Can You Dig It Sucka?: A Collaborative WCW Timeline

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Summer & Fall 1998

Thanks to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, the World Wrestling Federation started regaining ground after being hammered in the ratings by WCW for 84 straight weeks.

January 8, 1999
Titan Tower
Stamford, CT

LINDA McMAHON: Vince?

VINNIE MAC: Yeah?

LINDA: Put on the news!

VINNIE MAC: Yes, dear.

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NEWS CONFERENCE
One CNN Center
Atlanta, GA

TED TURNER:
I will never forget the love and support that WCW has received in recent years. However, over the last few weeks, because of irreconcilable corporate differences, I have been forced by the TimeWarner shareholders to place WCW up for sale. Today, I have agreed in principle to sell World Championship Wrestling to...

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...for $4.5 billion USD. My only hope now, is that I can sleep better at night knowing I've left WCW in better hands. Once again, I'd like to thank the fans who tuned in every week, bought the T-shirts, the action figures, and unconditionally loved WCW in the past and present, and hopefully, will continue to do so in the future.

Thank you.

***APPLAUSE***

Back at Titan Tower...

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VINCE MCMAHON:
HOLY CRAP!!!​
 
This ought to be interesting. You did mention on American Magic how it might have been possible for WCW to be a successful, more family-friendly alternative to WWF. That's right up Disney's alley. The question is, how?
 
Does this give WCW access to a network time slot? I can’t imagine Disney/ABC giving over Monday nights on one of the big three to Wrestling when for almost a quarter of the year they have Monday Night Football, the regular ratings winner during that time frame.

Is WCW shuffled off to a different night on the network or does it camp on ESPN, ABC Family, or become the flagship of ESPN 2?
 
Does this give WCW access to a network time slot? I can’t imagine Disney/ABC giving over Monday nights on one of the big three to Wrestling when for almost a quarter of the year they have Monday Night Football, the regular ratings winner during that time frame.

Is WCW shuffled off to a different night on the network or does it camp on ESPN, ABC Family, or become the flagship of ESPN 2?

If WCW is switched to any other day but Monday, the war is lost by default. Being a sports show, I have little doubt that Nitro would go straight to ESPN. Maybe they'd put Thunder on ESPN 2 for the consistency.
 
Does this give WCW access to a network time slot? I can’t imagine Disney/ABC giving over Monday nights on one of the big three to Wrestling when for almost a quarter of the year they have Monday Night Football, the regular ratings winner during that time frame.

Is WCW shuffled off to a different night on the network or does it camp on ESPN, ABC Family, or become the flagship of ESPN 2?

ABC and ESPN could take turns with Nitro.

- Put Nitro on ESPN during football season.

- Nitro on ABC from January thru July.

Or...

TGIF was starting to go downhill on ABC by the late 90s, so maybe WCW takes over on Friday nights.

Or...

When Disney takes over Fox Family and renames it ABC Family, that could be another ideal home.

If WCW is switched to any other day but Monday, the war is lost by default. Being a sports show, I have little doubt that Nitro would go straight to ESPN. Maybe they'd put Thunder on ESPN 2 for the consistency.

If Nitro does go to ESPN to keep from clashing with Monday Night Football, you pretty much give Vince McMahon no chance in hell to beat Disney's TV tag team.

This TL is a collaborative one, so the direction that Disney takes with WCW from this point forward is up to you guys.

The question now becomes if Eric Bischoff should stay or should he get the boot.
 
11th January, 1999:
Disney's lawyers and accountants start going over the numbers of WCW's finances. While not touching the creative side yet, Disney's employees soon take stock of what they have in terms of profits and losses and begin to act accordingly, looking at the contracts of WCW's wrestlers and seeing who would be cheaper to buy out. They also start to choose from several candidates as to who can run the company and put in a proper power structure to fix the current chaotic situation.
 
ABC and ESPN could take turns with Nitro.

- Put Nitro on ESPN during football season.

- Nitro on ABC from January thru July.

Or...

TGIF was starting to go downhill on ABC by the late 90s, so maybe WCW takes over on Friday nights.

Or...

When Disney takes over Fox Family and renames it ABC Family, that could be another ideal home.



If Nitro does go to ESPN to keep from clashing with Monday Night Football, you pretty much give Vince McMahon no chance in hell to beat Disney's TV tag team.

This TL is a collaborative one, so the direction that Disney takes with WCW from this point forward is up to you guys.

The question now becomes if Eric Bischoff should stay or should he get the boot.

Oh, Eric should stay. He's done everything right so far. But there are things that Disney needs to do quickly in order to save WCW.

1:Fire Vince Russo

2: Either release all the oldies or push them to a limited role and start pushing the younger and lighter stars with some dignity.

and finally 3: They have to find a way to convince people that the less edgy, less violent, more family-friendly product is better than the Attitude Era in WWF.
 
