10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 1995
There was a period of time in the mid-1990s when the WWF fluctuated between having a strong year and then a weak year. 1993 is considered a particularly low point for the company, but in many ways, 1994 helped them get back on their feet. 1996 was a decent enough year in terms of entertainment value and ratings, but this only counteracted the damage done by 1995.
Also Read: 10 Shocking Moments from WWF (WWE) 1994
This was not a strong year for the company, with Vince McMahon very much trying to find his direction. The year would also officially signal the rise of the first legitimate contender the WWF had seen in years in WCW. This was certainly not the Hogan Era, and the pieces that would later form the Attitude Era were not yet in place either.
That being said, 1995 was not completely without its talking points, and with the benefit of hindsight, we are able to see where the very early green shoots of recovery began to grow. Here are the top 10 shocking moments from WWF 1995:
#1 The Birth of WCW Monday Nitro
Given the sheer dominance of the WWF throughout most of the 1980s and early 90s, it was going to take something drastic for another company to come along and pose a real challenge to them. WCW owner Ted Turner obviously felt that Vince McMahon’s grip on power was slowly becoming more precarious after the departure of so many of his signature stars.
Turner reportedly asked Eric Bishoff, who he had brought in as Executive Vice President, how best to supplant WWF at the head of the wrestling table. Bishoff’s suggestion was to run a show at the same time as WWF’s Monday Night RAW.
Turner gave the company the green light, and on 4th September 1995, the first ever episode of Monday Nitro aired on TNT. This turned the somewhat tepid war between the two companies into an all or nothing game. The success of WCW as a company would now be dependent on how well it managed to challenge RAW on Monday nights, and sooner or later both companies knew there would have to be an ultimate winner.
Nitro, for a short time, was the signature wrestling show of the 1990s, bringing in old WWF names that Vince assumed were no longer relevant to the business. TNT also had the advantage of airing their show in real time, allowing them to give away the results of RAW beforehand as a way to draw people’s attention away from WWF.
It was a sly, underhand tactic that Vince strongly spoke out against, but as many commentators have since pointed out, Vince wasn’t exactly known for holding back when it came to destroying his rivals back in the day.
The battle lines were drawn, and over the next few years, wrestling fans were treated to some real-life shocking moments that well and truly killed kayfabe for good.