September 29, 200421 yr Continental Championship Wrestling Backstory When WWE Chairman Vince McMahon purchased World Championship Wrestling in March of 2001, everyone in the wrestling world thought his rise to supreme power was complete. Little did he know that the lack of competition made for less compelling television, thus alienating many of his long time viewers. Three mediocre years passed with McMahon never able to recreate the magic that coursed through the veins of his company in the late 1990's. WWE shows went from sold out mega arenas back to convention centers and secondary auditoriums. The end, it seemed, was near. The final nail in the coffin was driven home on September 1, 2004, when Vincent Kennedy McMahon, chairman of the WWE for 25 plus years, sold his stock to an anonymous buyer, thus ending the McMahon dynasty of professional wrestling. Unbeknownst to McMahon, the "anonymous buyer" of his company was none other than his long time rival, and current employee Eric Bischoff. Enraged by this, McMahon vowed to destroy Bischoff. He began paying off his former employees to get inside information on Bischoff, an action the arrogant Bischoff was unaware of. Eventually, Vince gathered enough information and took Bischoff to court with a lawsuit citing Breach of Contract. The trial lasted six grueling months, and in the end, the judge ruled that both man had committed violations of the contract of sale, and furthermore, that due to this fiasco, World Wrestling Entertainment would be officially disbanded. Wrestling fans throughout the world were devastated by the news. What would become of the sport they so dearly loved? Would it revert back to its days of territorially dominated independent promotions? Or would it just shrivel up and die once and for all.? These were the thoughts that cluttered their minds for 3 long weeks. Then, the unthinkable happened. Rumors began to fly that a former WWE Champion was signing top notch talent left and right, with the intention of building a new Sports Entertainment superpower. Despite all of the hearsay that cluttered the various message boards and hot sheets throughout the Internet, no one knew who was behind it. Then, on September 20 they all got their answer. During half-time of the Monday Night Football telecast, Chris Berman, from the ESPN studios in Bristol CT, sat down to interview "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. During the course of the now controversial 7 minute interview, Austin announced that it was HE who had been laying the groundwork for the new Wrestling superpower, that he had finalized a TV contract to return to the USA network, and that it would be called Continental Championship Wrestling. Contrary to popular belief, In the waning moments of the interview, Austin did NOT in fact give Boomer the Stone Cold Stunner, he merely thanked him for the time and left the interview to go continue the tedious process of starting a promotion. Austin was blasted in the media for paying such a high sum of money (13.2 Million Dollars was the reported cost) to appear on ABC's most popular broadcast. True to Austin form, he gave the swarms of reporters surrounding the new CCW headquarters in Nashville, TN the one finger salute as he entered in to work the day after. All that remains now is for the TV deal to be finalized, setting a night and a time slot for the inaugural CCW broadcast. Will Austin succeed where all others failed? Can he return sports entertainment to the glory days it had when he himself was the top draw? Or will this just be another chapter in the book of failed attempts to recreate greatness? Only time will tell.
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