What If... WWE Never Bought Out WCW?

[Uncle Sam]

Not the same question as: "What if WCW never died?"

No, really this is more like "What if WCW had really died instead of being horribly mutilated and roughly taped onto the WWE product for a little while before being mostly just cut off?"

We've got no Street Fight at WM17 - there'd be nothing to "street fight" about, would there? There'd be no satellite link or whatever between Raw and Nitro. There'd be no Booker T to jump out the crowd and Book End Austin through a table. There'd most likely be no Booker T (which, oddly enough, also has ramifications for TNA). Most importantly, there'd be no crappy Invasion angle. Don't just think what would have happened to the WCW and ECW superstars, think about what would have never happened in the WWE.

For me, it'd be that there'd be no milk bath. That's a lock as a future DVD extra if there ever was one. I wouldn't want to live in a world that didn't have it.

 

[klunderbunker]

I honestly don't think it would have meant much. WCW was already dead. With no network to air the show on, it was dead. As bischoff said on Monday Night Wars, WCW without the tv time was worth $20. If my memory is right the street fight was already happening anyway. WCW was just an extra bonus that was thrown in. Booker more than likely would have gone to WWE anyway as he was a legit star in WCW. The only thing that wouldn't have come would be the Invasion, although it could still have happened anyway. The Alliance likely never would have formed, but with HHH being hurt, I have no idea what the main angle that summer would have been. Rock was making a movie and HHH was hurt, so who was left for Austin? I guess it would have been he and Taker.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

For one we'd be whining about WCW's misuse of their talent and terrible booking instead of slagging off TNA's crazy angles and WWE's lack of angles for anyone below the Main Event tier and we'd probably all be tuning in to ECW instead.

We'd also have missed out on:

King Booker

Self help guru DDP

Batista collecting the bounty on Goldberg. Hell, anything relating to Goldberg in 2003.

Bischoff as GM, meaning no 3 Minute Warning and the conclusion of Billy and Chuck as a tag team.

RVD becoming World Champ in a mainstream organisation.

The return of the NWO.

Eddie Guerrero and subsequently, Rey Mysterio becoming World Champ.

Booker getting the crap kicked out of him in a grocery store by Stone Cold.

Stone Cold's heel turn in '01!!!!! Ok that might have happened anyway, but not in the same way for sure.

Y2J defeating Austin and Rock in one night and becoming the 1st Undisputed Champ.

Undertaker killing Hulkamania AGAIN!!!!!! (meaning he beat him for the belt a second time which no one else in history has done i believe)

Fuck it, anything relating to Hogan after 2002.

Zach Gowan being hired and then quickly fired (or at least wouldn't have been in an angle with Vince and Hogan.)

Kevin Nash tearing his quads on worldwide television after literally just returning from the injured list.

Countless Tommy Dreamer matches where he jobbed.

The brand split.


Those are the main things that probably would have never happened if WCW and ECW hadn't closed down.

 

[Sparky]

well if there were no wcw/ecw in wwe. i would basically say there would be no mysterio. he became world champ because of eddie.... and if eddie was in wcw i believe he wouldn't of died.

Thats just plain stupid. no matter where Eddie was he still would of had the same problems he was suffering. still having issues with steriods etc.

I dont think it would mean to much if they hadnt of brought WCW. i think all buying it out did was speed up the process. they was doomed before vince brought them. it was clear they wouldnt of lasted the rest of the year.

I think the only thing it might of changed was a few people would not of been brought over to the WWE like booker T and a few others but it wouldnt of caused to much effect.

 

[rookie]

Thats just plain stupid. no matter where Eddie was he still would of had the same problems he was suffering. still having issues with steriods etc.

I dont think it would mean to much if they hadnt of brought WCW. i think all buying it out did was speed up the process. they was doomed before vince brought them. it was clear they wouldnt of lasted the rest of the year.

I think the only thing it might of changed was a few people would not of been brought over to the WWE like booker T and a few others but it wouldnt of caused to much effect.

um no i believe if wcw was still around they would of got rid of eddie sooner or later. i mean he was nothing there. possibly what would of changed with him taking drugs and being a nobody in wcw. and plus was rey and eddie good friends liek they were in wwe. wcw would never of done something like that. they would keep it on teh big dogs liek booker,goldberg, sid vicious

 

[Sparky]

um no i believe if wcw was still around they would of got rid of eddie sooner or later.

