by Bob Morris

It is finally official…WCW has been sold, and the Turner/Time Warner era for the company is over.

Certainly, getting WCW away from that huge corporate structure was a good thing, as it will get rid of all that red tape and the various higher-ups that kept the wrestling company from ever having a true boss who had the final say in everything.

Now the question is this: Is the new Fusient Media Ventures, with Eric Bischoff in charge of the creative direction of the company, the solution to WCW's problems?

That all depends on which Eric Bischoff we get.

Bischoff certainly ranks as one of those WCW presidents who was in charge during bad times for the company. 1993 was a disasterous year, the signing of Hulk Hogan initially did nothing for the company, and after the nW o had ran its course, foolish decision after foolish decision led to WCW falling fast.

On the other hand, Bischoff is the only man who ever got WCW to actually become the most-watched wrestling organization, albeit a brief period of time, and came up with some good ideas, such as the concept for Nitro, that allowed WCW to become more competitive with the company. And it wasn't just by Bischoff signing away WWF talent and spending money…those two things only worked out if they were done correctly.

So, if WCW is to become successful again, Bischoff will need to do more than spend money and sign away talent…he'll need to do it wisely, so that the company prospers as a result, instead of just spinning on its wheels. However, there will be more to it than that to make WCW successful.

It would be wise for WCW to steer away from the "sports entertainment" concept and establish itself as an alternative product. Emphasis on the wrestling, rather than the entertainment side, will mean WCW doesn't look like a WWF wannabe company, but is actually trying to carve its own image. It may take more time to make WCW successful, but in the long run, it's been proven that it's the wrestling that keeps the fan tuned in, while the entertainment aspect wears off eventually. Remember, when WWF slumped, what kept that certain fanbase coming in was people like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels working their asses off in the ring, and not sports entertainment garbage like the Lex Express and Undertaker vs. Underfaker.

WCW would also be wise not to simply stick with the established stars, even for a short-term period, and immediately concentrate on building for the future. Established stars can still have a place in the company, but they should be there to help bring the younger wrestlers up to the next level, and do it in a way that means something. In other words, it's time for those guys to do some clean jobs…not "jobbing out," but being willing to take a loss at some point during whatever storyline comes along. If WCW tries to build solely around the established stars, it's not going to change anybody's perception of WCW, and the fans won't tune in.

Bischoff also must remember that one of the things that contributed to his downfall was all those creative control clauses in the guaranteed money contracts coming back to haunt him. No longer can WCW allow wrestlers to have control over their matches. Bischoff must assert himself as THE BOSS of WCW and declare that he has the final say in anything. Wrestlers who are active and on the booking committee should preferably be kept off that committee and leave it to those who aren't actively wrestling. And WCW can especially not afford situations like what happened between Diamond Dallas Page and Scott Steiner, because situations like that will divide the locker room. WCW must have a united locker room, and everyone willing to work together, in order for things to work.

I also agree with those who say that Bischoff should stay off camera, and WCW should not trumpet the ownership change as a major storyline. It's fine to make some brief mentions about changes that are coming up on the show, but it should be kept to brief mentions, just like when they announce a time change for either Nitro or Thunder in a particular week. The company's storylines, however, should focus on the wrestlers, not the ownership. Vince McMahon may have been able to make things work by revealing he was the owner of the WWF, but now that it's been done, it won't work again, especially not for WCW having trumpeted changes in direction two times, each time when Vince Russo came in.

Speaking of Russo, if the man wants to come back to work, he's going to have to compromise on some of his beliefs, or he won't have a future with the company. As for other guys, Hulk Hogan may very well be back, but he will also need to compromise if he is to effectively contribute…in particular, he can't be made the World champ again, because that will just signal to the fans that they are getting the same old stuff again. Others such as Kevin Nash, DDP, Sting, Lex Luger, Goldberg, and everyone else in the company is going to have to do the same thing…give up on some demands or whatever power plays they pull, and show they are willing to be team players, and not a bunch of individuals looking out for themselves.

WCW should also do away with any more guaranteed contracts, and go to the incentive-based contract system for its workers. This should prevent certain wrestlers from deciding to sit at home and collect a paycheck, because then they know if they do that, they won't get as much money. An incentive-based contract system would encourage wrestlers to work harder, and more often, and should get wrestlers to work together better, knowing they will have to do that if they want their efforts to be rewarded.

There are some minor changes that should be made as well. Most of the entrance videos are OK, but they need to come up with new theme music for everyone, and nothing that is a knock-off of a popular song. Some changes in the sets would be nice, but should be done slowly over time so as not to disrupt things so much. It would also be a good idea to move back to doing two separate nights for Nitro and Thunder tapings again, as the current setup does not make for exciting TV shows.

Most importantly, Bischoff must truly demonstrate he has learned from his past mistakes. We may be able to give him a little slack for the Bisch and Roo era, given that Russo apparently had most of the input and control into what was going on with the storylines, but now, we know exactly what position Bischoff will be in, and we have a better idea of what he will be doing. That means, this time around, Bischoff will have to be the one who takes the blame when things do not go well. So if we see the same mistakes happen as was the case in the past, we will know Bischoff has not learned from his past errors. On the other hand, if change does come about, we'll know that, this time around, Bischoff is serious about what needs to be done to turn WCW around, and things just might go in WCW's favor.

I do hope things work out with the ownership change. Having a healthy WCW promotion that is in position to compete with the WWF should breath life back into what has become a mostly stale, lackluster wrestling scene. Of course, we should all expect it will take some time for WCW to get back on track, but I'm willing to keep an open mind now about what's happening with the company. And hopefully things will work out well for WCW, and the wrestling scene can become interesting once again.