World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wasn’t always the biggest pro wrestling company. From August 1996 to March 2001, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) competed against WWE in the “Monday Night Wars”: WWF* RAW IS WAR on USA vs. WCW Monday Nitro on TNT. Eventually, WWE bought WCW, but professional wrestling as a whole had seen a degree of popularity never seen before or since because of the conflict. 

*The company was called World Wrestling Federation at the time. The change to WWE for “Entertainment” came in 2002.*