WWF Buys WCW, Flair Writing a Book, and More

Well, I guess it's about time for me to comment on the sale of WCW to WWF and how this will affect the future of our favorite wrestler, "The Nature Boy." I will start off by saying that I was in total shock when the sale came about. Earlier that week, I had still believed that Fuscient Media Ventures would purchase the company. Then word came out that TBS and TNT would no longer carry wrestling as a part of their network programming. That shocked a lot of people, including Ric Flair. In the "Charlotte Observer," Ric was quoted as saying the following: "It's unbelievable. I always thought it would be part of TBS." WCW was without a TV deal and as a result, Fuscient Media Ventures pulled out and announced that they would no longer purchase the company. Three days later, an official announcement was made that WWFE would purchase WCW. As a long-time fan of WCW, this saddened me, because now the war truly was over and Vince McMahon stood tall as the victor. I watched as the last WCW Monday Nitro aired on TNT and when Vince McMahon opened the show, it really sank in with a note of finality. I watched the last interview that Ric would ever give on Nitro and I watched the last Flair vs. Sting match that would ever air on a Turner network. It was a very emotional night for me. And the embrace by Flair and Sting at the end of their last match... You could see how saddened they both were when they realized that "the dance" was over... Now, I guess it's time to look toward the future. WCW is not really the same WCW anymore, but now the WWF's version of that company. The angle being run involves Shane McMahon running the new WCW in order to compete with his father's WWF. Obviously, even though the companies will be kept separate for the time being, they are all under the same banner of WWFE, and with ECW now defunct, there is NO competition for Vince anymore. He has a wrestling empire, or more accurately a monopoly. How will this affect the wrestlers? Well, without a major company as competition, the wrestlers have no choice of who to work for in the big time and no bargaining power when negotiating contracts. Without competition on the air every Monday night, Vince does not have to worry so much about the quality of his shows because the fans do not have a choice of which show to watch. Hopefully, the quality of the shows won't suffer. On the upside, if everything is done right, there are now endless possibilities for storylines and inter-promotional feuds as well as cross-branding. Of course, what we all want to know is, "What will happen to Ric Flair?" From everything I've heard and from everything I've been told, Vince McMahon is very high on "The Nature Boy." I would expect him to have a prominent role in either WWF or the new WCW. He stated on a local radio show, though, that if he and Arn Anderson do not end up in WWF (or the new WCW), they may start up a regional promotion of their own out of Charlotte. That could be interesting... In other Flair news, Ric is currently writing a book which should be finished in June. I can't wait to read THAT book! Well, I will try to update this site more often... When I get any definite news concerning Ric's status in the sport, I will post an update.