I remember being 15 years old and being uber-excited that World Championship Wrestling, after a few years of being on the decline, was about to be purchased by Fusient Media Ventures.
It was the talk of the internet and by all WCW fans. Time Warner, who had owned the promotion since 1988 when it was bought from Jim Crockett Promotions, had been looking to sell for quite some time. Rumors had been swirling throughout 2000, from production company SFX and Mandalay Sports Entertainment to the World Wrestling Federation, that a sale was imminent. Yet, nothing came through.
However, on January 11, 2001, on the same day America Online and Time Warner prepared to merge both companies into the biggest conglomerate of all time, a conference call was set-up. WCW was to be sold to Fusient, a venture capital company founded by Brian Bedol and Stephen Greenberg.
WCW was to remain on the Turner networks TNT and TBS, as well as Time Warner still owning a percentage of the company. However, Bedol was to be CEO and the great Eric Bischoff was to return as President.
Excitement was high. Finally, a new vision was to take place in WCW. A few months of restructuring, the company would then go dark for several weeks, returning with a pay-per-view that would have set up a “big bang” and set along the NEW WCW.
Hell of a website domain. I wish I could have gotten it.
Wait…
Regardless, there was an air of hope. Mr. Bischoff even took to Wrestling Observer Live on Eyada the day following the conference call and spoke of plans for the Fusient era of WCW.
To this day, I will always have so many “What If’s” as it comes to the possibilities of a Fusient Media Ventures owned World Championship Wrestling. Could it have survived? Who would have been in it? Could WCW have become #1 once again?
Needless to say, 25 Years (and 2 Days) Ago, there was at least a semblance of hope.
Jon Harder
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