When Nitro debuted it started a ratings battle which became known as the "Monday Night Wars" between WCW and WWF which lasted almost six years. WCW started the nWo storyline which helped them gain more viewers than the WWF. They would continue to defeat the WWF in viewers for 84 consecutive weeks which forced WWF owner Vince McMahon to change the style of wrestling his promotion was doing and introduce The Attitude Era. As the nWo storyline became stale, fans turned from WCW to watch the WWF.