World Championship Wrestling (WCW)

WCW was founded in 1931 as Jim Crockett Promotions. On October 11, 1988, Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), which had aired its programming on TBS.

## History

By the 1980s, the U.S. pro wrestling industry was undergoing seismic and rapid change. The old, NWA-sanctioned system of separate, regional "territory" promotions was collapsing under increasing competitive pressure from Vincent K. McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), itself a family-owned, territory promotion covering the northeastern U.S. which was aggressively expanding into a nationwide promotion. Crockett had similar expansion goals, envisioning a united NWA through JCP buying-out or merging with all of its member regional territories.

Ted Turner had realized the value of professional wrestling for cable television in the early 1970s, as pro wrestling provided his then-fledgling channel a source of cheap live entertainment, well-suited to TBS' target audience at the time. Turner could run per inquiry ads (for products like Slim Whitman albums and Ginsu knives) and take part of the sales profits just by providing the big viewing audience delivered by pro wrestling's loyal fanbase (wrestling generally did not attract large ad revenues at that time, due to negative industry perceptions of its lower-income target demographic).

Turner's "SuperStation" TBS had asked Georgia Championship Wrestling, Inc., whose television show it aired on Saturday nights, to change its public brand name to World Championship Wrestling, helping fuel rumours that the Jim Barnett-controlled company would go national itself. Georgia Championship Wrestling acquiesced to the World Championship Wrestling name change in 1982. Meanwhile, by 1983, JCP went from recording its weekly shows in a television studio to shooting on-location, in between matches at live arena events. After purchasing a mobile television production unit for $1 million, Crockett unveiled what became the NWA's dominant, end-of-year, annual supercard: Starrcade.

In 1984, the WWF purchased controlling interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling from a number of its co-owners (including brothers Jack and Jerry Brisco and Jim Barnett), thus gaining control of GCW's flagship Saturday night time slot on the nationally-seen TBS channel. This tactic (co-opting the timeslots of rival territories in their own "backyard"/local TV markets) was a part of the WWF's national expansion strategy. To Vince McMahon's surprise, however, this tactic backfired severely with TBS. When the WWF aired its first show on TBS on July 14, replacing World Championship Wrestling, viewer backlash was severe, as the show's Southern fans were incensed to see their beloved stars suddenly replaced without advance notice by an "invading force" of wrestlers from "up North," an event that has since become known in pro wrestling lore as Black Saturday. In response to the ensuing deluge of complaints, TBS granted an upstart promotion called Championship Wrestling from Georgia (backed by holdout GCW shareholder and NWA member Fred Ward, and former GCW wrestler/booker Ole Anderson) an early Saturday morning time slot so that the local stars could still be seen. Championship Wrestling from Georgia's television show (which had the same name as the promotion itself), along with that of Bill Watts's Mid-South Wrestling, easily surpassed the ratings for the WWF broadcast, which just featured clips and wrestler promos instead of original matches. The steep decline in ratings for the Saturday evening WWF show, and viewers clamouring for GCW's return, began to make the WWF's move a money-losing one. Eventually, McMahon cut his losses and sold the time slot to Crockett for $1 million. This chain of events and McMahon's refusal to sell to the network/Turner, instead, were critical in Turner's later decision to purchase Jim Crockett Promotions, and form World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in its wake