Ooh very interesting.

The level of direct Disney involvement could be contentious. Many in WCW would remember the infamous Jim Hurd regime, when a Pizza Hut executive was given control of the promotion and nearly drove it into the ground. Playing smart and banking on Eric's charms I doubt Disney would simply parachute one of their guys in but I really don't know their business style.

Russo would go, he's too erratic and at his worst creatively. A phone call wouldn't be long coming after a couple of Russo's supercharged storylines.

Would Disney do an Arquette to promote a film?

One thing I would hope is for a Disney production team to totally rehaul the look and production values of WCW. For a promotion with so much money, it looked incredibly cheap and poorly presented with most of the money presumably going on pyro. Say what you like but WCW really liked pyro.

Hogan and Co. is interesting. Disney will know his value and Hogan will know the possible opportunities the new owners present. So you may have Hogan mellowing out into a less dominant elder statesman figure, while doing various Disney side-projects. The likes of Flair and Sting are safe and happy to provide that senior role. I think Hall will fall off the wagon and get released, and Nash will survive as Bischoff's right hand man until he does something stupid. Luger is done. Scott Steiner might be too strange for Disney!

Disney's more corporate approach my have unexpected boons, with the likes of Booker T and Hispanic cruiserweights being promoted to appeal to minority audiences, while also presenting a different wrestling style.

I think Disney may want a cleaner product but they can't ignore the Attitude Era. I think you'd have a cleaner product in terms of violence but still a grungey tone, perhaps more ECW guys follow Raven. RVD if he quits the weed references seems perfect for Disney WCW's cruiserweights, a likeable American babyface for a predominantly Hispanic division but also capable of 'moving up' to heavyweights storylines.
 
Ooh very interesting.

The level of direct Disney involvement could be contentious. Many in WCW would remember the infamous Jim Hurd regime, when a Pizza Hut executive was given control of the promotion and nearly drove it into the ground. Playing smart and banking on Eric's charms I doubt Disney would simply parachute one of their guys in but I really don't know their business style.

Russo would go, he's too erratic and at his worst creatively. A phone call wouldn't be long coming after a couple of Russo's supercharged storylines.

Would Disney do an Arquette to promote a film?

One thing I would hope is for a Disney production team to totally rehaul the look and production values of WCW. For a promotion with so much money, it looked incredibly cheap and poorly presented with most of the money presumably going on pyro. Say what you like but WCW really liked pyro.

Hogan and Co. is interesting. Disney will know his value and Hogan will know the possible opportunities the new owners present. So you may have Hogan mellowing out into a less dominant elder statesman figure, while doing various Disney side-projects. The likes of Flair and Sting are safe and happy to provide that senior role. I think Hall will fall off the wagon and get released, and Nash will survive as Bischoff's right hand man until he does something stupid. Luger is done. Scott Steiner might be too strange for Disney!

Disney's more corporate approach my have unexpected boons, with the likes of Booker T and Hispanic cruiserweights being promoted to appeal to minority audiences, while also presenting a different wrestling style.

I think Disney may want a cleaner product but they can't ignore the Attitude Era. I think you'd have a cleaner product in terms of violence but still a grungey tone, perhaps more ECW guys follow Raven. RVD if he quits the weed references seems perfect for Disney WCW's cruiserweights, a likeable American babyface for a predominantly Hispanic division but also capable of 'moving up' to heavyweights storylines.

If David Arquette does do a wrestling movie, it'll more likely be with the WWF or wherever Vince Russo goes to.

I'm sure the guys and girls at Imagineering can help with the stage and ring design.

What would be the best way to keep the Hulkster from running wild backstage once the Disney era of WCW begins?
 
If David Arquette does do a wrestling movie, it'll more likely be with the WWF or wherever Vince Russo goes to.

I'm sure the guys and girls at Imagineering can help with the stage and ring design.

What would be the best way to keep the Hulkster from running wild backstage once the Disney era of WCW begins?

I'm not sure if there IS a way, TBH. No offence to Hulk, but he has this unfortunate tendency to kill everything he takes hold of for the sake of his own ego, and his friends' too. Remember Wrestlemania IX? Mr Nanny? The screwing of Bret Hart because Hogan acted like a spoiled brat over wanting to promote the said movie? I'm sorry to have to say this, but if Disney tried to push the other oldies into the background more with Hulk around, he'd threaten to walk out and ''destroy their star power.'' the Only way to stop hulk is either A: Release him from his contract or B: Force him into early retirement. It may be sleazy, but they're the only solutions as far as I can see.

Speaking of the ring, maybe to distinguish themselves from The F, Disney might want to consider this little number

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