October 12, 2005 Observer Newsletter: WWE attempts to bring in Mike Goldberg, Raw Homecoming
The end result of the most important weekend for television in this industry in more than four years told a few things about a few companies.
As it turned out, the biggest story of the weekend was not the ratings, but the game behind them. One of the key elements of the Monday Night Wars, going back-and-forth, was the “dirty tricks,” and both sides did everything they could legally and on occasion, bordering on illegally, to one-up the other. The only “dirty trick” that actually happened was Spike’s buying time in many markets, most notably New York and Chicago, during the live Raw, plugging the Ultimate Fight night special going on at the same time. USA or WWE also bought time locally in some cable systems, including some in New York, during Spike’s Ultimate Fighter show to tune into Raw. However, that paled in comparison to the one that Vince McMahon nearly pulled off.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.