What Really Happened: WCW's Big Bang PPV
99.9% of pro wrestling fans won't have an earthly clue who Brian Bedol is or why he's important to this story, but he was a key ally for Bischoff before things went south.
On WWE Network's 'Untold' series, Bedol gave talking head comments that were rather startling for anyone depressed over what the WCW name would come to mean. He had founded the Classic Sports Network and was the one rallying behind Eric's cause to revamp World Championship Wrestling in 2001.
Both Bischoff and Bedol combined as 'Fusient Media Ventures'. They struck a tentative deal with Turner's people for a $67m sale and seizure of key WCW assets. Things looked rosy for the duo and their partners. Bedol, using his connections, even went so far as to secure a venue for 'Big Bang' with The Hard Rock group in Las Vegas.
Bedol and Bischoff were also keen to secure a 10-year agreement with Turner that would've kept WCW programming on the air each Wednesday night on TBS. Meanwhile, there's a chance the Monday Nitro show (running opposite WWF Raw) would've either been cancelled or become less of a focal point.
Fusient's main concern was rescuing the tarnished aura of WCW, maintaining some sort of big television presence and then presenting a new product on pay-per-view.
Everything looked set by summer, and Bischoff was excited about revitalising a company that he'd helped save before. Then, as you'd expect, sh*t hit the fan.
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