On this day in history, March 23, 2001, (sorry we’re a day late) the WWE (Then WWF) purchased their rival WCW to end the Monday Night Wars.
The end of the Monday Night Wars came so suddenly for many of us, yet so slow as well. It was obvious with WCW’s decline that the competitive phase was over, but that didn’t mean something could be resurrected from the ashes. Eric Bischoff has stated that he put together a group to purchase WCW, but things happened (like no TV deal in place) and Vince McMahon and the WWE swooped in to purchase their former rival from under Bischoff.
We all praise or lament that moment and what could’ve been had McMahon not tried to monopolize the professional wrestling business, but there’s no denying the WWE were the victors. It’s something McMahon hasn’t stopped letting us know about in one form or another.
Uncertain future
With all the deals being reported by the media, it was difficult to know who was going to be the final purchaser. It was widely rumored that the WWE weren’t in the running given Bischoff’s previous ties to the promotion and Ted Turner.
All of that was put the rest when the WWE surprised the wrestling world by releasing a press release about their acquisition. (Special thanks to cagesideseats.com for the press release)
“STAMFORD, Conn., March 23, 2001 – World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWF) today announced its purchase of the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) brand from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS Inc.), a division of AOL Time Warner.
“The purchase of WCW creates a tag team partnership with the World Wrestling Federation brand that is expected to propel the sports entertainment genre to new heights.
“In keeping with the company’s strategic alliance with Viacom, new WCW programming is anticipated to air on TNN in the near future. The possibility of cross-brand storylines and intrigue, however, may start as early as Monday night during WWF Raw Is War on TNN and the final performance of WCW Monday Nitro Live on Turner Network Television (TNT).
“The binding agreement provides World Wrestling Federation Entertainment with the global rights to the WCW brand, tape library, and other intellectual property rights.”
This was the hope of many of us, as rumors got our hopes up that Shane McMahon would be given control of WCW and they would continue to air their shows with a fresh start. It wouldn’t be as intense as the Monday Night Wars were, but it’d still offer us a decent alternative to the WWE.
Unfortunately, that never happened as WCW was viewed as “too tarnished” to restart.
Missed opportunity
While it’s understandable why the television shows didn’t continue, as the WWE had a contract with Viacom. It was reported that WCW programming needed to be canceled before the WWE could continue in the month long negotiations could continue.
Along with this are the reports that following their final meeting, WCW staff were escorted out of CNN Center and weren’t allowed to go back for their personal effects. While they were allowed to apply to the WWE for positions, few were brought in.
The same went for the wrestlers, as McMahon wished to show WWE superiority. Those the WWE did bring in often lost matches clean while winning with help or cheating until the Invasion storyline was completed.
Even then, it’s hard to count WCW stars that made an impact on more than one hand, as only those that left to join WWE prior to WCW closing seemed to get a legitimate chance.
Final tally
There’s no denying that this put WWE in sole position as the true power in professional wrestling, and that’s not a good thing.
While WWE loyalists praise what the WWE has become, and it is impressive as they are the Disney of professional wrestling, many of us have grown disenchanted with the cracks we saw beginning shortly after the Monday Night wars. Those cracks have since grown as the lack of competition (signing other promotions best talent and then burying them will do that) has done more harm than good.
For many of us, had the WWE actually put an effort behind restarting WCW even years later as a separate entity, we’d be kinder. As it stands now, the WWE’s struggles could be traced back to this date when they were the king of the world.
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