As the year 2000 came to a close, the future of World Championship Wrestling was very much up in the air. Reports were rife that Eric Bischoff and others were putting together a consortium that could purchase the ailing organisation. Even though their was a directionless feel, many backstage felt it impossible that WCW would disappear as a standalone company. In March, 2001, that's exactly what happened. Few could believe what they were reading, either online or in magazines, when they heard that Vince McMahon was interested in buying WCW. Many put this down to fabricated nonsense, scaremongering of the highest level. After all, Ted Turner disliked McMahon, there was no way he'd let his main business rival have the keys to his kingdom, right? Sadly for WCW fans, Turner didn't have much say. By the time Vince McMahon did swoop in and buy the rights to WCW's trademarks (and 24 talent contracts) for a paltry $2.5 million, Ted Turner was powerless to stop him. AOL/Time Warner were the ones largely in charge of proceedings, and they wanted nothing to do with the money pit that was World Championship Wrestling. Therefore, few could stop their eyebrows from raising at the prospect of Vince McMahon buying his major competition.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
