Steve McMichael

Houston, Texas, USA

Biography

Stephen Douglas McMichael, nicknamed "Mongo", is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), former professional wrestler, commentator and head coach. McMichael played college football for the University of Texas at Austin and was an All-American. He played for the New England Patriots, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, winning Super Bowl XX with the Bears in January 1986. During his professional wrestling career, McMichael was known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He became a member of the legendary Four Horsemen stable and was a one-time WCW United States Champion. From 2007 to 2013, McMichael was the head coach of the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). In 2013, he finished second in his campaign for mayor of Romeoville, Illinois. McMichael has been a regular presence on Chicago sports radio for several years and is currently the namesake of a restaurant in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.

Movies

WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001. Production ceased shortly after WCW was purchased by the WWF. The debut of Nitro began the Monday Night Wars, a ratings battle between the WWF and WCW that lasted for almost six years and saw each company resort to cutthroat tactics to try to compete with the competition. In mid-1996, Nitro began to draw better ratings than Raw based on the strength of the nWo storyline, an anarchist wrestling stable that wanted to take over WCW. Nitro continued to beat Raw for 84 consecutive weeks, forcing WWE owner Vince McMahon to change the way he did business. As the nWo storyline grew stagnant, fan interest in the storyline waned, and Raw began to edge out Nitro in the ratings. The turning point for the organizations came during the January 4, 1999 broadcast of Nitro, during which lead commentator Tony Schiavone gave away the results of matches for that night's Raw broadcast. As Raw was taped and Nitro was live, Bischoff believed that knowing the outcome would dissuade viewers from watching the program. Excited by the prospect of seeing perennial WWF underdog Mick Foley win the WWF Championship, a large number of Nitro viewers changed channels to watch Raw, switching back to Nitro after Foley won the title. From that week forward, Raw beat Nitro in the ratings by a significant amount, and WCW was never able to regain the success it once had.

More info
WCW Monday Nitro
1995