WWF Purchasing World Championship Wrestling A Real Possibility - The Pro’s and Con’s

Vince McMahon may soon have a total monopoly on the pro wrestling business in North America if his WWF purchases rival World Championship Wrestling from Time Warner. McMahon appears to be on the verge of buying long time foe Ted Turner out of the “rasslin'” business. Here are the pros and cons of such a move:

PROS

The WWF and WCW working together would make dream matches a reality - Steve Austin vs. Goldberg, Sting vs. The Rock, Scott Steiner vs. The Undertaker, etc. Kevin Nash would be free to reunite with his buddies Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and X-Pac, possibly to reform Degeneration X.

In general, WWF stars would be able to show up on WCW shows, and WCW stars could pop up on WWF television.

A deal between the two companies would almost guarantee that “Crash Television” proponent Vince Russo would be out of the business, probably returning to his video rental store in New York. WCW lead announcer Tony Schiavone might want to send resumes and tapes out as soon as possible.

The sale of WCW to WWF hopefully means a reduction of wrestling programming. I have a hard time imaging the WWF wanting to write and produce “Raw,” “Smackdown,” and “Heat,” plus adding “Nitro” and “Thunder” to their work load. It is also hard for me to envision the WWF promoting twelve WCW pay-per-views annually, in addition to the WWF’s monthly PPV’s.

CONS

The WWF purchase of WCW would mean the end of the Monday Night wars. It would give McMahon control of both companies, and considering his working relationship with ECW, a total monopoly of pro wrestling in the United States.

Perhaps the biggest losers in a WWF/WCW working relationship would be the wrestling fans. In 1996, WCW bypassed the WWF, leaving a devastated McMahon to create new characters, storylines, and intrigue. Without competition, McMahon has free rain to dictate the product the American wrestling fans are subject to watch. Competition breeds creativity.

Another victim in the purchase of WCW by the WWF would be the wrestlers. No longer would a disgruntled grappler be able to leave a promotion for the company’s rival. In essence, a wrestler would lose all his/her negotiation leverage. An American wrestler’s only other option would be to leave the country for Mexico or Japan.

The idea of the WWF purchasing WCW reminds me of Jim Crockett’s acquisition of Bill Watts’ Mid Southern promotion Universal Wrestling Federation in 1987. Crockett honored the UWF titles and promoted their talent upon buying the group, but eventually absorbed the UWF, which would likely become of WCW under ownership to the WWF.

Tidbits: Last week, WCW terminated the contracts of Scott Hall, 41, and Bret “The Hitman” Hart, 43 … The WWF signed former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal to a developmental contract … ECW canceled the October 27th Camden, NJ and the October 28th Bethlehem, PA house shows … Goldberg’s book "Goldberg: I'm Next" will be released November 7th … Paul Heyman has denied reports that he is interested in bringing back former ECW champion Sabu.

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