What Really Happened: WCW's Big Bang PPV

This was the end of the story.

Again, without a viable TV platform to push WCW going forwards, Fusient were stumped. Bischoff said on his '83 Weeks' podcast that 'Big Bang' simply couldn't happen without proper promotion or any televised lead-in before 6 May '01.

It's clear from listening to both men speak about the period that neither Bischoff nor Bedol had much in place beyond actually purchasing WCW from Turner and AOL/Time Warner. Eric knew he wanted to present a quality wrestling show, and Brian liked the thought of framing that with glittery production, but the pair hadn't banged heads on set designs or even a concrete logo.

Any ads they had put out into media streams were skeleton ones, and they were deliberately kept simple. That'd leave a lot of room to pivot should plans change the closer they got to show time. Sadly, Fusient (and WCW) never reached that point.

Kellner's influence changed the course of wrestling history forever.

Obviously, there's no proof that WCW would've succeeded after 'Big Bang', but the brand died a death under McMahon's stewardship anyway. It might've been better, and more dignifying for long-term supporters, had Bischoff been able to start anew.

A temporary shutdown, TV relaunch and then pay-per-view explosion could have led to WCW's rebirth. Or, it could've been another disaster for a brand that had lost serious lustre.

Do you miss WCW? What do you think the promotion's 'Big Bang' pay-per-view would've looked like? For more wrestling, check out 10 Gimmick Matches WWE Should NEVER Book Again and 10 WWE Greats Who Made TERRIBLE First Impressions!