WWE history: Vince McMahon wishes WCW was still around in a rare interview

Vince buys WCW
Vince buys WCW

The backstory

March 26th, 2001.

A grinning Vince McMahon welcomed the fans to Monday Night Raw and shocked the wrestling world by announcing that he had bought the company that almost put him out of business in the late 90s, WCW.

The Raw-Nitro simulcast ended with Shane McMahon revealing that he is the owner of WCW, in one of the most shocking moments in WWE history. After around 6 years of going head to head in the rating war, WCW's ship had sunk and Vince McMahon had emerged victorious. Mere days after the purchase, WWE would go on to produce WrestleMania 17, regarded by most as being the greatest WrestleMania of all time. The event saw Stone Cold Steve Austin turn heel and join forces with Vince McMahon, marking the end of the infamous Attitude Era.

Also read: Undertaker almost breaks character over Stone Cold's hilarious antics

The interview

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A 2004 interview with Vince McMahon has resurfaced online. The 45-minute talk sees Vince opening up on a variety of wrestling topics, but none come close to his opinion on WCW.

Vince stated in the interview that he wishes WCW was still around. You can watch Vince speaking about WCW in the above video, beginning at the 31:20 mark. In addition to wanting WCW to be around, Vince agreed on the fact that it's difficult for him to manage two separate rosters.

Also, Vince said that it would be incredibly hard for Ted Turner to get back into the business if he wants to, as the startup costs are extraordinary.

The aftermath

Around 15 years after this interview, All Elite Wrestling has come into the picture. The promotion is backed by a billionaire named Tony Khan and features a string of world-class Superstars like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, and Kenny Omega.

The arrival of the promotion has led to many fans believing that this is the resurgence of the Attitude Era when companies used to be on their toes all the time in order to produce better content than the competition.

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