What Happened To WCW? How WCW Vs. WWE Ended?

In this article, you will find answers to:

• Why WWE buying WCW was the worst thing that ever happened to pro wrestling?
• How did WWE buy out WCW?
• Why did WCW go out of business?

WCW was one of the top wrestling promotions in the USA and was a significant competitor to the dominant World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now famously known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). 

The sky was the limit for WCW as it even, at one time, surpassed the WWF in popularity and ratings.

WCW was founded on 11^th October 1988 by media tycoon Ted Turner and was based in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Why WWE buying WCW was the worst thing that ever happened to pro wrestling?

It is common knowledge that the WWE has lost most of its charm that it enjoyed in the 90s.

This is due to the fact that it has become more of a monopoly since it acquired WCW.

And since they face very little or no competition from other brands, they can literally do as they please and this has led to a decline in its appeal among the fans. 

Storylines have become dull and mundane and it remains to be seen if we will ever again enjoy the nail-biting matches that we experienced in the 90s.

How did WWE buy out WCW?

After many years of success, the WCW would eventually fall apart in 1999 and go on to completely disintegrate in March 2001 when it went bankrupt and closed its doors. 

From 1999 to 2001, WCW was barely making any money and even if it had not been bought out by WWE, chances are that it would have had to close shop at some point either way. 

They had no TV deal at the time and had numerous internal debt and many contracts that had no real value to anyone so come 2001, WCW had only two options; sell or go bankrupt. 

It was eventually bought out by Vince McMahon, owner, and proprietor of the WWE, for $2.5 million dollars. 

Why did WCW go out of business?

Below we will explore some of the main factors that led to the demise of the WCW:

1. Expensive Guaranteed Contracts

A good number of the wrestlers such as Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Luger were handed huge and very exorbitant guaranteed contracts and this, over time, dented the company’s finances in a big way.

2. Older Wrestlers and lack of creativity

While the WWF invested heavily in churning out new and exciting wrestlers such as The Rock, Ken Shamrock and others, WCW relied mostly on their old-timers with the likes of Hulk Hogan and Piper featuring in almost all main events. 

A lot of young stars in WCW were never given a decent chance to shine and get over as top stars.

A good example of this was Chris Jericho. This eventually led to a lot of the younger talent leaving for greener pastures in the WWF.

Most wrestling fans then turned to WWF at the time as this was when guys like Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin and Bret Hart were causing absolute havoc in the ring. 

3. Backroom Politics

It is said that some of the top stars like Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash were given creative control of their storylines. This would eventually destroy too many angles as these wrestlers put themselves over the rest of the roster leading to a steady decline in the quality of the show.

We should note, however, that Eric Bischoff who was the executive producer of WCW at the time, vehemently denied all allegations of any superstars being given any creative control. 

4. Vinny Ru

Good old Vinny Russo who was the man behind most of the storylines in the WCW is blamed for much of the decline as well.

From ridiculous gimmick matches like the Straight Jacket Steel Cage Match to making a complete joke of the company’s titles for instance, Vinny Russo himself won the WCW title at one point. Crazy, right?

5. Jamie Kellner

Jamie Kellner took over as one of the guys that had a major say in Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), and let’s just say that he did not think much of wrestling, he reckoned that it was out of place in the company’s programming style. 

Soon after, AOL and Time Werner merged and Ted Turner no longer had his controlling share, Kellner decided to have WCW kicked out of TBS and TNT despite the fact that Monday Nitro had the highest ratings on TNT at the time. 

Some of the best highlights of WCW in its heyday

BattleDome Vs. WCW

via Gfycat