1. Magnum T. A. — one of JCP's top babyfaces, and the performer scheduled to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion at Starrcade 1986 — was severely injured in a car accident over 2 months before Starrcade (October 14), and could never wrestle again.
2. JCP alienated loyal fans in the Carolinas by moving Starrcade '87 and the Bunkhouse Stampede to arenas in Chicago and New York City, respectively. JCP had no real history and market presence in either of these non-southern metro areas, and its ability to drawing sellout crowds for arena shows in the Southeast eventually suffered, as some local fans vindictively withheld their support (true story: tickets for Bunkhouse Stampede had different start times printed on them).
3. Booking decisions also factored into the promotion's downfall. JCP flushed away a potentially profitable angle following the acquisition of Bill Watts's UWF by "burying" the UWF's talent. Instead of portraying them as competitive with JCP wrestlers, the UWF's wrestlers and championships were portrayed as second-rate compared to those of JCP.
4. Mid-carder Ron Garvin beat perennial champion Ric Flair for the NWA world title. Although Garvin was booked to be a babyface, many fans did not find him credible enough to be a serious threat to Flair.
5. JCP apparently neglected to monitor its own lavish spending as well. Crockett flew himself and his top performers around in an expensive private jet. In addition to the expense of Crockett's personal jet, there were other extravagant purchases such as the limousines provided for various wrestlers and regular business parties held by officials throughout JCP's regional offices. In addition, the large amount of capital needed to take a wrestling company on a national tour and Crockett's aggressive territorial acquisitions had seriously drained JCP's coffers. In purchasing the UWF, they inherited their bills. JCP also began to run shows in new markets from coast-to-coast (often in less-than-sold-out arenas), greatly increasing travel costs and other overhead
6. According to Rhodes, JCP failed to gain the national name recognition that McMahon achieved with the World Wrestling Federation. Rhodes also pointed out that with the WWF's success, McMahon was financially able to lure the top talent away from rival companies. Because of this, JCP offered many of its stars lucrative contracts - paying them beyond their actual value - to prevent them from leaving the company.
7. Compounding the issues that came with expansion was a lack of investing in the kind of marketing needed to make it successful. As mentioned, major cards such as Starrcade and the Bunkhouse Stampede did not draw as well when moved out of JCP's traditional territory.
8. Another factor was the fans' exasperation with the "Dusty Finish" (a type of "screwjob" finish named after Rhodes, who did not actually invent the concept, but used it frequently for matches at regular house shows and PPV/major cards, alike). Due to the heavy overuse of this end-of-match sequence, many JCP fans started to expect the swerve at any moment, whenever a popular wrestler (usually a face) appeared to win a title match and was about to be awarded the championship belt (or any similar situation), only to have the win overturned due to a technicality. As a result, attendance at live shows began to fall — even at venues where JCP had traditionally drawn well or extremely well
9. The WWF then threatened cable companies that if they chose to air Starrcade (which contest against Survivor Series), they would not be offered future WWF PPVs, including that year's Survivor Series and the forthcoming WrestleMania IV. Since the WWF was the uncontested #1 PPV content provider in America at the time and the success of Wrestlemania III still fresh in the minds of many cable companies, only a handful of companies committed to air Starrcade, devastating the event's profitability. The WWF again sabotaged JCP by airing the first-ever Royal Rumble on the USA Network opposite Bunkhouse Stampede, cutting into its buy rate. Crockett then attempted to use McMahon's tactics against him, airing Clash of the Champions I—featuring a PPV-quality card—on TBS in an attempt to draw viewers away from WrestleMania IV on PPV, which took place that same night. This was one of the few tactics to actually work for JCP in its war with the WWF, as WrestleMania IV's buy rate was much lower than that of the previous year's Survivor Series. However, Clash of the Champions was now the only thing Crockett could use to keep the NWA alive, though it was not even as highly watched as the WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event

With bankruptcy looming, Crockett sold 65% interest in JCP to Turner Broadcasting System for $9 million. The Crockett family retained a minority stake and becoming a consultant. The company would be rebranded after its flagship Saturday night show, World Championship Wrestling, and would remain affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance until September 1993. However Turner decided to replaced and renamed numerous of the NWA branding logos and names to WCW (except for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as the NWA had control and not WCW, this as well as disagreements with the WCW board of directors lead to the NWA ceasing their partnership with WCW meaning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was no longer WCW's world title, so WCW created the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The NWA World Heavyweight Championship continued to defend the belt on WCW events but this ended in 1993)

The first interaction between Vince McMahon and Ted Turner on a business level came when Vince bought GCW and started broadcasting traditional WWF programming on the traditional GCW time slot (and fans went nuts when they found out). It was a failure from the get-go, and Turner brought on other promotions to supplement the declining ratings of the WWF show. McMahon was angered, and he eventually sold GCW to the Crocketts. JCP eventually ran into business troubles and Turner, out of loyalty to the wrestling program that helped launched him, bought it and turned it into WCW. Vince also mocking Ted Turner compared with different political opinions (Turner was a Republican and Vince McMahon was a Democrat)