And he would of went where? by then he still would of been having the problems. you cannot blame the WWE buying WCW on eddies Death its the worst idea ever.

and plus was rey and eddie good friends liek they were in wwe.

I have no idea if you read carefully you would notice i didnt say anything about Ray. i still think he would of went to the WWE anyway.

wcw would never of done something like that. they would keep it on teh big dogs liek booker,goldberg, sid vicious

while i didnt like ray being champion as he was to small but i liked the idea behind the story.

either way WCW would of been dead no matter what. at least this way, the wrestlers on WCW had a reason to leave/ head to the WWE. and not becouse the company they worked for went bankrupt. could you imagine how hard it would of been to get a job after that happening?

 

[DeadmanFan]

For starters I think there would be no brand split. Because if my memory is right, they split the shows because of all the talent that was acquired from WCW, because all the superstars would not have gotten enough TV time. Since the roster was smaller before the invasion angle, they could give the talent two shows a week.

 

[rookie]

And he would of went where? by then he still would of been having the problems. you cannot blame the WWE buying WCW on eddies Death its the worst idea ever. I have no idea if you read carefully you would notice i didnt say anything about Ray. i still think he would of went to the WWE anyway.while i didnt like ray being champion as he was to small but i liked the idea behind the story.

either way WCW would of been dead no matter what. at least this way, the wrestlers on WCW had a reason to leave/ head to the WWE. and not becouse the company they worked for went bankrupt. could you imagine how hard it would of been to get a job after that happening?

ok let me get this straight. all i said was if wwe didn't buy wcw rey wouldn't of been world champ. that is what i said. eddie probably would of went to wwe anyways but yeah. rey wouldn't of been champ with out this buy. umm ok now u have confused me. i guess rey still would of went to wwe and one the world championship. oh dam . yeah sorry about the argument. i should think before hand anyways yeah.

 

[Shocky]

It probably would have been better in all honesty. Sure we have WWE Edited and Revised 24/7 if you can get it, and we have wonderful DVD sets that do all it can to erase guys like Savage and Benoit, make Triple H, Michaels and Flair look like gods, and make people question the legacy of Hart, Hogan and Warrior, but outside of that, everything's peachy, right?

It's shitty. plain and simple. No other way to describe the situation we are in now as wrestling fans. If the WWE never bought the library, and WCW simply died, there was always that slim, slim chance of hope that someone could have eventually came, and bought the rights to WCW, and resurected it somehow.

The biggest things would have been, no terrible InVasion angle (which in all honesty was probably the worst Angle ever in the 25 years I've been watching this stuff). The Invasion is where I see the WWE losing all of it's momentum it had been building since 1997, and in one blown angle, it was gone.

Plus, TNA wouldn't exist, or if it did exist, would be a much stronger brand then what it once was. If TNA owned the video library to WCW, could use a title like the WCW title as it's titles legacy, more people would have bought into it. A guy like Bischoff running TNA or a company similar to it would have gained tons more credibility immediately.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

I think in the long run, it would have been the best for the WWE. Yes we would lose out on some great wrestlers/feuds that came from the WCW, but in the end most were misused anyway. The WCW if not boughten by the WWE, could have been bought by another company, and if the company could effectively managed WCW and bring it back up to a quality level then the WCW could have been actual competition for the WWE(unlike TNA). If WCW did somehow survive and was built back up to compete with the WWE, it would cause Vince and the writers to make sure they produce the best product that they could, just like in the attitude era. Once the WCW collapsed and was boughten by Vince, the WWE had no real competition and allowed them to not to be at the "A" game.

 

[insertwprds10791]

this is a great idea, and only one idea, albeit a longshot, comes to mind.

sting would be in the wwe, at LEAST at one point.

now, my reasoning behind this. firstly, i remember seeing a video on youtube and some other video site (name escapes my head right now) and it had sting saying why he didn't want go to the WWE, and the nail in the coffin for him while he was debating it over was seeing the rock and booker t fight people out of the ring, and, with only them left, the rock asks booker t who he is.

