OO: Online Onslaught Special Features (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Steve Austin, RVD, Undertaker, Triple H)

2001 YEAR IN REVIEW
March: He Who Laughs Last...
January 15, 2002

by Rick Scaia
OnlineOnslaught.com

There were times in the mid-90s when it looked like Vince McMahon would merely be lucky to SURVIVE the onslaught of competition being provided by WCW. But by March, 2001, WCW was the company in trouble. A LOT of trouble. Trouble that would end with WCW being sold to Vince McMahon, allowing the WWF owner to claim the most complete possibly victory over his foe.

But the month didn't start out that way. As March started, Fusient Media was still slated to take over WCW sometime before the end of the month. Roadblocks had popped up over the previous month, but nobody suspected it'd be enough to prevent the deal from going through... until mid-March, that is. With attempts to reschedule April shows suspended, and with key Fusient and Time Warner/AOL personnel on vacation, questions began to pile up about just how solid the ground upon which the Fusient/WCW was. Word had even leaked out that as Fusient became familiar with WCW operations and financials, they dramatically revised their purchase offer downward, to the point where Time Warner/AOL viewed the offer as unacceptable. Still, many within WCW maintained a fairly positive outlook, despite the increasingly bleak outlook.

Many STAYED positive even when things took a total turn for the worst on March 19. On that day, an announcement was made that after March 26 live Nitro, WCW programming would no longer have a home on TNT or TBS, regardless of new ownership. Previously, WCW was going to retain its prime time slots on the Turner networks. Concurrent with that announcement was an announcement that WCW was suspending operations following the 3/26 Nitro, and that a big meeting would be held at WCW HQ on 3/28 to address the future.

Part of the reason for lingering confidence was the fact that Eric Bischoff appeared live on Nitro on 3/19, despite word that Fusient was officially out of the running to take over the company. He promised to take part in an incredible "Season Finale/Night of Champions" on 3/26's farewell Nitro. Some figured it was a goodwill gesture, and that Fusient's offer would eventually come up just enough that TW/AOL would willingly accept before the shutdown date. Still others thought it was a sign that the whole Fusient/WCW drama was nothing but a work, and that Bischoff appeared to jumpstart storylines before a Fusient-owned WCW jumped from the Turner networks to FOX.

But neither of those scenarios came even close to playing out. Fusient really was out of the running, and by all accounts, the WWF had leapt back to the frontrunner position. With the loss of timeslots on TNT and TBS, the Fed would no longer be taking over a company that would be required to produce content for the rivals of its partners at Viacom, which had been a major stumbling block the first time the WWF tried to buy WCW. By Thursday, 3/22, Vince McMahon had appeared on the Howard Stern show, saying that the WWF would "in all likelihood" be purchasing WCW, and running it as a separate promotion.

A press release over the weekend confirmed the purchase of WCW by WWFE, Inc., and suggested that "cross-promotional" storylines could start as soon as the 3/26 editions of RAW and Nitro. And surely enough, that's exactly what happened. The year's most memorable night saw cross-over segments between both shows, including a 15 minute simulcast in which Shane McMahon appeared in the WCW ring to steal the company out from under his dad's nose. The last image ever on WCW Nitro on a Turner owned network was a commercial for WrestleMania X-7, solidly establishing Vince McMahon as the winner of the Monday Night Wrestling War.

The month's other big story was Paul Heyman's ascent to a position of importance in the WWF. The first Monday of March saw Heyman appear as Jerry Lawler's replacement as the Fed's #1 color commentator... but more importantly, it also saw Heyman begin his role as a contributor to the WWF's creative team. His first week on the job was marked by a memorably edgy Vince McMahon/Trish Stratus confrontation.

Though Heyman's emergence was important to the WWF, it also tolled the death bell for ECW. Heyman had appeared on RAW wearing an ECW hat and promoting the Extreme product, so some hardcore fans had hoped that his newfound WWF clout would somehow save ECW's planned March PPV. But at the last second, the PPV timeslot reserved by ECW was surrendered, and movies aired in its place. After that, no one held out any real hope that ECW could be resuscitated.

Other News

Hulk Hogan was quoted by the NY Daily News as saying that if he returned to pro wrestling, it would NOT be with the new Fusient-owned WCW... later in the month, rumors began circulation that he was interested in getting involved with a new national wrestling company...

WWF: The Music Volume 5 debuted at #2 on the Billboard album charts, knocking the Beatles down to #3 for the week...

When abysmal numbers for February's PPV were revealed, a planned follow-up PPV for the Women of Wrestling was called off; the weekly syndicated show ceased production and went into reruns in the handful of markets that remained airing the show...

TheOnion.com wins the OO Best Wrestling Parody of 2001 award for a front-page story about X-SPAN, Vince McMahon's new "extreme" rival network to C-SPAN...

