TNA Impact!'s move to Monday nights

In early 2010, professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling moved their weekly television program, Impact! (stylized as iMPACT!) from airing on Thursdays to airing Monday nights. This put them in direct competition with World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) flagship program Monday Night Raw. The move drew comparisons to the Monday Night Wars, in which defunct wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) program Nitro went head-to-head with Raw in a battle for Nielsen ratings each week from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001; this led Impact!'s move to sometimes be called The New Monday Night Wars. The move was spurred by the signing of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, two central figures of the original Monday Night War. Unlike the ratings battle with WCW, TNA never gained traction against WWE, despite initially setting record high ratings for Impact!. Impact! returned to its Thursday night timeslot after declining ratings in May, less than two months after the move.

On October 27, 2009, Hulk Hogan announced that he and Eric Bischoff had signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in a press conference held at Madison Square Garden, the place considered to be the home of WWE. TNA President Dixie Carter stated "Our goal is to become the world's biggest professional wrestling company. Hulk defines professional wrestling and we look forward to partnering with him in a variety of ways as we continue to grow TNA globally."

In signing with TNA, they would be reunited with the controversial former WCW booker Vince Russo who they had vowed to never work with again after butting heads in WCW. However, they stated that Russo would not be fired, and the three would attempt to work together. A short time after on December 5, 2009, Hogan made an announcement during The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale that Impact!, which normally airs on Thursdays would go head to head with Raw on Monday January 4 in a three-hour live broadcast. This would be the first time since March 2001 that two wrestling promotions would go head-to-head in a Monday night ratings competition. It was also confirmed to be the live debut of Hogan.

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