10 Times Wrestling Opened The Forbidden Door

4. The Simulcast

Tony Khan Vince McMahon
WWE.com

The WWF was never going to co-promote with dubya see dubya. That door was forbidden.

It was forbidden because WCW enraged Vince McMahon, who actually was receptive to crossovers once upon a time. It helped him make money in and gain exposure to the Japanese market in the '90s, for example. But he wouldn't work with WCW under any circumstances, even a super-show extravaganza, something of immense scope both promotions badly needed in 1995. WCW took his stars, competed with the WWF directly on television, and generally used its vast riches to mount a massive-aggressive strategy to become the number one wrestling promotion in the country.

Which is literally the exact same thing the WWF did a decade prior, the only difference being that now, "it wasn't fair".

The door was nonetheless opened when WCW imploded and collapsed in on itself in 2001. Vince McMahon paid the meagre sum of money to purchase the competition, and set about penning a storyline: his c*ck versus their ashes. The resulting invasion was piss-poor, and the reason bandied about since - WCW lacked the star-power - was an excuse.

Resource used well accounts for so much, as was the case with...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!