Sting didn't want to be treated that way, because... well, seriously, he's sting. he's one of the greatest of all time. ego or not, he would need to be treated better than that

okay, so if wcw wouldn't be bought out, booker t may not have gone to the wwe, and if he did, there may have been a different set-up or a different timing, meaning that event would never happen, and sting wouldn't be as turned away from the wwe.

of course, this is debatable, but it's only how things play out in my head. plus, i may have missed something huge and sound like a total idiot now

 

[twisterwrw929]

For everyone who has brought up Eddie, about whether he would have ever become a world champion or about whether or not he would have passed away early is irrelevant. Eddie came to the WWE before WWE bought WCW, so regardless of what happened with WWE/WCW he still would have jumped ship before that.

 

[Crimson Mask]

If WWE didn't buy out WCW, it would mean that either the promotion would have died anyway or that Eric Bischoff would have suceeded in his bid to buy out the company with the backing of Fusient Media (having sucessfully found a TV deal).

-Either way, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Sting would probably end up in WWE. They both had issues with Bischoff and with him in control of WCW, I couldn't see them staying around. Sting might stay, becoming the "Icon" of WCW, in the same kind of postion that Undertaker has in WWE or he might decide that with WCW in the state it would be in, it might be better business to move to WWE.

 

[Lee]

If my memory is right the street fight was already happening anyway.

Yeah it was the Vince affair storyline.

well if there were no wcw/ecw in wwe. i would basically say there would be no mysterio. he became world champ because of eddie.... and if eddie was in wcw i believe he wouldn't of died.

Eddie, Benoit, Malenko and Saturn all left WCW to WWF before the buy out.

Plus, TNA wouldn't exist, or if it did exist, would be a much stronger brand then what it once was. If TNA owned the video library to WCW, could use a title like the WCW title as it's titles legacy, more people would have bought into it. A guy like Bischoff running TNA or a company similar to it would have gained tons more credibility immediately.

This I thoroughly agree with, there would be no real reason for TNA to exist if WCW wasn't bought out, unless it was to be a third promotion equivalent to ECW (baring in mind, the question is if WCW was not bought out, I am assuming ECW would have still been bought out). Though if TNA were to have merged with WCW in some way it would be a lot stronger than it is at the moment.

Assuming WCW were still knocking about, would we still have some lame ass attempt at the NWO?

Has it had an effect on the superstars? Not really...how many WCW people who didn't jump ship before the 'invasion' are still about? I can only think of Helms off the top of my head (I'm sure there's a few more but I can't think)...so in the long run there's been no major impact

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Nothing. That's what would have happened. WCW was riding the freedom train to obliteration anyways. Sure, TNA could have purchased the archives of WCW and the WCW title, but it wouldn't have changed anything. WCW would ultimately have run out of business, they way they were writing storylines. The in-ring product was good enough, but without storylines you're left with crap ratings...and crap ratings mean less incoming money. Less incoming money leads to bankruptcy.

WCW would have eventually faded away, because we all know that in the last months of WCW only the die-hard fans watched their product. The die-hard fans aren't usually the largest demographic in the world. And if TNA should have bought all WCW intellectual property, I don't think it would have changed much, because the public perception of WCW in their dying days would have remained. It wouldn't do TNA any good.

 

[A.J.]

WCW would have only lasted a few more months I belive. WCW was already in the casket and in the plot, all that was left was fill the plot with dirt and the be the end of WCW. Look at WCW numbers in the last few months as the numbers low and their PPV buy rights were unreasonable low. The product was not making money and basically I viewed the last few months of WCW as nothing more than a better version of the current ECW. As in better I mean there was more main event starts on the show than what ECW has as WCW in its final months was nothing more than an extension of the power plant.

If Eric could have bought it, I think it would lasted a year, but not any longer. Lets face facts WCW was dying and Vince just covered its plot with dirt and took what he wanted from it.

 

[GNR8701]

Forget who wrestles for which promotion and start thinking about Championship legacies JUST FOR ONE SECOND!!!!! There would be no U.S. championship or World Heavyweight Championship in the WWE.

