Marvez: And now, a Monday-night fight between WWE, TNA Wrestling

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For the first time in almost nine years, World Wrestling Entertainment will have Monday-night competition from a rival grappling company.

TNA Wrestling is running a special live edition of its "Impact" show from 8 to 11 p.m. EST on Spike TV next week. It will air opposite WWE's "Monday Night Raw," which runs from 9 to 11 p.m. on USA Network.

TNA, which normally airs Thursday nights on Spike, decided to challenge WWE head-to-head after recently signing Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea. Although his days as a full-time wrestler are over because of age and injuries, the 56-year-old Bollea will give TNA some much-needed mainstream publicity. Expected to serve in a figurehead-commissioner role on camera, The Hulkster also wields considerable backstage power when it comes to future story lines and shaping TNA's talent roster.

"I don't think we're necessarily going to win that night (ratings-wise), but I do feel we're best equipped going into battle with the product as it is right now," said Brian Diamond, the senior vice president of sports/specials at Spike. "We're all feeling very excited and confident about taking a shot and throwing our hat in the ring."

While only scheduled as a one-time event, its television ratings will go a long way toward determining whether TNA will hold more Monday-night specials or move "Impact" to a permanent slot opposite "Raw" later on. Diamond said the "Impact" special would be considered a success if the show drew the same audience of roughly 1.5 million viewers who currently watch the Thursday telecasts.

"We want to take a real close look at what worked and what didn't," Diamond said of next Monday's show. "The good news is we're taking this plunge. It could open the door for a lot more opportunities for TNA on Spike."

"Raw" draws about 5 million viewers weekly, making it one of cable television's highest-rated shows. The fact that WWE didn't extend next week's "Raw" to three hours shows the promotion isn't overly worried about TNA competition even with Hogan, Scott Hall and possibly Ric Flair and Sean "X-Pac" Waltman set to debut. However, WWE is countering TNA with the much-anticipated return of Bret "The Hitman" Hart to build a major feud against company owner Vince McMahon. WWE also is bringing back retired boxer Mike Tyson as a guest host for the Jan. 11 "Raw" to counter an Ultimate Fighting Championship "fight night" card being presented by Spike.

Diamond points out that the ultimate winners in a WWE-TNA rivalry are wrestling fans. Both companies will be striving to outdo the other much like when World Championship Wrestling began airing "Monday Night Nitro" opposite "Raw" in 1995. What followed was the greatest three-year period in grappling history for in-ring action and story lines.

WCW ultimately collapsed because of poor management, gross overspending and subsequent cancellation as TNT and TBS programming by then-parent company AOL/Time Warner. WWE purchased WCW for a song in March 2001, ending the "Monday-night wars" and further cementing itself as the world's pre-eminent wrestling company.

"Competition is always good for the viewer," Diamond said. "There are 10 million wrestling fans out there waiting for this moment."

TNA rose from WCW's ashes in 2002. The group was founded by wrestler-promoter Jeff Jarrett and later purchased by Panda Energy International. Initially airing only on pay-per-view, TNA debuted on Spike in October 2005 and did good enough ratings to procure a two-hour Thursday-night time slot two years later.

TNA has gradually expanded its talent lineup with established stars like Kurt Angle, Steve "Sting" Borden and Mick Foley joining standout youngsters like A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe. Spike will soon begin sporadically telecasting "TNA Epics" specials that feature some of the best bouts in company history. The first show is scheduled for 11 p.m. on Jan. 14 following a Thursday-night "Impact" telecast.

TNA still isn't in the same ballpark as WWE when it comes to every major business element, such as overall revenue, pay-per-view orders, live attendance and worldwide popularity. But by running opposition on Monday night, TNA could lure some WWE fans who channel surf or don't normally watch "Impact."

"Part of the discussion we have with TNA is what do we need to do to raise the bar and make things better," Diamond said. "Stronger talent and story lines are the key."

Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, one of wrestling's top performers worldwide during the 1980s and 1990s, died Wednesday from cancer. He was 49. Williams had beaten throat cancer in 2004 and hoped to wrestle a retirement match in Japan, but suffered a recurrence in October. Known as one of the industry's legitimate tough guys, Williams wrestled for WWE in the late 1990s but was best known for his work in Japan and with the Oklahoma-based Universal Wrestling Federation in the 1980s.

(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv(at)aol.com or follow him via Twitter at http://twitter.com/alexmarvez.)