Former WCW referee reveals his first meeting with Vince McMahon on 'Black Saturday'

Former WCW and WWE referee Nick Patrick recalled his first encounter with Vince McMahon on an episode of JBL and Gerald Brisco's podcast series, Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw.

Nick Patrick discusses the day at Panama City WWE shows up unannounced to the talent and tell them the war is over and they have bought WCW. Nick joins Stories with @Fgbrisco and Bradshaw. Whole show here https://t.co/W0ZIYlNd3J and podcast https://t.co/qGaUCoQlL0 -subscribe now pic.twitter.com/dxMJ2fLuol

— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) July 7, 2021

Patrick described how he was present when Vince McMahon bought the controlling stakes at Georgia Championship Wrestling. That day would later be dubbed 'Black Saturday':

“None of the boys knew anything. I don’t know what Ole [Anderson], [Jim] Barnett, and those guys knew. But they didn’t let on to any of the guys. [It] was like a normal business day, only they weren’t there. What I used to do when I got there. I used to go stand in the control room and I would listen to the director. I’m in the control room listening to the [director] and Vince McMahon was sitting there. And I didn’t know who he was. I had no clue. I had never seen him. I had heard of Vince Sr., but I had never heard of him. But I saw him, and I didn’t even introduce myself. I had no idea who he was. I thought he was a Turner executive or something and I didn’t want to bother him," Patrick said.

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Patrick on Vince McMahon acquiring WCW

Vince McMahon's purchase of WCW marked the end of an 18-year rivalry popularly known as the 'Monday Night Wars.' He acquired the WCW brand, tape library, trademarks and some contracts of talent and personnel for a total of $2.5 million.

.@shanemcmahon describes the evening he told the #WCW roster that WWE had purchased the once-mighty empire.#TableFor3 @WWENetwork pic.twitter.com/ROyrKks1Vh

— WWE (@WWE) November 12, 2019

Prior to the official announcement of the purchase, none of the WCW talent were informed about the purchase. Nick Patrick recalled how they had asked management at a house show before but would be blatantly lied to:

“The very night before we did a house show somewhere and the rumor was out. And we point blank asked, and they said, 'Absolutely not.' It’s all rumor, it’s all innuendo. Then all of a sudden here comes Jerry [Lawler] and Shane-O walking up. Well, actually, they were already there and had control of the truck and had the compound set up to where they could start talking to people. So when we showed up there it was like ‘Okay, so they bullsh*tted us.’ [Laughs]"

Which side were you on during the Monday night wars? Had Vince McMahon not purchased WCW, how different would things have been? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Quote - H/T (Wrestling Inc)