Now, Flair is a 16 time Champ, (first of all, it was more than that but he counts it at 16), and he won all 16 as the #1 man in his company at that time. Now you have HHH as a 12-time champ, and he has had 5 of them with the Heavyweight title which wouldnt be involved if WWE never bought WCW and 3 WWE titles since there were two titles available at the same time and all you have to do is be one of the top 2, or not even be a top 2 guy , just be a big name on a lesser show to get it. That is 7 titles in the past 7 years that were aided by having 2 straps.

Then you have Shelton Benjamin (who needs to be used way better by the way) who will now be billed as one of the few to ever hold both the intercontinental and us titles, but that used to be alot more difficult to do when the two titles were on different programs.

Also, with two Top championship belts, they were able to give one to Khali because they had the other one on Edge who of course is a very respectable Champion. So now because of the buyout Khali gets a heavyweight championship and we have to suffer watching him.

Edge is another one who has benifited by having many titles available. He is a 12-time tag team champion with 1 of them being on the aditional tag strap which is ironically labeled "WWE tag championship", and 4 comming on the regular title after the buyout including one with hulk hogan that probably wouldnt have happened. Not to mention his 3 world heavyweight championships and 2 WWE championships that came after the buyout. Which accounts for all 5 of his title reigns. And I am saying this while being a big Edgehead and I place him as probably the 4th biggest name in wrestling today behind Taker, HHH, and Cena (cena sucks but it is true)

There are many more like this but it really makes realize that Bret Hart's 5 WWF titles and The Rock's 7 WWF titles are in the shadow of all of these accomplishments that have been accomplished with watered down titles.

You also would nto have had the Kidman vs. X-pac fued over the lightheavywieght vs. the cruiserweight titles.

But on the downside, we wouldn't have had the SAME MVP vs Matt Hardy fued that was outstanding, and we would never have had the undisputed championship, and we would have probably never see HBK with a title after he came back in 2002, and we would probably not have had alot of other good things as well..... (Night of champions and so on...) but still, I think the title Legacies have been a little tarnished because it is so much easier to get thm now.

Of course Vince Russo once stated "the titles are just props" but still...... c'mon, the title picture is so watered down right now.

 

[MisterRob]

If WWE had never bought out WCW then it would've died anyways and would've eventually been a forgotten promotion (aside from die hard fans) like any other promotion that WWE doesn't own the rights to, or the libraries of, and doesn't showcase through things like WWE 24/7 that remind us of the history of wrestling before the modern "era" we're familiar with. There'd be no World Heavyweight champion, no US champion, never have been a Cruiserweight champion, at all. I still think there would've been a brand extension or something similar would've happened because WCW's wrestlers still would've lost their jobs and been up for grabs by the WWE and still would've likely ended up there when WCW died (which it would've). So if anything, for the legacy of WCW, its a good thing WWE did buy it out and didn't just leave it to die and fade away into obscurity.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Forget who wrestles for which promotion and start thinking about Championship legacies JUST FOR ONE SECOND!!!!! There would be no U.S. championship or World Heavyweight Championship in the WWE.

You're right about the US Championship, but I think a World Heavyweight Championship or another "world" championship would have been created no matter if WWE bought out WCW or not. Because the brand split would still happen, and the other brand would still need another top championship.

I hope you haven't been confused to the point that you think the World Heavyweight Championship is the same as the WCW Championship, because it's not. If you're thinking about the Big Gold Belt design of the championship, I'm pretty sure WWE could have used that design either way, as I don't think that design is a copyrighted WCW design - I've seen loads of other championships with the same design, even when WCW was its own company.

 

[kapone21]

This might not have ever happened but it would have been cool if it did..... WCW and WWE would grow to equal standings and we would still have Monday Night Wars, (i truly hope TNA gets big enough to get a tv deal for that.) Just imagine creative booking that would come from that. We could even get a trading system going on between the 2 feds. Imagine walking up Thursday morning and logging on to WZ and finding out Cena has been traded to WCW for Sting. Even have contract issues worked into the storyline. J.R saying how this year is a contract year for Cage and he has stepped up his game, trying to get that fat contract. Wrestlers in smaller feds would be free agents.
Like i said would have never have happened but it would have been cool.

