“It’s a Shame”: $60 Million Worth Wrestling Promoter Regrets Letting Vince McMahon Slide With Iconic $4 Million Purchase

Vince McMahon has often been hailed as a genius mind in the wrestling industry. He revolutionized pro-wrestling and the way it was percept. McMahon took WWF/WWE to new heights and made it a market leader.

However, in the late 1990s, it faced tough competition from WCW. Often known as the ‘Monday Night Wars’, it witnessed both WWE Raw and WCW Monday Nitro fighting each other in an all-out battle for the ratings. The rating war lasted from September 4, 1995, to March 26, 2001. WCW mostly dominated the war throughout. However, the latter half of it saw the tide shift towards WWE.

In a recent appearance on the Ariel Helwani show, current NWA President Billy Corgan opened up about his involvement during the WCW sale. He said, “I do look back and wish I’d gotten a little more involved in the WCW sale.”

Corgan admitted, “If you remember, I think the McMahons bought it for something like €4.02 million. I would have lost in any bidding war against the McMahons, of course, but I would have been very interested in that if it was for sale for that cheap.”

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He then stated that he never realized that it was for sale for so much less. The current NWA President stated that, although he had a lot of inside knowledge, he was still clueless as to whom to approach for buying the company. However, he said that he believed it was a crime that Vince McMahon never revived WCW.

Corgan continued, “Vince McMahon didn’t want it to happen or it would have happened. It’s a shame for people who were WCW fans because they never got to have that other moment. I do regret that because I was a fan of that product.”

What led to the fall of WCW and how did it end up with Vince McMahon?

WCW was at an all-out war with WWE during the late 1990s and early 2000s. WCW Monday Nitro went directly heads on with WWE Monday Night Raw, and the rating war was severe. Both the company had top talents and each of them was desperate to take their show to the top. While WCW mainly dominated the first half of the war. However, WWE rebranded itself into the ‘Attitude Era’ and soon the tide followed them.

Soon after, WWE started winning the rating war, and WCW started facing financial difficulties. Their money problems began because of their excessive hiring of talents in the mid-90s. Money being the root of their problem, Time Warner merged with America Online (AOL). And what followed was the final nail to the coffin of WCW. AOL Time Warner decided on selling WCW to Vince McMahon for a mere amount of million.

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