How much did Vince buy WCW and ECW for?

[Matth3w]

So I just got done watching Rise and Fall of WCW DVD, and nearing the end of the DVD, Jericho mentioned

"when I heard how much Vince bought WCW for, I wish I'd have known, cos I coulda bought it myself"

This made me think, I wonder what the sum was? I've googled it, and posters have come up with many theories: $70 million, $2 million, $5 million including contracts and legal fees. But I have yet to come accross a specific number. Does anyone know for certain?

Same with ECW. I read that Vince lent Paul so much money anyway, that if you accumulate it, it was more than ECW was actually worth come 2001. But on the contrary, I've researched $100,000 is what he bought it for; but have also read Paul still owns the rights....or something

So for my OCD's curiosities sake, can anyone shed some light on this subject for me? Any links would be appreciated. Wikipedia says $5 million for WCW, but we all know Wikipedia isn't exactluy a reliable source

Cheers

 

[ejc8710]

I really dont know how much but I do remember chris jericho saying that when he heard the price that he made enough to buy it if he wanted 2

 

[dxparza]

According to the 'death of wcw' book, Mcmahon paid less than 3 million for WCW

 

[GrandSword]

Hulk Hogan also couldn't beleive what Vince paid for it, because he would have bought it himself.

Vince is laughing all the way to the bank as it came with the back catalogue and now now Vince is happy making all the dvds he wants...

 

[Steve001]

On March 23rd, 2001 Vince McMahon/World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. purchased World Championship Wrestling, the contracts of 24 undercard Wrestlers and the entire WCW video tape library for a paltry US$2.2 Million plus fees and legal costs.

Interestingly, a little over two years earlier, WCW had been valued at around US$400 Million!

Oh, and by the way, if you're interested in watching WCW at it's finest, I strongly suggest steering clear of any WCW product bearing a WWE logo! The DVD's are edited to oblivion and quite literally have the life sucked out of them by Kevin Dunn and his production team. Releases as far back as 2002's nWo Back In Black, Hulk Still Rules, The Monday Night War, Rise & Fall Of WCW and any WWE Wrestler biography DVD that features matches etc. from WCW are all affected by this senseless, petty editing.

Examples are the entrance themes of the Wrestlers either being edited or changed altogether (Goldberg, Savage, Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and 'Hollywood' Hogan who used Jimmi Hendrix's 'Voodoo Chile' from early '97 - August '99 not the stock-standard nWo theme) are just some that have been altered. Crowd noise has been all but muted on many if not all of the above DVD releases and even the explosions from pyrotechnics have been removed also.

Lastly, the version of events chronicled in WWE DVD's is obviously Vince McMahon's version of events and are factually incorrect and tremendously error laden. All the talking heads that appear, are usually prepared by members of production and spout utter crap!

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

On March 23rd, 2001 Vince McMahon/World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. purchased World Championship Wrestling, the contracts of 24 undercard Wrestlers and the entire WCW video tape library for a paltry US$2.2 Million plus fees and legal costs.

Interestingly, a little over two years earlier, WCW had been valued at around US$400 Million!

If those figures are correct then it shows what an incredible fall from grace WCW had after the turn of the Millenium. I had no idea that they lost so much money in such a short timespan. Unreal!

What a phenomenal deal for Vince though. He brought in some great talent (albeit not all of it was great), he got the opportunity to do the Invasion storyline, which gave him huge viewing figures as it was what fans had been wanting to see for years, and he also got hold of the WCW tape library, which will provide him with a goldine of footage for a long time to come. McMahon will make a fortune from the memories and footage of WCW, and I hope we get to see the old WCW PPV's released individually or as two PPV sets dvds.

 

[Steve001]

What a phenomenal deal for Vince though. He brought in some great talent (albeit not all of it was great), he got the opportunity to do the Invasion storyline

Ahh yes! The 'Invasion' storyline! Literally, the most screwed-up, botched angle in the history of Professional Wrestling hands down! Factually correct coverage of this (or any coverage of it for that matter) has never and probably will never appear on any WWE DVD release!

