For WWE Hall of Famer and three-time WWE Champion Mick Foley, the Raw series is a pivotal moment in his career. After continuous weeks of losing to WCW Nitro in the Monday Night Wars, WWE proved that in life, many races are not a sprint, but a marathon.
As WCW was capitalizing on ex-WWE stars Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Randy Savage with the nWo, WWE was doing the same thing, but in reverse. Instead, Vince McMahon was concentrating more on looking further into the future by building ex-WCW talent, namely Steve Austin, Triple H, Chris Jericho, and Mick Foley. In the end, the strategy of building stars trumped the game plan of using older names while they have star power left.
Pivotal Moment Of The Monday Night Wars
One of the most pivotal moments of the Monday Night Wars was on January 4, 1999. While Nitro was a weekly live show, WWE would still alternate being live and taped. In an extremely bold move, WCW commentator Tony Schiavone urged the fans to stay tuned to Nitro , since Raw was taped. As the show was going into a commercial break, Schiavone gave spoilers to the fans, jokingly stating that Mick Foley won the WWE Championship from the Rock. Little did WCW know that this would actually procure 600,000 fans to turn to Raw and witness Foley begin his first reign as WWE Champion, causing WCW to lose a chunk of their audience and never manage to regain steam.
What made matters worse was WCW advertising a rematch from Starrcade 1998 pitting Goldberg, trying to regain his WCW Championship and retribution for his undefeated streak ending, against Kevin Nash, but fans instead witnessed the notorious “Fingerpoke of Doom.” This left a very sour taste in the fans of WCW, and the company was never able to recover in the Monday Night Wars.
Mick Foley Gives Update On Status To Appear At Raw 25
In an interview with Mirror , Foley stated that this moment in Raw history, and show overall, “literally changed [his] life.” Even at 52, with a legendary resume and 35 years in the business, Foley admits that he is still a fan and watches the show almost every Monday night with his children.
So far, WWE has amassed a number of legendary talent to appear on the Raw 25 show. Names include The Undertaker – who will be making his first WWE televised appearance since losing to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 — Ric Flair, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, and Eric Bischoff.
Foley stated that he has been invited, but he is trying to clear time from something he already committed to. He added, “whether I’m there in person or not, I believe I will be there in spirit.”
