What if WWE lost the Monday Night War?

It was one of the biggest business happenings in wrestling history, and certainly, the biggest of the last twenty years: WWE defeated WCW in the Monday Night War. Not only that, but WWE bought WCW, thus not so much putting the competition out of business as sticking its flag on its enemies highest hill, with Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon appearing live to turn the final scene of Monday Nitro into nothing more than a WWE angle.

From the vantage point of seventeen and a half years later, it’s difficult to imagine the wrestling landscape had the war wound up going the other way.

But what if WWE has lost the Monday Night War?

We’ll never know for sure how wrestling history would have played out in that scenario, though the consensus is that it wasn’t far from happening, particularly before WWE’s Attitude Era really hit its stride. This article takes a look at five potential outcomes if WWE hadn’t won out in the end.

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5. John Cena never reaches icon status

John Cena probably wouldn't have broken out the way he did outside WWE

Today, it’s hard to imagine wrestling without its biggest star of the last fifteen years, John Cena. Cena has won more world championships than anyone not named Ric Flair, has won WrestleMania main events against guys like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and The Rock, won two Royal Rumbles, and generally been the face of WWE, and by extension professional wrestling on the whole.

WCW was notoriously reticent to push new, homegrown stars. So, while it’s entirely feasible that Cena’s sheer drive and abilities would have gotten him a spot on the WCW roster, it’s a toss-up whether he would have ever broken out to become a main event guy, much less the defining star of his generation while veterans from yesteryear remained featured in top positions.

Cena may have had a better chance in the likely scenario that WCW itself would have closed down anyway, given the powers that be at Time Warner not seeming particularly interested in running a wrestling company. Maybe he would have come up with a top indie promotion, or new national promotion that rose up in WWE and WCW’s stead.

4. The Undertaker vs. Sting happens

The Undertaker vs. Sting is a dream match that never materialized, in part because WWE won

One of the biggest dream matches that wrestling has never seen, and is unlikely to see at this point was The Undertaker vs. Sting. The two guys were bona fide main event players for their respective companies and, particularly once WCW was meaningfully challenging WWE, they were each loyal company men who were among the few to never jump ship between promotions.

Sting had the opportunity to come to WWE after WCW closed its doors, but didn’t strike a deal for quite some time, and has cited in interviews that he wasn’t entirely sure he trusted WWE with the final years of his prime, and with his legacy. WWE had a brief window to get this match done between 2014 and 2016, but cast Sting against Triple H and later Seth Rollins instead. It’s still conceivable this match could happen, but Sting doesn’t seem too likely to wrestle again, and The Undertaker isn’t in a position to cover for his limitations.

Had WCW won the Monday Night War, there’s a very reasonable chance The Undertaker would have headed there for at least a short stint, as one of the biggest stars in wrestling, and with plenty of years left in his tank. Setting the match in WCW, we may not have gotten the best version of the match, but at least we likely would have seen it.

3. The Elimination Chamber never exists

The Elimination Chamber probably never would have been had WWE not carried on

After the Monday Night War, WWE had the mainstream national wrestling audience all to itself, and WCW’s intellectual property at its disposal. Triple H reportedly championed the cause of staging a War Games match—a wish he’d never see realized until he had control of and had well established NXT a decade later.

In the interim, WWE created the Elimination Chamber as a nod to War Games, with elements of other gimmick matches intertwined and a new structure. While WCW was known to introduce new gimmick matches on the regular, rarely were they as well conceived as Elimination Chamber, besides which they wouldn’t have gone looking for an alternative to War Games. In all likelihood, the Chamber—which first appeared at Survivor Series 2002 with Triple H defending his World Heavyweight Championship and Shawn Micheals winning his last world title—probably never would have come together, much less become an institution, had WWE lost the War.

2. No WWE Network

Neither the WWE Network nor anything like it may have existed if WWE didn't win the Monday Night War

In a take straight from Eric Bischoff in WWE’s documentary about him, had WCW won the Monday Night War, there would never have been a WWE Network. That’s more than a matter of naming convention, and instead having a WCW Network that’s ostensibly the same. As Bischoff articulated, the Network is emblematic of Vince McMahon’s passion for wrestling and understanding of what his fans want.

Besides the Network being McMahon’s brainchild, had he not bought out WCW’s tape library, en route to doing the same for most other promotions of any historical significance across the US, no other version of the Network would have the depth or breadth of archival footage the WWE Network has at its disposal. While there’s a segment of fans that will always knock McMahon for some of his decisions, and some booking feeling out of touch, at the end of the day, he has created the ultimate American wrestling fan destination, and wouldn’t have had the resources to do it had he lost the War.

1. Vince McMahon still stands tall

Vince McMahon may have lost the battle, and even the war, but still come back even hungrier

Throughout its history, WCW had had quite a few creative and business heads, including its late stages when people like Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, and Kevin Nash were power brokers. Even if WCW had defeated WWE in the Monday Night War, there’s little reason to think they’d stabilize for long. On the contrary, they’d go looking for another person to head up the company until someone truly stuck (or, more likely, until the company still closed down).

While he was WCW’s arch-rival, it’s hard to imagine anyone with a better overall booking track record than Vince McMahon, at least in terms of longevity and moments of explosive success. It’s reasonable to think he would have ended up working for WCW at some point had he lost the war.

Alternatively, after WCW shut down anyway, McMahon would have been a prime candidate to rise from the ashes with a new wrestling promotion. While WWE winning lent McMahon the greatest consolidated power and resources, even if his company had lost, it’s realistic to think McMahon would have found his way back to the top.