10 Times Vince McMahon Had Nothing To Do With WWE's Massive Success
3. The Death Of WCW
The death of WCW allowed Vince McMahon full control of pro wrestling in North America, which unfortunately manifested as him getting off with various buxom Divas for a few years. It also afforded him the opportunity to revel in his capitalistic success, which isn't strictly true. Vince McMahon didn't screw WCW.
WCW screwed WCW.
WCW screwed WCW through systemic management failures, never mind its catastrophic creative. This is a company that in its death throes could barely safeguard its talent, let alone promote them effectively. Goldberg, the company's biggest asset, missed months after smashing a limousine window the company did not think to gimmick. Everything was a shoot back then, we suppose - but the idiotic pretence of "realism" catered only to a niche portion of the audience, which was hardly ideal, since the WWF enjoyed actual household name penetration.
Bret Hart, badly injured, was frogmarched to the ring in meaningless TV matches because WCW management were not convinced of it. The British Bulldog's career was irreversibly ruined when WCW failed to alert him of the trapdoor hidden underneath the canvas at Fall Brawl '98. The grim irony is that several WCW performers were flown out to TV tapings at some expense... when they weren't even booked on the card. They didn't even bother to fly out Lanny Poffo, awarded a three-year guaranteed deal without performing once.
"Vince killed WCW" is a neat narrative designed to put Vince over as a master businessman. WCW, in reality, killed themselves.