The WCW World Championship was not initially represented by its own title belt, and WCW continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title belt. Because of this, WCW regularly claimed the NWA World Heavyweight Championship lineage for its own championship

## **1988-2001**

Ted Turner lost control of his networks TBS and TNT in October 1996. He still was in charge of day-to-day operations of the Turner channels and WCW, but Time Warner had majority ownership over it, so basically any major decisions had to be approved by them

Kevin Nash explained that the WCW made an offer he couldn't refuse. At a time when his WWE character would be dropping the championship belt to Bret Hart, and Nash was asked to let Mike Tyson drop him for charity, World Championship Wrestling promised a world of perks. Nash would only have to work 180 days a year, which must have sounded like a vacation compared to the 300 days he worked for WWE. Plus, he would earn $850,000 a year minimum. His wife was pregnant so opting for extra time and money made all the sense and cents in the world. Bret Hart's refusal to drop the belt to Nash was another reason Nash citied as his decision to join WCW from WWE

https://wwfoldschool.com/scott-hall-reveals-what-exactly-made-him-leave-the-wwf/

1. Revenge booking - Mike Awesome joined WCW, fans expected him to demolish the competition on a Goldberg-esque quest to become world champion. Instead, he was turned into the Fat Chick Thriller and That 70s Guy. The main reason he was given these gimmicks was as a punishment for being related to Hulk Hogan, who was on the way out of the company at the time. Chris Benoit was made to lose matches to men like the Giant in mere seconds because of his real-life affair with booker Kevin Sullivan's wife. Ernest "the Cat" Miller was put into a match where he was brutalized by Scott Norton because WCW executives thought the Cat had a big ego. Lex Luger and Bagwell also lost quickly to Natural Born Thrills because of their supposed ego. When booking a wrestling show, the storyline and entertainment value should be most important, not political backstabbing. This is part of why WCW went to waste.
2. Increasing popularity of the WWE's Attitude Era,
3. Toxic mess of backstage politics, at 1 point, WCW cut Y2J a check for $0.00 and they sent him a FedEx package with nothing inside
4. Starrcade 1997 debacle
5. Vince Russo booking in 2000 including him and David Arquette earlier in the year winning the WCW Championship for no reason and changing the WCW Championship Title holder almost every week
6. Ending Goldberg's undefeated streak for the nWo to make a mockery of his title through the Fingerpoke of Doom
7. WCW Nitro going 3 hours and adding WCW Thunder a 2 hour taped show which was a nightmare to book
8. Failing to promote the Cruiserweight division - Cruiserweight matches in WCW were the most dynamic and exciting contests of the show. Whereas the upper card and main event were mostly older, established stars with deteriorated physical health, the cruiserweights were young, athletic, and hungry for success. All of these elements made the cruiserweight division popular with the fans. However, as the nWo angle wore on and on, the division was seen less and less. Given the style in NXT and ROH is almost a carbon copy of the WCW cruiserweight division of yesteryear, we'd say that WCW missed out on a great opportunity.
9. Directly promoting Mankind's WWE Championship win on the same night
10. Making a mockery of the fans
11. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall burying newer talent so they can force feed the fans their stale cringy crap
12. Spending too much money on publicity stunts - Master P, Chucky from Child's Play, David Arquette, The Demon from KISS, even third-tier cable show stars like Arliss all made their way onto WCW programming.
13. Lack of Leadership - Ted Turner didn't micromanage his wrestling company. For McMahon, WWE was a family business. But Turner's purchase of WCW was simply an acquisition of a company with tremendous earning potential. Instead, former announcer turned executive producer Eric Bischoff ran WCW and made it more successful than it had ever been. His focus on the company started to slip once he became involved with the NWO as one of its leaders. Many of the wrestlers felt Bischoff's on-screen affiliation with the Kevin Nash -led collective affected his ability to run the company. His favoritism towards particular wrestlers and fixation with crushing WWE resulted in poor decisions that might not have happened if Bischoff had been more of a pragmatic boss and less of an egotistical showman.
