When the WWE Network announced the coming of the documentary The Monday Night War, many people probably assumed that they were probably just streaming the original documentary released on DVD in 2004, perhaps with minor updates. What fans got instead was a 20-part series analyzing the history of two great companies battling over ratings during the mid-to-late 90's. Part 1 of the series does cover much of the same ground as the original doc, but leaves room at the end for further, more detailed exploration. Narrator Keith David lays the groundwork in Chapter 1, which provides the backstory for the war.
At times the story is awfully skewed in favor of Vince McMahon's company. But, as they, the winner writes history. Still, even within the obvious bias of the narrative, there are facts such as Ted Turner's early falling out with Vince over McMahon's desire to air his product on Turner's Superstation and their competition, USA Network.
After briefly touching on wrestling's "Golden Age" of the mid-eighties, the narrator goes on to describe Turner's formation of World Championship Wrestling, the promotion that would ultimately prove to be the WWF's chief rival. Innacurately described as a "southern billionaire" (though Ted Turner's media empire was headquartered in Atlanta, he was actually from Ohio), Vince glibly described the two men's differing business philosophies (via WWE Network):
"Ted said, 'Vince... I'm in the 'rasslin' business.' And I said, 'Okay, that means we are in different businesses... [because] I'm in the entertainment business, and that's two completely different philosophies.'"
When the heat of wrestling's golden age started to cool off, WWF began shaking things up with a live show called Monday Night Raw. This, Vince hoped, would inject a shot in the arm of a product that had become stale and cheesy. The format had some success, but the high costs of production led to the decision to start taping some of their shows again.
At some point in the early nineties, it became clear that the WWF was intent on pushing new and younger Superstars, prompting Hulk Hogan, and later Macho Man Randy Savage, to jump ship. After a foray into acting, WCW executive producer Eric Bischoff lured Hogan back into the squared circle with a lucrative deal.
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