To even the most casual of wrestling fans, it was apparent that WCW was in dire straits. Lackluster storylines, multiple changes in creative directions, less than par production values and declining attendance and ratings all painted a sad picture.

Then came news that WCW was up for sale. As part of the merger between Time-Warner (which owns the WCW) and AOL, it was decided that the money-losing (to the tune of 80 million a year) promotion had to go. A number of buyers courted, amongst them Fusient Media, formed by former WCW Executive President Eric Bischoff. For a short time, it looked as if Fusient would be the new owners, but the deal fell through. Then on Friday, March 23rd, it was announced that the WCW had been sold. And its new owner was the last that anyone would have expected: rival promotion WWF.

While the news was indeed shocking, it wasn’t totally unexpected. When WCW first went up for sale, the WWF was rumored to have been interested in purchasing it, but backed off later. Apparently, once news that Fusient’s intended purchase fell through, the WWF moved quickly to purchase the rival organization; the idea of owning a near monopoly one too good to pass up.

Monday, March 26th was a landmark night in wrestling. The so-called “Monday Night Wars,” a battle for ratings between the two organizations, came to an end, the WWF and Vince McMahon the winner. The final edition of WCW Monday Nitro to air on TNT, the network that it had called home since it’s debut in 1995; incidentally it was the first edition of Nitro to air under the ownership of the WWF.

So what does this mean for wrestling fans? For one thing, a Pay-Per-View pitting WCW wrestlers against WWF wrestlers is no longer a dream. As a matter of fact, spokespeople for the WWF have stated that there will be crossovers between the two promotions. To prove their point, Vince McMahon appeared, along with Trish Stratus, Michael Cole, William Regal and Shane McMahon all appeared on the March 26th Nitro.

Another positive to come out of this deal is that WCW will gain the services of the WWF’s creative team. For the most part, the WWF’s storylines are consistent and entertaining. In addition, the WWF has a long history of taking young wrestlers and making them into superstars, and seeing as how WCW has an extensive roster of such talent, this can only be for the good.

For the WWF, they will gain access to the aforementioned talent roster, which includes some of the best wrestlers in the business, including Booker T, Scott Steiner, Hugh Morrus, Mike Sanders and Sting. It has been rumored for years that the WWF wishes to build a cruiserweight division, and through their purchase of WCW, they will have one of the greatest cruiserweight divisions in the world, one that boasts such talents as Billy Kidman, Rey Mysterio Jr., Shane Helms and Chavo Guerrero.

In addition to now owning WCW, it is expected that the WWF will absorb the remains of ECW, the only other competitor they had. Paul Heyman, the owner of ECW, has been doing color commentary on Raw is War over the past few weeks, and a number of ECW superstars have shown up on Raw. If this is the case, then Vince McMahon owns a near monopoly on North American wrestling. This is not good for the business. One of the major factors to wrestling’s explosion in the late 90’s was the competition that existed between the two promotions. For many years, the WWF constantly beat WCW in the ratings. Then in 1996, when WCW unveiled the mega popular “New World Order” angle, the picture changed and WCW ascended to ratings dominancy. In response, the WWF pushed “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock, who in time elevated the WWF back to dominancy. Now, without any competition, many fear that the quality of the product from both promotions will suffer.

As the ramifications of the purchase play out over the next few months, it will be a very interesting time to be a wrestling fan. The prospect of a WCW vs. WWF event is now a very real one, and may go a long ways to rejuvenating, if only temporarily, an industry in a decline. Whether or not the WWF’s acquisition of WCW will be a good thing in the long run remains to be seen.