14. Overcrowded Roster - The NWO's cool factor pushed them to the forefront of WCW programming. The idea of a radical entity laying siege to Ted Turner's company enticed wrestling fans who were looking for a more realistic and mature product, and audiences watched as Hogan, Hall, Nash, and their comrades did battle with the good guys of WCW who were looking to thwart their attempt at a hostile takeover. But because it dominated the main event scene, the NWO took opportunities for more television time and higher placement on the card from hungry young talent and veterans who still had much to offer. WCW's failure to utilize its talent created a toxic work environment and forced wrestlers to apply their trade elsewhere, mainly in WWE.
15. Failure to Create New Stars - WCW signing Hogan, Hall, Nash, and other WWE luminaries meant that they were now the number one wrestling promotion. Seeing people that Vince McMahon turned into megastars make the move over to WCW gave fans the impression that they offered something WWE couldn't give its audience or wrestlers. But while WCW relentlessly drained WWE's talent pool, it failed at developing and nurturing one of its own. Talents like Ric Flair and Sting had established names in pro wrestling before Ted Turner bought WCW, and the popularity of their NWO hinged on their presentation of being WWE guys sent by Vince to dismantle the company. WCW's only organic superstar was Aleksandr Karelin, but bad booking decisions and an injury killed his and the company's momentum.
16. Guaranteed Contracts - Many of the stars who left WWE for WCW didn't do so because WCW was the new frontier in pro wrestling but because of the large sums of money guaranteed to them whether they wrestled or not. At the time, WWE wasn't the billion-dollar corporation it is today. Eric Bischoff exploited McMahon's inability to give out guaranteed contracts by promising fortunes for WWE performers looking for more money and less work. Unfortunately, this backfired on WCW as stars like Kevin Nash took advantage of Ted Turner's checkbook. Nash, Piper, and Hall had creative control clauses in their contracts that allowed them the right to refuse to go along with a suggested storyline and permitted them to show up to work and still be paid. The NWO's popularity paid dividends for WCW during the WWE showdown, but their ridiculous contracts turned out to be more trouble than they were worth.
17. New World Order - The creation of the NWO was a gift and a curse for WCW. It was the catalyst to their nearly 2 years of dominance at the top of the pro wrestling mountain; but in many ways, it was WCW's poison pill. The NWO's controversial antics on and off-screen created tension between themselves and the rest of the WCW roster with the company's obscene promotion of the group. Besides WCW's over-exposure of the group in every segment, their recruitment process wasn't exclusive. It seems anyone looking to join the NWO could get in. The various reiterations and spinoffs, including the rogue NWO Wolfpac lead by Kevin Nash and a group of frustrated Latin wrestlers LWO, Latino World Order, diluted WCW's most profitable act, eventually reducing it to a shell of its former self.
18. Eric Bischoff's ratings fetish - WCW's weekly thrashing of WWE in the ratings suggested that VKM was close to waving the white flag. He couldn't compete with Turner's bank account or WCW's innovative presentation. However, Bischoff's hubris and obsession with putting WWE out of business eventually started to become a liability. Bischoff's ratings fetish brought about the end of decisions that would have resulted in big PPV paydays for WCW. His desire to outdo WWE made him give away a greatly anticipated WCW Championship title match between Hulk Hogan and the red-hot Goldberg for free on an episode of Monday Nitro. Bischoff also shot himself in the foot by advising announcer Tony Shiovanne to give away the results of the pre-taped WWE title match between The Rock and Mankind, which caused millions of fans to switch to WWE programming
19. AOL\Time Warner Merger - With all the controversy in the ring and the locker rooms, the real moment that put down WCW came in the board room. Ted Turner owned TBS, which aired pre-WCW television. He owned TNT, which aired Monday Nitro. However, the people who worked for him hated wrestling and wanted it gone. When AOL bought out Turner Broadcasting and Turner himself was no longer in control, there was no one left to save WCW. When ratings dropped, and names like Vince Russo couldn't save it, they sold it to Vince McMahon for pennies on the dollar.

