Mid March 2001 -- As One Door Opens, Another Closes...
AOL Time Warner has decided to sell World Championship Wrestling and all of it's properties. The day has finally arrived, AOL Time Warner has decided to not only sell off World Championship Wrestling, but also cancel all WCW programming on their networks. Upon hearing this information, former Executive Producer Eric Bischoff asks AOL Time Warner to give him a chance to pull up the ratings and to turn WCW into a profitable company once again. AOL tells Bischoff that they want no part of professional wrestling and it is in their best interest to sell. Bischoff offers deal to AOL Time Warner to buy out WCW and all of it's properties and ongoing contracts if he can find the proper investor to help him buy WCW. AOL Time Warner tells Bischoff that if he can have a deal closed by March 30th with a group of investors that would be willing to buy WCW from them along with take up all the remaining talent contracts, then they would sell WCW to him. Upon hearing this information,
WWF CEO Vince Mcmahon offers a deal to buy out WCW for a modest 10 million.
Mcmahon tells AOL that not only will he settle the deal out without any issue going to court, but he will assure that AOL Time Warner has no further ties to WCW or professional wrestling. While this does sound very appealing to AOL, they decide to decline Mcmahon's offer and give Bischoff the chance to make do on his commitment to find a group of investors to buy out WCW. However, AOL does tell Mcmahon that if Bischoff cannot find a group of investors by March 30th, than they will take Mcmahon up on his offer to settle this fiasco out. Bischoff frantically meets with several different investors and investment companies, but it seems as though if each deal falls through, once they are told that they will be required to pay out all of former WCW talent contracts. Bischoff is told by AOL that they will make no exceptions and if he does not have a way to buy out WCW by March 30th, that they will take up Mcmahon's offer to sell it for 10 million.
As Bischoff desperately tries to find an investment group to fund WCW, he has a meeting with former owner of WCW, Ted Turner. Turner helps Bischoff set up a meeting with energy conglomerate, Duke Energy. After the meeting, Bischoff is able to convince Duke Energy of his past success with WCW, and that if WCW does take a loss in this matter, that he will find a way to sign a majority of the talent and all active talent into new contracts that would assure that if WCW does go under, that they would only be entitled to the amount of time in their contract that was actually worked. As Bischoff goes to sign the deal with AOL Time Warner in cooperation with Duke Energy, a mysterious phone call is made from an undisclosed source to Duke Energy advising them of the financial risk of WCW at the present time, along with current contracted WCW wrestlers Lex Luger and Konnan being arrested on drug trafficking charges. In lieu of this, Duke Energy feels that WCW is too much of a liability and backs out of the 60 million figure that they had agreed to with Bischoff to pay AOL Time Warner for WCW.
As the end of the month comes, Eric Bischoff is unable to muster up another deal, and Vinnie Mac now OWNS professional wrestling.
Now that the WWF has officially purchased WCW, rumors speculate what this will mean for the former company. Many in the company believe that they should just bring all the WCW talent into the WWF in sort of an "INVASION ANGLE" to consolidate into one company, but with AOL Time Warner still being locked in with most of the top talent contracts, there isn't much incentive for the "top tier" WCW talent to give that up in order just to wrestle on the WWF show. Many in the company believe that they should give the Smackdown Thursday night timeslot to WCW, but with two hours to fill and the amount of star talent not being available, there is doubt that they would be able to produce a compelling two hour show. Some in the company think the WWF should just use the tape library, and that's it...which seems to be the route that Mcmahon is seemingly leaning to take.
The Prodigal Son Saves World Championship Wrestling from Extinction...
It isn't until Vince Mcmahon's son and future heir Shane Mcmahon steps in, that life is finally given to the old World Championship Wrestling. Shane wanting to finally make a name for himself and outside of his father's shadow implores to his father that if he can run WCW as is with just 1 or 2 Time Warner contract buy outs and the former WCW talent who decide to take the new, under market value WWF contracts (thus their old AOL Time Warner deals being bought out by the WWF for 50 cents on the dollar), that he would be able to make the new WCW a viable option. However in regards to programming, UPN and TNN are both against taking on this new upstarted WCW brand on their designated primetime Monday and Thursday timeslots. It isn't until new WCW executive producer Shane Mcmahon decides to pitch to his father the Saturday night timeslot on TNN 11pm-Midnight, currently being pitched to TNN as a weekly recap show set to start airing soon. Shane's bright idea is to make the Saturday night 11pm-Midnight timeslot on TNN, a one hour weekly episodic show to be called, WCW Saturday Night (as previously used in the former WCW).
GREEN MEANS GO...
Vince gives the green light to Shane for the opportunity to take this timeslot on with the first edition set to debut on April 28th, 2001 LIVE from The Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. This WCW revamp brand will be completely separate from the WWF in all aspects and will be a stand alone product. The first episode will air live, but then after each week after that will be taped the hour before the Smackdown taping. The only other information released at the time of this press release is that in addition to the weekly show on Saturday nights, WCW will run it's first and maybe only pay per view (depending on how well it does) on Sunday June 10th, 2001 LIVE, "Bash at The Beach", for a reduced time of 2 hours and reduced price point of $19.95.
