3. WCW Went Out Of Business Because Of Eric Bischoff
There is a group of people who believe that WCW went out of business because of Eric Bischoff's creative and financial folly, and WWE hasn't exactly been shy in quietly pushing the idea that Bischoff was responsible for the company going under. Various WWE talking heads have talked about Bischoff's contribution to WCW's demise as the key aspect that killed WCW, but in truth, Bischoff really wasn't that bad. Was he wasteful with money? Yes - but then again so is Vince McMahon. Did Bischoff use too many celebs? Yes, but again, Vince is also guilty of this: he has paid the likes of Z list celebrity Snooki to appear on his show. You get the point: there wasn't really anything that Bischoff did which was any more horrible than things Vince McMahon has done. Both have been guilty of terrible storylines, awful management, wasteful finances and questionable behavior. What really killed WCW was bad luck in corporate politics. The show was getting whupped by Raw, but it would have survived if it had not been for a bunch of suits turning their noses up at wrestling. It all went down as a result of Ted Turner selling his network in the merger of AOL and Time Warner in 2001; the new group bosses deemed wrestling to be out of image with their new operation, and without a network the show was dead. Eric Bischoff wasn't even in charge at that point, and hadn't been involved for well over a year. Eric would end up with most of the heat for the downfall, but it was more a case of Vince McMahon's genius which had damaged WCW. Nevertheless, WCW Nitro still had an audience. Eric Bischoff knew the company still had value, and tried to buy it, but corporate snobbery would ultimately kill the brand dead.