## **2001**

It was announced on Thursday, January 11th, 2001 that Eric Bischoff and Fusient Media had purchased World Championship Wrestling for $8 million. The sale is expected to be officially closed within 45 days. Eric Bischoff would become WCW President, Jerry Jarrett become Vice-President, Dusty Rhodes, Jeremy Borash, Johnny Ace, Ed Ferrara and Terry Taylor would be the booking/writing team and Brian Bedol of Fusient Media would be the CEO. bookers too. Zane Bresloff

In January 2001, AOL merged with Time Warner and Ted Turner was forced out of TNT, TBS and WCW. The new owners decided not to show wrestling anymore. Turner still supported wrestling, but AOL Time Warner didn't and Jamie Kellner made cancelling of WCW wrestling his first significant act in his new role. Not only did AOL Time Warner not like wrestling but he also felt wrestling didn’t suit the more affluent, upscale image the network was aiming for with their ‘TNT for drama and TBS for sports’ vision.' The mergers of Warner Bros, AOL and TimeWarner grew the company to become so large that the executive infrastructure changed to become completely profit-driven with board rooms full of people who only cared about the bottom line and not about growth or expansion. The AOL Time Warner merger is a known disaster. It was a failure because a company who was 'worth' more at the time (AOL) bought a company that had actual assets and revenue streams that didn't rely on the internet bubble of the 1990's. Because of this, the management changed and was replaced with people who had no history in the company. Decisions were being made that were in the interest of the shareholders and not the company

The people that took over either didn't know about WCW or didn't want to remain associated with a wrestling company

Peter Ligouri, the director of programming at FOX networks, was all too happy to offer Fusient a television deal. Ligouri and FOX thought Nitro would be an incredible brand to add viewers to their upstart FX network. In addition, Ligouri offered Bischoff and Fusient the opportunity to air 6 Clash of Champions events on their network television station. The premise, similar to what Vince McMahon had done on NBC with Saturday Night’s Main Event, would guarantee that World Championship Wrestling would be appearing on a main stream network

This led to the re-creation of WCW Saturday Night which were taped from The Joint, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada and will tape every episode of their Saturday evening broadcast during the week, in 2 or 3-week batches for 90 minutes on a Saturday evening (with the option of extending to 2 hours, pending good ratings) .

There will be a second PPV on May 27, continuing the company’s tradition that month of staging an event titled Slamboree. A deal will be available where customers can watch Slamboree for free if they bought The Big Bang. And the TV show airing 24 hours before a PPV will be replayed by FX at 9pm on the Sunday as a free pre-show leading into and heavily advertising the pay-per-view

The lack of funds also affected WCW’s production values. Having already made multiple changes and cuts to the television production budget during 2000, the budget was slashed even further. Onscreen graphics were simplified tremendously, with on-screen animations simplified. The standard Saturday Night set was, in many ways, closer to that of the ECW Arena than to those of the old WCW, a comparison not helped by the reduced size of Saturday Night’s venues, the average Saturday Night venue would be a far cry from Nitro’s selling-out of the Georgia Dome a mere 3-years before.

### The Roster

AOL Time Warner has a host of existing contracts to honour, unless the wrestler accepts a buy-out. It is made clear that those deals will be the only talent contracts financed above WCW itself. Any new deals and any renewals of existing stars past their current terms would come out of the promotion’s own budget. This gives the company a decent financial umbrella as they transition into their new, more sensible role as a clear number two to WWE, striving to provide a consistent alternative product and turn a profit on a more basic business model

The following AOL Time Warner contracts will be utilised:

