Would you have preferred WCW going over?

[ChitownKnight]

With what we know about Vince now and how WCW’s product was on the upswing in 2001 (so I’ve heard), would it have been better if WCW won the war?

[mc74]

I can't choose either in the poll because of the simple fact the conclusion of the war showed the consequences of what a monopoly does. The folks on the old DDT Digest WCW website talked about it happened and the mood over there was just like it was here a few nights ago. They talked about how bad a monopoly was going to be for the business as a whole, and they predicted the likely possibility of the WWF becoming complacent over the upcoming years with its booking. Sadly, that's exactly what happened.

[XIII]

If we’re talking WCW putting the WWF out of business, absolutely not. First off monopolies are bad for business and secondly, say what you want about Vince(and most of it is deserved), but WCW had zero leadership and if they had somehow won wrestling would have eventually fallen off of the map and taken a long time to recover…if it ever did.

[A Platypus Rave]

Jan 14, 2023 16:06:14 GMT -5 XIII said:

If we’re talking WCW putting the WWF out of business, absolutely not. First off monopolies are bad for business and secondly, say what you want about Vince(and most of it is deserved), but WCW had zero leadership and if they had somehow won wrestling would have eventually fallen off of the map and taken a long time to recover…if it ever did.

Almost all of WCW's problems were self inflicted, WCW winning almost inevitably still leads to the show getting cancelled and WCW folding anyway.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

Really a difficult one to vote for. In some ways I'd have preferred it, and WCW had the most potential to do something different, considering where they were at the time.. but I don't think they'd have lasted much longer anyway, the way it was generally being run.

[Bo Rida]

Laurinaitis being head booker when they won the war might have led to an even worse environment for those in power to get away with abuse.

Jan 14, 2023 16:06:14 GMT -5 XIII said:

If we’re talking WCW putting the WWF out of business, absolutely not. First off monopolies are bad for business and secondly, say what you want about Vince(and most of it is deserved), but WCW had zero leadership and if they had somehow won wrestling would have eventually fallen off of the map and taken a long time to recover…if it ever did.

Yeah, they may have limped on TNA style but I probably wouldn't be a wrestling fan anymore and suspect many others wouldn't be either (especially as this timeline would rob us of wm17).

Although talking of TNA who knows what alternative companies may have sprung up with Jarrett still employed. Small chance a genuine rival would emerge and become market leader but unlikely if there'd be less trust from TV companies/partners with the previous top 3 companies going bust/downhill, impossible to know though.

[sfvega]

No. Turner and company were inept, so chances are they still torpedo wrestling after the merger. Come to think of it, they're the only ones who could have f***ed up the merging of the two companies more than Vince did. As much as I really loved WCW, it was not long for this world regardless.

[tafkaga]

Does 'winning the war' necessitate one company going out of business? If Nitro had been cancelled but WCW continued, would that not have also constituted winning the war?

I do wish Nitro had continued to dominate Raw, because that would mean other television networks would have been interested in WCW, which would have meant that Bischoff and Fusient or somebody else would have bought the company and it would have continued instead of getting picked up by Vince simply because nobody else wanted it and then subsequently buried.

So, I guess my answer is yes, even though I don't think 'the war' should have ever meant one company ceasing to do business. That didn't happen because WWF beat WCW. It happened because Ted Turner got kicked out of his own company.

[Jake, The Jake, Jake]

My brain says no, WCW/turner management would have fumbled the ball and somehow killed wrestling completely, but my heart is Dewey Cox’s dad yelling WRONG KID DIED!!

[Deleted]

There are two major companies in 2023. I'm fine with how things happened.

[saneiac]

Jan 14, 2023 15:23:12 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

With what we know about Vince now and how WCW’s product was on the upswing in 2001 (so I’ve heard), would it have been better if WCW won the war?

WCW ended in March 2001, so there wasn't much time for an upswing there, but in my memory the only good thing going for the entire final 12 months was the Booker vs Steiner feud and Steiner as champ in general.

[1 Free Moon-Down with Burger]

No f***ing way. lol

[Hit Girl]

No, because WCW would still have collapsed.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

I mean if I had to pick one, I'd say so because I really prefer the WCW style product over the WWE when you control for good and bad periods. Like I can go and watch a 1993 Saturday Night show and have a blast and I can't say the same for Superstars or RAW from that era. But obviously the ideal is two strong companies like we have now and I feel like AEW has filled a lot of the needs of what WCW offered without a lot of the baggage.