Buff Bagwell, vocal about being upset with WCW management, nevertheless decided to extend his existing deal by a few months to make it through the transitionary period...

The Harris Brothers were among those shaved from the WCW roster during this transition period...

Scotty 2 Hotty suffered a "broken ankle" at the hands of Kurt Angle as a way to explain his absence from TV while he tended to a very real injured neck; it was the first phase of adding a hard edge to the previously-goofy Angle persona...

Despite being dead in the water, ECW continued to produce licensed spin-off products in 2001, including March's "Anarchy Rocks," the second compilation rock album released with ECW's seal of approval...

The ECW infusion continued in the WWF, as Rhyno (allied with Edge and Christian) and Spike Dudley (allied with his half-brothers) both debuted on a big RAW as part of a double tag team title change...

Tough Enough began taping, and almost immediately, Tazz was earning a reptuation as a hard-ass...

Vince McMahon appeared on "On the Record" with Bob Costas, and wasted no time in getting into a heated debate about the content of WWF TV; both guys, normally among my favorites at what they do, came off looking very bad: Vince was an insecure and confrontatonal blowhard, and Costas was a smug but clueless elitist...

Quotable OO

"That's probably enough spank-tastic material to satisfy the needs of thousands of needy 12-15 year-olds, and it'll have to be secreted away to a vault somewhere at Titan Towers..." -- OO on the just-completed "Lost Divas Photo Shoot" featuring the just-fired Stacey "the Kat" Carter, 03/02/01

"Has anyone else noticed Paul Heyman's fingerprints on Benoit lately? The Crippler is back to rubbing his hands together in an evil fashion at
every turn..." -- OO picks up on the return of an old affectation displayed by Chris Benoit in ECW, circa 1995, 03/14/01

"Even if the Fusient deal is as "dead" as others are reporting (a term that I feel is too strong at this point) -- there will be other suitors. For example, the WWF would re-emerge as a prospective buyer if WCW were forced to sell at a bargain price." -- OO manages to look retarded and prophetic, all at once, 03/16/01

"If this winds up being WCW's swan song on PPV, they could have done a whole lot worse for themselves... but if they're back again in May, then it's a show that can (and should) be built and improved upon." -- OO issues a generally positive review for WCW's last PPV ever, Greed, 03/18/01

"In front of a small, non-paying Spring Break crowd, WCW will produce it's final Nitro just three years after they were on top of the wrestling world, performing in front of huge crowds and doing huge cable ratings." -- OO on how far WCW had fallen since the glory days of 1997-98, 03/21/01

"Hey, did you see The Rick on ESPN2 last night? For about 11 nanoseconds, I was visible standing in a ticket line during the pre-game of last night's Dayton/Detroit contest... considering how quickly things went downhill for the Flyers, it may well count as the highlight of the broadcast." -- OO on The Rick's national cable TV debut, 03/22/01

"Alright, and I guess to be totally fair, I guess I'll also point out that -- like last year -- WM will this year feature Bull Buchanan in the night's lone 'Match That Nobody Gives a Rat's Ass About.' Tough break for Bull, surfacing in that prestigious position two year's running, now..." -- OO on Bull Buchanan's back-to-back meaningly WrestleMania appearances, 03/30/01

PPVs

WCW Greed (03/18/01) -- Scott Steiner concluded the final WCW PPV ever by turning back the challenge of Dallas Page and retaining the WCW Title. Scott's brother Rick was not so lucky, losing the US Title to Booker T in the night's second biggest match. Other match results: Jason Jett beat Kwee Wee... Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo upset Billy Kidman and Rey Misterio Jr. to become the first WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions... Shawn Stasiak beat Bam Bam Bigelow... Mike Awesome and Lance Storm defeated Konnan and Hugh Morrus... Shane Helms beat Chavo Guerrero Jr. to win the Cruiserweight Title... Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo absolutely squashed Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell to retain the WCW Tag Titles... "The Cat" Ernest Miller beat Chris Kanyon... and Dusty and Dustin Rhodes teamed up to defeat Ric Flair and Jeff Jarrett when Dustin pinned Flair.

Title Changes

Crash Holly defeated Dean Malenko to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Title (3/13/01)... Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo won the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Titles by beating Rey Misterio Jr. and Billy Kidman in a tourney final (3/18/01)... Shane Helms defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title (3/18/01)... Booker T defeated Rick Steiner to win the WCW US Title (3/18/01)... Edge and Christian defeated the Hardy Boyz to win the WWF Tag Team Titles (3/19/01)... the Dudley Boyz then defeated Edge and Christian to take the tag titles (also 3/19/01)... Rey Misterio Jr. and Billy Kidman beat Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo to take the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles (3/26/01)... Booker T defeated Scott Steiner to win the WCW World Title (3/26/01)...