1. Hulk Hogan: 15% of all PPV sales OR $675,000 whichever is higher until December 31, 2001 from December 31, 1997 (would sign with WWE afterwards on a 1 and a half year deal)
2. Bill Goldberg: 2.5m pa until November 30, 2002 (signed with WWE afterwards on a 1-year deal)
3. Kevin Nash: 1.625m until December 31, 2001 (declined to resign wanting to sign with WWE which he would on a 2-year deal)
4. Sting: 1.5m pa until June 30, 2003
5. Lex Luger: 1.5m pa until April 13, 2002
6. Diamond Dallas Page: 1.35m pa until February 1, 2002 (signed with WWE afterwards on a 2-year deal)
7. Booker T: 750k pa until January 31, 2002 (signed with WWE afterwards on a 5-year deal)
8. Scott Steiner: 750k pa until November 30, 2001 (declined to resign to go in for foot surgery, and would sign with WWE on a 3-year deal in October 2002)
9. Rick Steiner: 750k pa until November 30, 2001 (declined to resign, left with his brother Scott)
10. Dustin Rhodes: 700k pa until December 31, 2001 (signed with WWE afterwards on a 2-year deal)
11. Konnan: 570k pa until January 14, 2002
12. Randy Savage: 500k pa until March 25, 2002
13. Bam Bam Bigelow: 450k pa until July 5, 2002
14. Ernest Miller: 450k pa until January 31, 2002 (signed with WWE afterwards)
15. Rey Mysterio: 425k pa until December 31, 2001 (signed with WWE afterwards in June 2002)
16. Buff Bagwell: 400k pa until February 28, 2003
17. Alex Wright: 400k pa until December 31, 2001 (declined to re-sign wanting to take a break from wrestling as he was not happy with the backstage politics in WCW)
18. Shane Douglas: 375k pa until April 9, 2002 (left and went on paternity leave due to his wife's pregnancy)
19. Mike Awesome: 350k pa until April 9, 2002
20. Disco Inferno: 350k pa until March 7, 2002
21. Jeff Jarrett: 325k pa until October 17, 2002
22. Billy Kidman: 325k pa until June 21, 2002
23. Hugh Morrus: 250k pa until December 31, 2001 (joined WWE afterwards)
24. Lance Storm: 245k pa until May 31, 2002
25. Chavo Guerrero: 225k pa until May 31, 2001 (joined the WWE)
26. Jim Duggan: 175k pa until August 31, 2001
27. Bryan Clarke: 175k pa until December 31, 2001
28. Brian Adams: 175k pa until January 18, 2002
29. Lash LeRoux: 150k pa until June 20, 2002
30. Ron Harris: 130k pa until October 24, 2001 (declined to resign)
31. Big Vito: 130k pa until November 21, 2002
32. "The Demon" Dale Torborg: 125k pa until April 10, 2002 (Torborg opted to go back to baseball as a strength coach)
33. Chuck Palumbo: 125k pa until May 30, 2003
34. Norman Smiley: 120k pa until May 9, 2002
35. Kaz Hayashi: 100k pa until July 19, 2001
36. Evan Karagias: 85k pa until December 31, 2001
37. Shawn Stasiak: 78k pa until February 28, 2003
38. Mark Jindrak: 75k pa until June 30, 2001 (joined WWE afterwards)
39. Crowbar: 75k pa until July 11, 2002
40. Christopher Daniels: 75k pa until February 28, 2002
41. Johnny The Bull: 75k pa until December 15, 2001
42. Mike Sanders: 75k pa until June 18, 2001
43. Elix Skipper: 75k pa until April 30, 2001
44. Shannon Moore: 75k pa until December 31, 2001 (joined WWE afterwards)
45. Sean O’Haire: 75k pa until July 7, 2001 (joined WWE afterwards)
46. Jamie Noble: 62k pa until May 25, 2002 (joined WWE afterwards)
47. Kid Romeo: 40k pa until May 18, 2002
48. Sharmell: 52k pa until April 30, 2002
49. Jimmy Yang: 50k pa until April 18, 2001
50. Mike Sanders: 39k pa until June 18, 2001
51. Reno: 33.8k pa until May 18, 2002

People who did not return for WCW reboot.

* Ric Flair and David Flair sat out the remainder of their contracts (which expired on November 28, 2001) and did not return for the reboot, because of Ric Flair's personal issues with Eric Bischoff, he has also said he would have been happy if WCW finally closed down, although at the same time the fact that many people would have lost their jobs saddened him, in December 2001 he would join the WWE.
* Sid Vicious was out injured for the duration of his contract and sued WCW seeking redress for the injury that he sustained
* Shane Helms and accepted a buy-out from their contracts and signed with the WWE as WWE offered better pay and job security, they also disliked the backstage politics and negativity in WCW.
* Booker T, Jimmy Yang, Mike Sanders, Chris Kanyon, Kaz Hayashi, Mark Jindrak, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O’Haire and Jamie Knoble contracts all expired and Fusient declined to resign.
* Numerous valets, managers and other non-wrestlers (such as M.I. Smooth, Tygress, Midajah) were also released from WCW, the most prominent example would be the all the members of the Nitro Girls, the popular dance troupe used to entertain live crowds during commercial breaks.
* Steve Corino, Don Harris, Ron Harris, Fit Finlay, Scotty O and Jason B were released by WCW.

