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Posted By	Discussion Topic: WCW Deal dead; WWF interested in buying
TeenWeek what's a status?	posted on 03-16-2001 @ 7:29 AM
O&A Board Regular Registered: Oct. 00	An article taken from wrestling unleashed.com Within the past 48 hours, sources have now stated that Fusient is no longer in the running to purchase World Championship Wrestling. The deal appeared to have fallen through completely after the first few months of negotiations ran problems one after another. There was a final attempt to salvage the deal this week, but all indications are the reduced offer Fusient made compared to their January preliminary deal was not deemed adequate by Brad Siegel and AOL/Time Warner. There were a number of problems that resulted from the "due diligence" process of Fusient and its investment partners investigating WCW's books. Complications also arose during negotiations regarding liability of current and potential future lawsuits, and potential problems with the EEOC's concern over WCW classifying full-time wrestlers as "independent contractors" while treating them as full-fledged "employees." Fusient lost its major investment partner weeks ago in Warburg Pincus, who got cold feet upon examining WCW's financial status. At this time, no official announcement has been made by Fusient of time Warner. Some feel that the real information behind the deal may be being concealed to create the impression that the deal has fallen apart, in order to show those who now declare the deal dead with an "ill-informed announcement." The March 26th edition of Nitro is the final date on the books for WCW. There are said to be two other supposed serious offers on the table to purchase WCW now that Fusient appears to be out of the picture. These potential buyers are of course, the WWF and one other outside investor group. It's unknown whether a deal would involve the continuation of Nitro and whether it could be done in time to keep Nitro airing in April. At this time, no one could officially confirm that Vince McMahon is indeed interested in purchasing WCW. There is a strong possibility that WCW will be shut down rather than be sold. There are conflicting stories regarding whether Jamie Kellner, Siegel's new boss in charge of all of AOL/Time Warner television stations, is interested in backing pro wrestling. Many feel that Kellner has little tolerance for WCW, which isn't producing ratings far enough above average to justify its monthly losses. Kellner apparently does recognize the hit the USA Network took when it lost the WWF programming. The difference, though, is that the WWF was drawing more than twice USA's prime time average ratings on cable at the time the show left; WCW isn't drawing much above TNT's prime time average with Nitro. But with conflictiing reports concerning Kellner’s attitude toward WCW, it is hard to say how vital he is in keeping the company running. It appears that Nitro will not air for at least a few weeks in early April, and it's entirely possible that the March 26th may be the final broadcast of the program on TNT. The plan is to move Nitro to TBS if WCW continues to exist in some form after Mar. 30 (the long-reported drop-dead date). Sunday's show may also be the last WCW Pay-Per-View event ever. Some sources say that the WWF is interested in purchasing WCW for the sole sake of buying the rights to the name and trademarks of WCW and the contracts of its wrestlers to produce an inter-promotional feud, but without interest in running WCW as a full-time promotion on Turner networks. Instead, the WWF would absorb WCW perhaps in a similar fashion to how the nWo was part of WCW television a few years ago. If McMahon bought WCW without the intent of continuing to air WCW programs on Turner stations, he wouldn't run into a contractual conflict with Viacom, his television partner. Until Fusient or Time Warner publicly declares the deal officially over, the possibility exists that the two sides are testing each other’s limits until one side will give in to resurrect the deal. At this time people use the phrase "the deal is dead" to describe the current status of the Fusient purchase of WCW that was announced in January. Teens, making the world a better place to live in.

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