What if WWE never bought WCW?

#1 WCW lives on

WCW may have continued, if on a much smaller scale, had WWE not absorbed the brand

Had Eric Bischoff succeeded in buying WCW, or had another outside party done so, it’s impossible to know if the company would have survived. Bischoff, for one, cited Turner not offering television as part of the package as a deal breaker.

Had he re-conceptualized the product to something more like TNA’s early weekly PPV format, or focusing more on house shows and home video, there were ways in which WCW could have carried forward. If it were to have survived up to the modern Internet era, there’s little reason to think it couldn’t have cashed in on its name recognition from decades before, and at least delivered at the level that promotions like New Japan, Ring of Honor, or Lucha Underground are functioning at today.

Of course, critics will say that a step that far back wouldn’t really be WCW anymore, but relative to now being a nostalgia brand that WWE trots out elements of now and again, and exploits via its Network, the company could still be its own entity operating today.