At the time, seemingly it was all so easy for Vinnie Mac. The plan after the WCW buyout was for WWFE to start shooting new WCW TV on June 9th, 2001 somewhere in Viginia, USA (I want to say Fairfax, However being on the other side of the world, my knowledge of the region isn't what it could be!)

Right from the get-go the angle and the WCW undercard guys themselves were being undermined by Kevin Dunn who loathes any Pro Wrestling product or performer that isn't WWF/WWE. Without going too off topic, I'll just say that Dunn was and is one of the most powerful people in WWE and has been Vince McMahon's chief 'Yes' man since 1984.

Anyway, The Invasion angle tanked for many reasons including the lack of true WCW headline talent, Guys like 'Taker who refused to comply with creative and have competitive matches with the WCW crew and instead not only stiffed and sandbagged them in the ring, but refused to put any of them over and so on and so forth.

Goldberg should have been brought in initially too. Unofficially, the reason why Vinnie Mac didn't buy out the contract is because it may have caused unrest in the locker room signing Bill for a guaranteed US$1M downside. However, Goldberg would have paid for his contract after just one WWF PPV appearence! Vince had to know this but he didn't bite. He and Bill played the waiting game until 2003...By that point, the magic was gone.

Also, One of the only true headline WCW stars to accept the buyout from his comfortable guaranteed WCW/Turner contract and in the process take a massive pay-cut, Vince McMahon mega mark Diamond Dallas Page was senselessly massacred.
Firstly, they changed his character, what was wrong with him coming in and acting like DDP!? What was with that watered down entrance track!? And why was he pinned live on RAW by the Underweartakers' then Wife Sarah!?

By Mid-August 2001, the WCW Invasion had fallen flat. They just resembled yet another faction in the WWF and were hardly "invaders". The addition of ECW and Stephanie McMahon`did nothing for the angle.

No disrespect to guys like Raven and Rhyno, but they were hardly threatening the WWF headline crew before the switch were they? Austin joining allowed Austin to turn heel and have one last hurrah, yes, but overall the whole thing just stunk. The TV ratings show that.
This was the beginning of the ratings slump the WWF/E suffered that is ongoing today.

Anyway, there's a whole lot more to this but those I feel are some of the main instances and reasons why the Invasion never took off the way it should have and spawned the greatest dream-PPV ever.

 

[Matth3w]

Wow Steve, thanks for the well informed answer.

How do you know so much?

 

[Steve001]

Wow Steve, thanks for the well informed answer.

How do you know so much?

Well, I've been a fan/collector for 22 years now lol...Oh, and just for the record, At the risk of straying too far off topic, I would consider my posts above to be brief!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I remember reading something about this years and years back. It stuck with me because I was amazed at how little Vince ultimately paid. From what I understand, by this time, the tape library was the most valuable asset left in WCW and was what Vince ultimately wanted.

Jim Crockett, Jr. did something similar to what Vince was doing by buying up a lot of territories to compete with Vince. WCW's tape library included all the stuff since Turner bought the company in 1988, all the footage from when the Crocketts still owned it and the tape libraries of Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling and several other well known and long established territories. Vince got a helluva deal, no doubt.

As for what he paid for ECW, probably far less than WCW. It would surprise me if Vince paid more than a tenth of what WCW cost.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Vince McMahon purchased ECW itself for nothing. It was the assets he had to pay off, which I have retrieved.

Vince paid off assets totaling $1,385,500. Included in that number was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed the company by In Demand Network (PPV), Acclaim (video games), and Original San Francisco Toy Company (action figures). The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4).

Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $2 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars. The highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,480), Rhino ($50,000), Shane Douglas ($48,000), and Francine Fournier ($47,275). These assets were eventually purchased by McMahon who also purchased the contracts of several others.

So, Vince paid nothing for ECW but he was forced to pay off the extreme bills which Paul Heyman left over when he filed for bankruptcy. What is also amusing, is Vince didn't know how bad the assets were until he actually went to purchase the company because when Paul Heyman needed money to go on for another two months - Vince gave him it. The final two months of ECW came from McMahon's back pocket.