Imagine that, me, Vince McMahon. Here I am on WCW television. How can that happen? Well, there's only one way. You see, it was just a matter of time before I, Vince McMahon, bought my competition. That's right, I own WCW. Therefore, in its final broadcast tonight on TNT, I I have the opportunity to address you the WCW fans.

I have an opportunity to address you the WCW superstars.

What is the fate of WCW?

Well, tonight, in a special simulcast, you'll all find out, because the fate of WCW, the very fate of WCW, is in my hands.

These were the abridged words that opened up the final episode of WCW Nitro on TNT, following

the news just days earlier that the then-WWF had acquired it wholesale. The shock of the story was still sinking in, and WWE knew that they had the entire wrestling

world waiting with bated breath for news of whatever was to become of the wrestling landscape

in the United States.

For McMahon personally, it was the end of a mission he'd set for himself in the 1980s.

A virtual monopolisation of American

wrestling that confirmed his company was once again the market leader.

WWE's sloganeering about being the recognised symbol of excellence didn't often stand up

to scrutiny, but now, more than ever, that didn't really matter. The biggest competitor simply didn't exist anymore.

I'm Andy from What Culture Wrestling, and this is WWE's purchase of WCW.

The Before.

World Championship Wrestling was set up to boom and bust in equal measure.

Ted Turner loved wrestling, and infamously loved the day he could tell

Vince McMahon he was now in wrestling. He kept network executives from pulling the plug on his

shows every single time they tried to get near to canceling it, which, because of the

unending paradox of its institutional failings, happened a lot to WCW between 1988 and 2001. Booking committees came

and went over the years in a fashion alien to McMahon's WWE. Wrestlers and ex-wrestlers

like Olli Anderson, Dusty Rhodes and Rick Flair were all bookers at various points, naturally

...