Unpopular Opinion: WCW should never have gone out of business

In 2001, WCW sank like a stone and wound up selling to its main competition, WWE, at a bargain rate. WCW struggled based on business considerations, including a convoluted bureaucratic structure in which many of the powers that be presiding over the company don’t seem to have really wanted for it to succeed.

Moreover, the company struggled with creative issues, suffering due to a shock TV format highlighted by nonsensical heel turns, celebrity involvement that hurt the integrity of the business, and unsatisfying conclusions to storyline after storyline.

A less popular take on WCW and its legacy: the company never should have gone out of business.

For all of its struggles, WCW did offer an alternative to WWE and under a different situation of ownership, management, and booking, could have had a different, more vital place in wrestling for a longer period of time, and maybe right up to this day.

WCW introduced mainstream American wrestling fans to Cruiserweights and international stars. It’s a company that had a historical foundation in the National Wrestling Alliance and champions like Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, and Ric Flair. Its lineage included Four Horsemen, and WCW launched the New World Order.

No, WCW wasn’t perfect, from its behind the scenes corporate drama to its questionable creative to not being able to successfully blow off major storylines in the ring. But had the company survived as its own entity, independent of WWE, it might have innovated even more and continued to push the boundaries for WWE as its competitor.

While it’s fun to poke fun at the problems WCW had, it’s tough to deny that the wrestling world would be better off if it were still active.