March 5, 2001 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: No Way Out review, WCW shake ups, more

The uncertainty of the future of WCW became more apparent this week as all long-term plans changed one more time stemming from record low ratings last week as well as the near collapse of the company sale.

After both Nitro and Thunder last week drew record low ratings (2.05 and 1.52 respectively), Eric Bischoff made the decision late in the week to significantly re-write the largely completed Nitro for 2/26 and bring back Booker T. This completely went against the long-term angle of having all the top babyface stars (Hulk Hogan, Bill Goldberg, T, Sting, Kevin Nash and possibly Diamond Dallas Page at one point) put on the shelf and to be brought back en masse for the new beginning when the storyline aspect of the new owners taking over takes place to try and get strong start-up momentum and turn the company around.

This all took place with the realistic backdrop of the sale of WCW to Fusient Media Ventures almost falling apart in mid-week when examination of the latest expenses and loss revealed a more severe downturn in the business than the prospective new owners were expecting as well as problems with the new ownership group from the TBS side. 

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