#7 Tony Schiavone Saves RAW And Kills WCW
Unlike other botches on this list which are here due to incorrect execution, this botch is more famous for its consequences.
A long-standing part of WCW’s war against WWE during the Monday Night Wars was for WCW to spoil the then-taped RAW for viewers watching WCW live. On one fateful night, January 4th, 1999, Tony Schiavone did what he was told to do once again: spoil RAW. Only this time it blew up in his face royally.
Under Eric Bischoff’s orders, Tony Schiavone told the WCW audience that Mick Foley was going to be winning the WWE Championship, ending the announcement with the sarcastic phrase, “that’ll put some butts in the seats.”
Immediately, an estimated 600,000 homes switched from Nitro to RAW, which led to RAW gaining another victory in the ratings war. WCW would never reach beyond a 5.0 rating after that. Essentially, WCW botched their long-term success with this announcement. Instead of using it to their advantage, they encouraged fans to tune into RAW, and those viewers never looked back.