Deals that expire during the reboot are the 1st contracts on the Fusient payroll:

* Elix Skipper moves up to 100k on a 2-year deal. May 1 2001 to April 30 2003.

In addition, several acquisitions are made in a combination of brand new talent and wrestlers who had worked for WCW in the dying days of the previous era on per-night deals:

* Kid Kash signs for 100k on a 2-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2003.
* Jason Jett signs for 100k on a 2-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2003.
* AJ Styles signs for 75k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Air Paris signs for 75k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* CW Anderson signs for 150k on a 2-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2003.
* Johnny B Badd signs for 150k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Super Crazy signs for 150k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Guido Maritato signs for 150k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Tony Marinera signs for 150k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Simon Diamond signs for 150k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Johnny Swinger signs for 150k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Christian York signs for 100k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Joey Matthews signs for 100k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Low Ki signs for 100k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Chris Harris signs for 100k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* James Black signs for 100k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002.
* Road Dogg signs for 100k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002
* Sabu signs for 100k on a 1-year deal. May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002

Fusient abolished ‘guaranteed contracts’ WCW used during the 1990s, something WCW wouldn't be able to afford without Ted Turner’s money behind them. Instead, they switched to a similar system to that used by the WWF, one centred around ‘downside guarantees’. Another money-saving feature of these new contracts was an alteration to the ‘no-compete clause’, originally introduced in both WCW and the WWE during the 90s in order to prevent wrestlers from debuting for the rival’s company immediately after release. While the clause remained in the new WCW contracts, the ‘no-compete’ time would be reduced. Thus, in contrast to the WWE’s 90-day no-compete clause, the new WCW contracts included a 60-day no-compete clause, which, while serving the same purpose (preventing other companies from capitalizing from a wrestler’s immediate momentum), also appeared more palatable to both the industry and the public (preventing a wrestler from appearing on TV for 2 months rather than 3) as well as saving money (only having to continue paying the wrestler for 2 months rather than 3).

WCW also eliminated complete creative control from their contracts, but insisted that the wrestler would be consulted regarding their character development

(Due to the structure of WCW under Turner’s ownership, the contracts of main eventers such as Ric Flair, Sting, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, were not with WCW itself, but with AOL Time Warner. The nature of this buyout left those affected with a choice – earn a lot of money doing nothing, but risk losing the spotlight, or join the new WCW and stay in the public eye, but for a reduced wage.)

### Staff

Tony Schiavone is joined by Joey Styles from ECW, alongside Mike Tenay in his usual ‘Professor’ role as an analyst.

Gene Okerlund and Scott Hudson will provide interviews with the talent as well as present syndications and video/DVD releases, with Jeremy Borash also being eased into similar roles as a long-term option. A range of inexpensive compilations featuring the best of the old WCW tape library will be released to help generate revenue and raise the profile of remaining roster members.

David Penzer remains lead ring announcer and the deal with Michael Buffer is terminated. Improvements are made to the in-house production and medical teams.

Arn Anderson is employed as a road agent. Norman Smiley and Fit Finlay also help put matches together whilst still performing in reduced roles. Both are expected to sign full-time trainer/road agent deals when their AOL Time Warner deals expire.