And we are off to the races....
AOL Time Warner has decided to sell World Championship Wrestling and all of it's properties. The day has finally arrived, AOL Time Warner has decided to not only sell off World Championship Wrestling, but also cancel all WCW programming on their networks. Upon hearing this information, former Executive Producer Eric Bischoff asks AOL Time Warner to give him a chance to pull up the ratings and to turn WCW into a profitable company once again. AOL tells Bischoff that they want no part of professional wrestling and it is in their best interest to sell. Bischoff offers deal to AOL Time Warner to buy out WCW and all of it's properties and ongoing contracts if he can find the proper investor to help him buy WCW. AOL Time Warner tells Bischoff that if he can have a deal closed by March 30th with a group of investors that would be willing to buy WCW from them along with take up all the remaining talent contracts, then they would sell WCW to him. Upon hearing this information,
WWF CEO Vince Mcmahon offers a deal to buy out WCW for a modest 10 million.
Mcmahon tells AOL that not only will he settle the deal out without any issue going to court, but he will assure that AOL Time Warner has no further ties to WCW or professional wrestling. While this does sound very appealing to AOL, they decide to decline Mcmahon's offer and give Bischoff the chance to make do on his commitment to find a group of investors to buy out WCW. However, AOL does tell Mcmahon that if Bischoff cannot find a group of investors by March 30th, than they will take Mcmahon up on his offer to settle this fiasco out. Bischoff frantically meets with several different investors and investment companies, but it seems as though if each deal falls through, once they are told that they will be required to pay out all of former WCW talent contracts. Bischoff is told by AOL that they will make no exceptions and if he does not have a way to buy out WCW by March 30th, that they will take up Mcmahon's offer to sell it for 10 million.
As Bischoff desperately tries to find an investment group to fund WCW, he has a meeting with former owner of WCW, Ted Turner. Turner helps Bischoff set up a meeting with energy conglomerate, Duke Energy. After the meeting, Bischoff is able to convince Duke Energy of his past success with WCW, and that if WCW does take a loss in this matter, that he will find a way to sign a majority of the talent and all active talent into new contracts that would assure that if WCW does go under, that they would only be entitled to the amount of time in their contract that was actually worked. As Bischoff goes to sign the deal with AOL Time Warner in cooperation with Duke Energy, a mysterious phone call is made from an undisclosed source to Duke Energy advising them of the financial risk of WCW at the present time, along with current contracted WCW wrestlers Lex Luger and Konnan being arrested on drug trafficking charges. In lieu of this, Duke Energy feels that WCW is too much of a liability and backs out of the 60 million figure that they had agreed to with Bischoff to pay AOL Time Warner for WCW.
As the end of the month comes, Eric Bischoff is unable to muster up another deal, and Vinnie Mac now OWNS professional wrestling.
Now that the WWF has officially purchased WCW, rumors speculate what this will mean for the former company. Many in the company believe that they should just bring all the WCW talent into the WWF in sort of an "INVASION ANGLE" to consolidate into one company, but with AOL Time Warner still being locked in with most of the top talent contracts, there isn't much incentive for the "top tier" WCW talent to give that up in order just to wrestle on the WWF show. Many in the company believe that they should give the Smackdown Thursday night timeslot to WCW, but with two hours to fill and the amount of star talent not being available, there is doubt that they would be able to produce a compelling two hour show. Some in the company think the WWF should just use the tape library, and that's it...which seems to be the route that Mcmahon is seemingly leaning to take.
The Prodigal Son Saves World Championship Wrestling from Extinction...
It isn't until Vince Mcmahon's son and future heir Shane Mcmahon steps in, that life is finally given to the old World Championship Wrestling. Shane wanting to finally make a name for himself and outside of his father's shadow implores to his father that if he can run WCW as is with just 1 or 2 Time Warner contract buy outs and the former WCW talent who decide to take the new, under market value WWF contracts (thus their old AOL Time Warner deals being bought out by the WWF for 50 cents on the dollar), that he would be able to make the new WCW a viable option. However in regards to programming, UPN and TNN are both against taking on this new upstarted WCW brand on their designated primetime Monday and Thursday timeslots. It isn't until new WCW executive producer Shane Mcmahon decides to pitch to his father the Saturday night timeslot on TNN 11pm-Midnight, currently being pitched to TNN as a weekly recap show set to start airing soon. Shane's bright idea is to make the Saturday night 11pm-Midnight timeslot on TNN, a one hour weekly episodic show to be called, WCW Saturday Night (as previously used in the former WCW).
GREEN MEANS GO...
Vince gives the green light to Shane for the opportunity to take this timeslot on with the first edition set to debut on April 28th, 2001 LIVE from The Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. This WCW revamp brand will be completely separate from the WWF in all aspects and will be a stand alone product. The first episode will air live, but then after each week after that will be taped the hour before the Smackdown taping. The only other information released at the time of this press release is that in addition to the weekly show on Saturday nights, WCW will run it's first and maybe only pay per view (depending on how well it does) on Sunday June 10th, 2001 LIVE, "Bash at The Beach", for a reduced time of 2 hours and reduced price point of $19.95.
