8 Things We Learned About WWE Buying WCW From Dave Meltzer On Talk Is Jericho

5. Spike TV Blocked Vince McMahon's Original Idea

WWE Raw Is War
WWE

Spike TV, then known as TNN, hated McMahon's proposal.

Meltzer claims that things were so dire over in WCW that they contacted Vince about taking over. That's when the WWF figurehead went to new network TNN and pitched that he assume control of Monday Nitro but keep WWF programming where it was. Without hesitation, officials at TNN turned him down flat.

They'd just signed an exclusivity deal with the WWF that meant McMahon couldn't run any other wrestling programming away from their station without consent. SmackDown remained on UPN, but that was an exception, and they weren't willing to draft in a failed brand like WCW just because Vince wanted it.

This left the initial talks between McMahon and WCW dead in the water. It put the brakes on his tentative plan to run Nitro under the guise of competition to the WWF's show. In retrospect, it's hardly surprising that TNN weren't up for this idea. They'd just spent millions (between $26-28m, according to Meltzer) for the rights to Raw.

Advertisement
Contributor

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.