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 One year ago, Eric Bischoff and Fusient Media Ventures failed to purchase the ailing WCW. One year ago, Vince McMahon and the WWFE rushed in and purchased it instead. One year ago the legacy that began with Georgia Championship Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance was gobbled up by Wrestling's largest company. WCW had finally lost the Monday Night Wars for all time, and worse, lost its corportate identity to its bitter rival. For some, this was a dream come true...for others, a nightmare. One year later, the WWF has no real competition. It owns what was WCW. It owns what was ECW. At long last, Vince McMahon virtually owns pro wrestling itself. The WWF has no real rivals left. the current NWA is regional only, and the XWF has failed to set the world on fire. No company currently has the needed capital to fill the void left by the demise of the #2 and #3 federations in the business, giving McMahon what amounts to a monopolistic hold on the industry. The mainstream popularity of Pro Wrestling essentially peaked in 1998, and its been downhill ever since. The down trend shows no real sign of abatement as yet, and the WWF has been lackluster for months now. The WCW/ECW invasion angle was a complete failure...probably ending any possibility of the WWF developing the WCW brand as a seperate identity. Of course, the angle was crippled early on when the WWF failed to lure several of WCW's big guns out of the remainder of their Time-Warner contracts. Bill Goldberg continues to make money off his old WCW deal, and seems perfectly content to sit at home and collect the paychecks. Sting's contract ended in January to my knowledge, but he dislikes the smut factor of the WWF product, and annouced his retirement last month. Scott Steiner is still saddled with back and leg problems, and may never be healthy enough to compete again. And while the WWF has recently managed to sign Ric Flair, and also Hogan, Hall, and Nash, their signings came much to late to save the invasion angle. I had some remaining high hopes concerning the latter trio, but thus far the nWo have made little impact in the WWF, offering nothing new, and nothing cool. The lastest news revolves around the fact that the WWF will split into two TV factions, one led by Flair, the other by McMahon. However...to my knowledge, the WCW name will enter into neither of the equations. A few workers from ECW and WCW have done well in the WWF. Most noteable among them would be Rob Van Dam, who is very much over with the crowd, and will battle for the intercontenental title at Wrestlemania. Booker T has also done well for himself also, making a smooth transition the WWF style, and also turning heel in the process. Last, but not least, is Chris Jericho, who bolted from WCW long before the house came tumbling down. Jericho currently stands as the Undisputed WWF champion, carrying both the WWF and WCW title belts. He is slated to face Triple H at Wrestlemania. Still...things are not the same. I, and many others, truly miss WCW, and I have lost a lot of interest in pro-wrestling as a whole over the past couple of years. WCW was certainly hard to watch at times before its downfall, and now with the Stinger retired, I have even less reason to tune in. I tuly hope that someone steps up and manages to infuse another fed with enough money to truly make it a force able to compete with the WWF. Perhaps such an even would coax Sting back into the ring for one final run. He's left the door open for such a possibility, however unlikely. Still, I must state that I highly respect Sting for sticking to his principles and NOT signing with the WWF. If he does indeed remain retired, he will truly have earned the title of "The Franchise", for he will be the only WCW star to ever remain with that fed from start to finish, never having signed with another organization. I think that's something to be proud of. Anyway, before I get too far off the point... one year ago WCW breathed its last. The months between now and then were filled with both pain and promise. Unfortunately most of the promise was broken, and the future doesn't look to bright where Pro Wrestling is concerned. Open your arms wide fans...mediocrity beckons. ...Corvus
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