The initial idea for WCW coming under the WWE banner was that Raw Is War would either be renamed Monday Nitro, or simply remain as Raw but feature WCW talent exclusively. Vince McMahon was at first interested in splitting up his two major shows, Raw and Smackdown, between WCW and WWE, running both completely separate. A sound strategy, for sure, but it didn't really work out that way, and fingers are often pointed at this match, taking place on the July 2, 2001 edition of Raw, as to why those plans were abolished. The brand extension in the Spring of 2002 was along the same lines that WWE had in mind for WCW, but nobody was impressed with this bout, contested for the WCW World Title. It was a landmark moment, but the match fell flat with the partisan WWE crowd, and Bagwell has since stated that he felt he and Booker had little chance of impressing anybody, stating the move to put a WCW main event on WWE's flagship program should never have been made. Seeing the resultant fallout, it's hard to argue.
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.