And we are off to the races....
WCW Management and Non Wrestling Personalities
WCW Executive Producer: Shane Mcmahon
Ringside Commentary: Scott Hudson (play by play) & "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson (color commentary)
In Ring Announcer: Jeremy Borash
Backstage Interviewers: Mike Tenay and Terri Runnels
Referees: Nick Patrick (Senior Official), Charles Robinson, and Brian Hebner
Road Agents: Johnny Ace & Terry Taylor
WCW Contracts Not Bought Out/AOL Time Warner Contracts Still In Tact
Air Paris
Alex Wright
Bam Bam Bigelow
The Beast
Dewayne Bruce
The Demon
Dustin Rhodes
Ernest Miller
Goldberg
Glacier
Jason Jett
Jeff Jarrett
Jim Duggan
Jimmy Hart
Johnny Swinger
Kevin Nash
Kimberly Page
Konnan
Lex Luger
Major Gunns
Meng
MI Smooth
Norman Smiley
Paisley
Ric Flair
Rick Steiner
Road Warrior Animal
Scotty O
Shane Douglas
Sid Vicious
Stevie Ray
Sting
Terry Funk
The Wall
Mean Gene Okerlund
Tony Schiavone
Mark Madden
NEW WCW Roster
Booker T
"Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner
Diamond Dallas Page
Buff "The Stuff" Bagwell
Mark Jindrak
Mike Awesome
Sean O'Haire
Chuck Palumbo
"Sugar" Shane Helms
Billy Kidman
Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Kaz Hayashi
Jamie Knoble
Lance Storm
Kanyon
Hugh Morrus
Bryan Clark
Brian Adams
Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli
Big Vito
AJ Styles
Shannon Moore
Reno
Kwee Wee
Lash Leroux
Managers/Valets
Stacy Kiebler
Torrie Wilson
Sonny Onoo
Mike Sanders
Disqo
Tag Teams/Stables
The Natural Born Thrillaz (Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, & Reno)
The Mamalukes (Disqo, Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli", & Big Vito)
KroniK (Bryan Clark & Brian Adams)
AJ Styles & Shannon Moore
MILF (The Men In Love Foundation) (Kanyon & Hugh Morrus)
WCW Champions
WCW World Heavyweight Champion -- Booker T
WCW United States Champion -- Booker T
WCW Cruiserweight Champion -- "Sugar" Shane Helms
WCW World Tag Team Champions -- KroniK (Bryan Clark & Brian Adams)
WCW Presents: “Bash At The Beach”: 2 Hour Special
Sunday June 10th 2001 LIVE PPV Event; $19.95
WCW Executive Producer: Shane Mcmahon
Ringside Commentary: Scott Hudson (play by play) & "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson (color commentary)
In Ring Announcer: Jeremy Borash
Backstage Interviewers: Mike Tenay and Terri Runnels
Referees: Nick Patrick (Senior Official), Charles Robinson, and Brian Hebner
Road Agents: Johnny Ace & Terry Taylor
WCW Contracts Not Bought Out/AOL Time Warner Contracts Still In Tact
Air Paris
Alex Wright
Bam Bam Bigelow
The Beast
Dewayne Bruce
The Demon
Dustin Rhodes
Ernest Miller
Goldberg
Glacier
Jason Jett
Jeff Jarrett
Jim Duggan
Jimmy Hart
Johnny Swinger
Kevin Nash
Kimberly Page
Konnan
Lex Luger
Major Gunns
Meng
MI Smooth
Norman Smiley
Paisley
Ric Flair
Rick Steiner
Road Warrior Animal
Scotty O
Shane Douglas
Sid Vicious
Stevie Ray
Sting
Terry Funk
The Wall
Mean Gene Okerlund
Tony Schiavone
Mark Madden
NEW WCW Roster
Booker T
"Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner
Diamond Dallas Page
Buff "The Stuff" Bagwell
Mark Jindrak
Mike Awesome
Sean O'Haire
Chuck Palumbo
"Sugar" Shane Helms
Billy Kidman
Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Kaz Hayashi
Jamie Knoble
Lance Storm
Kanyon
Hugh Morrus
Bryan Clark
Brian Adams
Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli
Big Vito
AJ Styles
Shannon Moore
Reno
Kwee Wee
Lash Leroux
Managers/Valets
Stacy Kiebler
Torrie Wilson
Sonny Onoo
Mike Sanders
Disqo
Tag Teams/Stables
The Natural Born Thrillaz (Mike Sanders, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, & Reno)
The Mamalukes (Disqo, Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli", & Big Vito)
KroniK (Bryan Clark & Brian Adams)
AJ Styles & Shannon Moore
MILF (The Men In Love Foundation) (Kanyon & Hugh Morrus)
WCW Champions
WCW World Heavyweight Champion -- Booker T
WCW United States Champion -- Booker T
WCW Cruiserweight Champion -- "Sugar" Shane Helms
WCW World Tag Team Champions -- KroniK (Bryan Clark & Brian Adams)
WCW Presents: “Bash At The Beach”: 2 Hour Special
Sunday June 10th 2001 LIVE PPV Event; $19.95
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