the drama and humor that DX provided, the cult stories with The Undertaker, the masochism of Mick Foley, the raw alcoholism of Steve Austin, the eyebrow of The Rock, the strut of Vince McMahon, and the commentary of King and Jr.

There was never a single point in time where the WCW Title meant more than the WWE title. Especially when you had The Giant as the Champ vs HBK, or Hogan as the Chap vs Austin, or Goldberg as the Champ vs The Rock....

Nope, I watched WCW on commercial mostly because WWE was always trying something new, something I hadn't seen, and while WCW kept on pushing the stars of yesterday, WWE was pushing Triple H and X-Pac, and Jericho, and The NAO, Austin, Rock, Kane, Taker, etc....

Vince knows the secret to the business and it's obviously when you look at the history he always changes with the times... sure it's taken a few years recently but were back on top now and getting new shit left and right.

[Droford]

WCW at its peak had much better low to mid card that would often steal the show cause then theyd trot out the old guys and have matches that would end stupidly with DQ's/interference/etc. At its peak, WWF was doing the same thing but the upper card guys weren't all over the hill. WWF really didnt have that great of a low card either..they were still using Jobbers on RAW for crying out loud and they had a crappy cruiserweight division that Vince might as well have never bothered with.

[Loose Cannon]

I was a huge WCW mark at this time, so I'm kinda biased towards WCW.

yea same. I loved WCW even into 2000. I don't know why when I look back at the mess today, but I would tune in more to WCW then WWF. Most people consider 2000 to be one of the best WWF years ever, but I remember back then not really getting into it. I wasn't huge on the McMahon/Helmsley faction and I believe that angle lasted a while. The WWF roster during 2000 was pretty sick though.

[Kane Knight]

At its best, Raw had me tuning in every week and watching religiously. The trickle-down is since I was watching, I'd also check out WCW anyway, but Raw really did it.

[Supreme Olajuwon]

Nitro was great and WCW had so much talent, but it almost seemed at times like they had too much talent and they couldn't figure out how to give time to everyone while also keeping the big names happy. So while the shows were usually great and had so much action, it was hard for me to really get emotionally invested in much outside of Sting/nWo, DDP, and Jericho.

Raw on the other hand didn't have as much talent, but they put a lot of effort into their characters and stories and made me want to care about what was going on.

So I guess I'll say Raw.

[Stickman]

I was always a WWF guy because that's what was on tv. When my parents made a little bit more money we got more channels and I was able to tune into WCW Saturday night around the time Randy Savage jumped to WCW. I didn't get Nitro live and didn't get Nitro until after the NWO started so I kind of missed the start of the war. I think I started getting Nitro a little before the Montreal Screwjob.

When I finally did have access to Nitro I would watch both shows and I found WWF better. Nitro was great but the 3 hours really dragged at times. WWF had an edge to it, maybe because it was on live, i'm not sure, but Nitro just didn't do it for me as much as RAW

[Gertner]

Nitro didn't go to 3 hours until 1998 I believe. Nitro was at it's best in late 96 through to 1997. It was mostly 2 hours with the occasional 3 hour show.

[Stickman]

Hard to remember 15 years ago tbh

[Shisen Kopf]

The worst was when WCW made you have to watch some robin hood show to see the finish of the main event. F'n stupid. So I'd have to say the worst best show was Nitro bu the best worst show is WWF Raw. I'm going to rasslin.

[Rollermacka]

yea same. I loved WCW even into 2000. I don't know why when I look back at the mess today, but I would tune in more to WCW then WWF. Most people consider 2000 to be one of the best WWF years ever, but I remember back then not really getting into it. I wasn't huge on the McMahon/Helmsley faction and I believe that angle lasted a while. The WWF roster during 2000 was pretty sick though.

I gotta agree that Nitro wasnt that bad of show even near the end, I still flicked over to it to see Kronik, 3 Count/ Jung Dragons and of course Sting and DDP.


As for the question at hand, Nitro had that "whats gonna happen this week" factor going for it in the late 90s. Anybody could show up, any title could change hands, anybody could turn heel or face, thats what I think made WCW a better show at that time

[Gertner]

It's kinda hard to block out the Nitro 1998-2001 when talking about this, because it got so bad so fast.

[Kane Knight]

Nitro was great and WCW had so much talent, but it almost seemed at times like they had too much talent and they couldn't figure out how to give time to everyone while also keeping the big names happy. So while the shows were usually great and had so much action, it was hard for me to really get emotionally invested in much outside of Sting/nWo, DDP, and Jericho.

Raw on the other hand didn't have as much talent, but they put a lot of effort into their characters and stories and made me want to care about what was going on.

So I guess I'll say Raw.

Nitro often disappointed me solely because they had like 900 people and almost noe were meaningfully used.

[IC Champion]

Easily RAW.

[Rammsteinmad]

At their peaks, both shows were fucking incredible! But at WCW's peak, I was only 10/11 years old and still a stupid mark. I watch stuff like that now and all I see is stupid fucking Hogan, Nash, NWO, Luger etc stinking up the joint every night.

But back in the day, I was fucking ecstatic every Friday night! (in the UK).