March 6, 2001 may be the most surreal, sad and exciting night in wrestling history. After years of mismanagement, World Championship Wrestling went out of business, and Vince McMahon picked them up for essentially the change found in his couch cushions. For one night, Vince had control of the WWF and his long time competitor WCW. Every segment on both shows was absolutely fascinating to watch. There was no telling what was going to happen. Vince was shown on a monitor watching WCW and was continually mocking them throughout the night. He was clearly relishing this victory, and later teased what he was going to do with his new brand. But before passing final judgment, his son Shane popped up on Nitro to the shock of the live crowd and millions of fans everywhere. The Nitro series finale was simulcast on TNT and USA Network at the same time, which means that WCW diehards and WWF faithful were watching the same exact segment for the first and only time ever. It's hard to explain just how weird it was seeing Shane McMahon on Nitro. This was a company that tried to put the WWF out of business. They got close just a few years earlier, but were now on their deathbed, and their chief rivals son gloating about his new purchase was going to be the last thing the fans of the product would ever see.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
