Incredibly, WWE's schemes for WCW weren't merely to run a storyline which would see the brand invade their own television product, at least not initially. At first, plans were being explored which would have seen World Championship Wrestling run as a completely separate entity to WWE, holding their own live events, TV shows and Pay-Per-Views. The basis premise behind this was that several annual PPV events could be booked, pitting the WWF against WCW, and theoretically do monster business. Instead of hiring somebody new to run affairs for the offshoot WCW league, Shane McMahon would be handed the reigns. Perhaps this was his father's way of finding out whether or not Shane could someday run WWE, but the fact is there were grand plans afoot for WCW, before company officials started to change their mind, and the thought process that WCW could never be a success on its own merits became the popular notion.