Chris Jericho has reflected on the reaction of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon when he found out that TNA’s flagship show at the time in 2010, Impact, would be going head-to-head with WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night RAW.

Jericho talked about it during a recent edition of his Talk is Jericho podcast. If you recall, these shows would battle it out for ratings on Monday nights at the time starting on January 4, 2010.



“[Vince] said, ‘take me out of the equation. You can’t compete with WWE at this point.’ ‘It’s too much of a machine, it’s too much of a brand, it’s just the way it is.’ And he’s right.

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You’re not gonna [beat] the WWE. You can compete, carve out your own niche, yes. But I also believe that [WWE] has now become entrenched in Americana, pop culture, and the world. It’s not gonna go anywhere.”

If you recall, this episode of Impact started a new era in TNA as Hulk Hogan made his promotional debut while Jeff Hardy made his return to the company. Also, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman, Val Venis, Mick Foley, and Ric Flair made appearances while Bobby Lashley departed.

The show was headlined by AJ Styles retaining his TNA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Kurt Angle in the main event.

On the flip side, RAW featured the reconciliation of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart after 12 years of bad blood due to the Montreal Screwjob. TNA’s time on Monday nights didn’t last long as they went back to Thursday nights in early March.

The head-to-head battle only last two months before TNA pulled the plug on the ‘Monday Night War’ experiment.



H/T to Wrestlinginc for the transcribed quotes