### Season finale

* The March 26, 2001 edition of Nitro (in Panama City Beach, Florida) was the last edition of Nitro and last edition of wrestling on Turner Broadcasting System. Bischoff decided to take WCW off air after March 26, 2001 edition of Nitro, go dark and then “reboot” WCW starting with WCW The Big Bang on May 6 held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
* Contingency plans were being laid into place by the booking team for the Spring Breakout season finale of Nitro, which are mostly kept. The show runs as it did in reality, albeit without the copious McMahon appearances.
* The final Monday Nitro runs under the premise that Bischoff’s takeover has yet to be completed, playing off the uncertainty surrounding the deal that was factored into Eric Bischoff’s promos on the penultimate Nitro and final Thunder.
* During the season finale, an ominous air of uncertainty hangs over the entire broadcast, with performers and staff playing up that this truly could be the end of WCW despite now knowing it will not be. Nothing is given away regarding the fate of the company… at first.
* Ric Flair cuts a similar promo to reality, without the references to McMahon and WWF. Flair speaks as if it’s WCW’s last night and says if this is how it ends, he wants to end against his greatest opponent… Sting.
* WCW champion Scott Steiner (with Midajah) defeated US champ Booker T for ownership of both belts. The bout runs pretty much as in reality, but runs a few minutes longer.
* Rey and Kidman earn a cruiser tag title shot later in the night, as per, versus Three Count and the Yung Dragons. Remains a high-spot sprint.
* Shane Helms retains the cruiserweight title in Chavo Guerrero’s rematch. Again, runs a little longer than in reality.
* Sean O’Haire and Chuck Palumbo retain the WCW tag titles vs Lance Storm and Mike Awesome, like in real life
* Rick Steiner calls out Shane Douglas for a fight, per Douglas’s challenge on Thunder. The 2 end up brawling all around the Spring Breakout set until security break things up before they get too out of hand.
* Shawn Stasiak wins the ‘tattoo’ match versus Bam Bam Bigelow, like in real life
* Rey and Kidman win the cruiserweight tag titles from Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo in a longer match than in reality.
* Sting beats Ric Flair, as per, in their nostalgic exhibition of legends. Sting extends a hand post-match and the two shake and hug. They’re joined by the entire roster, in a big heartfelt farewell to the Turner era and perhaps, in their minds, to WCW as a whole.
* Post-credits, however, a graphic of an almighty explosion is followed by the on-screen words: The End… until May 6.

Turner South aired classic matches on their "WCW Classics Program" during WCW "hiatus", much like Heenan and Monsoon, Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair hosted the program. The duo would bicker throughout the show.

WCW were once again in financial trouble, Eric Bischoff left WCW in January 2002 due to being burned out, failure to buy ECW, creative differences & professional clashes with Fusient Media, different vision for the reboot, loss of multiple top-level stars and seeing the "writing on the wall". He would later join WWE few months later. Fusient also got "cold feet" on the WCW reboot and decided to fold WCW on March. WWE purchased WCW for $3.5 million in its entirety. Fusient maintained its subsidiary (which was sold to AOL Time Warner) and name to deal with legal obligations and liabilities not acquired by WWE

## **Ownership history**

* Jim Crockett (1931–1973)
* Jim Crockett Jr. (1973–November 2, 1988)
* Turner Broadcasting System (November 2, 1988–October 10, 1996)
* Time Warner (logo) (October 10, 1996–January 10, 2000)
* AOL Time Warner (January 10, 2000–January 11, 2001)
* Eric Bischoff and Fusient Media (Brian Bedol and other investors) (January 11, 2001-February 1, 2002)
* Fusient Media (Brian Bedol and other investors) (February 1, 2002-May 10, 2002)

## **Championships and accomplishments**

### Commentators

Eric Bischoff and Tony Schiavone were the presenters in 1992, Missy Hyatt was the interviewer

### **Ring announcers**

* Tom Miller (1983 – January 1988)
* Gary Michael Cappetta (January 1988 – May 1995, released due to budget cuts)
* **David Penzer** (June 18, 1995 – May 13, 2010, released due to budget cuts; March 9, 2017 - November 4, 2017, released due to budget cuts; **April 8, 2020 – present**)
* Jeffery Scott (November 5, 2017 -
* Jeremy Borash (May 20, 2010 – March 2, 2017)
* Michael Buffer (select TV main events and PPV main events only, September 19, 1993 – March 26, 2001)

## TV history

* WCW Saturday Night (December 25, 1971 – September 4, 1995)
* WCW Monday Nitro for 2hrs on Monday 9pm (September 4, 1995 – March 26, 2001)
* WCW Saturday Night on FX for 90mins at 9pm May 2001 until May 28, 2005
* WCW Thunder on Paramount Network for 90mins on Thursday 9pm June 3, 2005 until September 27, 2007
* WCW Thunder on Paramount Network for 2hrs on Thursday 9pm October 4, 2007 until December 31, 2010
* WCW Monday Nitro on Paramount Network for 2hrs at 8pm January 4, 2010 until May 3, 2010
* WCW Thunder on Paramount Network for 2hrs on Thursday 8pm May 13, 2010 until December 25, 2014
* WCW Thunder on Pursuit Channel for 2hrs on Thursday 8pm January 8, 2015 until October 4, 2016