While we’re in a reminiscing sort of mood…When WWE purchased WCW

[KYR]

Back in March 2001, WWF Entertainment purchased WCW from AOL Time Warner for $7 million (reportedly).

So on reflection and nearly seven years (is it THAT long ago already), was this money well-spent or a complete waste of time?

When you think about the talent that was taken up, the talent that was cut loose, the elimination of your main opposition, the acquisition of film libraries (and subsequent royalties from DVD releases etc), the merchandising, I would think that $7 million is cheap. A year earlier, Vince listed his company offering 10 million shares at $17 each, so $7 million only represented about 4% of the total value of WWFE – not a huge risk.

But, did Vince buy too early? Potentially if he waited a bit longer he may have picked it all up a lot cheaper – but then again, would there have been the same fan impact of seeing WWE on WCW and the same level of interest in the product if Vince had’ve waited until WCW collapsed entirely and purchased the remnants in a fire sale.

In hindsight, it’s probably hard to argue against the timing.

So, 7 years down the track…Good Investment or Waste of Money?

[Jeritron]

Well they had them beaten, for the time being and forseeable future as it was. But, by eliminating the only compettitor they had, with serious financial backing, the move may have been invaluable. This is the biggest gain of the move.

As for the aquisiton of the tape libraries, and the rights to things like the nWo and The Four Horsemen and title belts and what not they have also made out well I'd assume.

[The MAC]

ya, vince buying wcw immediatly was well worth it for him.He can now make dvds using all the footage he owns.

[Funky Fly]

Well, they picked up a few key contracts, though they squandered a hell of a lot of them. They got the library (big deal right there) and beat out anyone else who could have potentially rebuilt WCW (as unlikely as that was) from bursting onto the scene with an established name.

Imagine if Dixie Carter and company had made the purchase. They'd probably have had a slightly easier time with drawing fans and securing a tv deal with an already established brand (and a few big name guys) than with their (at the time) no name brand.

Smart move by Vince overall.

[Outsider]

From the WWE's point of view, it was an easy choice. The money they will have made in selling nWo shirts alone has probably paid for the entire company! They could of made a shed load fucking more if the management team had two fucking braincells to rub together, but hey.

From the fans point of view it was a disaster though :(

[Kane Knight]

I'd imagine it was a marginal success.

[thedamndest]

Have to agree that though the angle sucked, the money was easily made up in merchandising.

[Jeritron]

Didn't the Invasion PPV have a huge buyrate. I mean, off the bat they probably covered a lot of that investment.

From a financial standpoint, if they hadn't made up for their investments by the end of the invasion angle then they certainly did by the time they used nWo.
From a business and compettitive standpoint, they got their moneys worth the second McMahon signed the papers.

WCW had hit rock bottom, and they were a mess, but I think if they still had TV time and Turners backing they would have came back.

[James Steele]

They had no more TV. That is why Bischoff and co. didn't buy WCW.

[Londoner]

Froma financial point of view for Vince, it was a good idea.

For the fans, it sucked.