 

[MisterRob]

This might not have ever happened but it would have been cool if it did..... WCW and WWE would grow to equal standings and we would still have Monday Night Wars, (i truly hope TNA gets big enough to get a tv deal for that.) Just imagine creative booking that would come from that. We could even get a trading system going on between the 2 feds. Imagine walking up Thursday morning and logging on to WZ and finding out Cena has been traded to WCW for Sting. Even have contract issues worked into the storyline. J.R saying how this year is a contract year for Cage and he has stepped up his game, trying to get that fat contract. Wrestlers in smaller feds would be free agents.
Like i said would have never have happened but it would have been cool.

In the reality of the situation WCW was in, that would never have happened. There was no way it could've ever happened. WCW was on its last legs, and even if someone else had gotten a hold of WCW they wouldn't have had any television deal and without that WCW was worthless. Its a nice imaginary "what if" but it wouldn't have had a chance to have happened.

 

[klunderbunker]

After watching a Nitro from 2000, I'd forgotten how good it really was back then. That was in April. Then I saw another show from November of that year. By then, they were dead in the water. Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Ric Flair, all on tv like it was 1985. DOn't get me wrong those guys are all legends, but it was past their time in those companies. Back in April, you had Hogan making guys look good, like Mike Awesome. He kicked out of the leg drop. That's almost the ultimate rub for a guy. WCW was destined to die. It couldn't get over its past.

 

[klunderbunker]

The WWE being bad right now, even though I don't think it does, has little if any to WWE buying WCW. It was going under no matter what. Vince had no competition anymore, period. The wrestling business has changed since the Attitude Era and its not coming back no matter what happens. WCW being bought by WWE just made it last a bit longer. The Invasion could have been epic if it had been done properly. The bottom line is that there's little to no connection to Vince buying WCW and the state wrestling is in today. WCW, and the competiton, were gone anyway no matter what Vince did at that point.

 

[Upgrayedd]

If Vince McMahon never bought WCW, AOL/Time Warner would have still gotten rid of it some how. They still would have pulled WCW Nitro and Thunder off of TNT and TBS. I think Eric Bischoff would have come back with Fuscient Media or another company and made another offer to buy WCW and I think it would have worked.

From there... who knows what would have happened. Obviously like some of you have said here I don't think wrestlers like DDP, Booker T, Steiner, Hogan, Hall, Nash, Goldberg, Flair, Mysterio, etc. would have jumped to the WWF. I think Bischoff would have found another channel to put WCW on quite easily since really back in 2001 wrestling was still very popular and he could have probably gotten on the USA Network which would have been huge.

Eric Bischoff would have then probably gone through with his original idea (like he wrote in his book) and WCW would have been off the air for a while with a relaunch date booked. He would have probably gone through this his plan to build an arena in Las Vegas (WCW was always big there for some reason) and hold all TV tapings and most PPVs there while they re-establish the WCW brand. I'm not sure who would have re-signed with Bischoff's new WCW. I'm sure he could have probably gotten Hogan, Hall, Nash, Sting, Flair, DDP, Jarrett, Piper and others. I think he also learned from his booking mistakes and would have gone back to booking WCW like he did when they were on top (from '96-'98) which would have meant to build a new cruiserweight division. I think we would have seen more wrestlers from Japan, Mexico, etc. come to WCW. The new WCW would have probably been built around Goldberg, Scott Steiner, and Booker T with Jeff Jarrett, Vampiro, Rey Mysterio, Kidman, Konnan all getting pushed. I think Hogan, Flair, Sting, Luger, Hall, Nash and DDP would have still been used a lot but not as much as they had been before with Bischoff. I don't think any of them (besides Hogan and maybe Sting) would have had more runs with the title.

 

[DJ]

It's simple.WCW would continue to lose money and viewers.Nitro and Thunder would then get pulled leaving no source of income.Thus instant death.

But I think it would harm the WWE/WWF aswell.There wouldn't be 2 brands.There would be just one roster between 2 shows.And I also believe WWE would struggle to make new stars.If you look at it a TON of WCW Stars and Trainees are in Big WWE Spots.Batista?WCW Trainee at one point.Rey Mysterio?WCW.Ric Flair?WCW.

So I honestly believe WWE would struggle to find new main eventers.No one would match Rock and Austin levels.WCW brought in some good talent.Strong Mid Carders,Main eventers and even managers.