The overhaul of the wrestling industry as we knew it prompted me to write this little rant. I'm not writing because I'm appalled by the events of the last few weeks, nor is it because I'm a WCW mark (well, actually I was up until they shipped off the Fab Four.) I'm writing this because this could be the very best thing to happen to the industry EVER. But on the other hand, this could become the biggest disaster that wrestling fans have ever had to deal with (since we were all shocked to find out that it was fake anyway.)

I tip my hat to the executives at WWFE for saving WCW from itself. At the same time, you must not try to shelve the federation. And from what I've been reading on the Internet (and we all know everyone knows exactly what they're talking about on this crazy sea of 1's and 0's,) that doesn't appear to be the case. I really shouldn't have to point out why the WCW is a good thing for the WWF and therefore.... I won't. Maybe I'll write a follow-up if... naa... I won't.

That said, here is what cannot take place if this Mecca of sports entertainment is to reach it's potential. First, you must not ever, EEEEEE.... Ok, not going to use that. Anyway, don't treat this as a minor league for the WWF. Don't start shipping Sting/Flair/Booker over to the WWF in exchange for Rikishi, Show, and Blackman. I only bring it up just on the off chance one of these Internet columnists actually has a writing job for the WWF. WCW has some very loyal fans (and they have had to be after the last 2 years of crap-tacular "entertainment" that the WCW has been throwing out) and if they haven't turned tail already, seeing the likes of Sting, Goldberg, and Flair leaving for good will most definitely cause them to walk away. Laughable as it may seem, there were some good things that the WCW produced and to simply harvest them would cause the WCW to die completely and the WWF to lose as well. Tell me where you're going to fit even ONE more superstar in the time the WWF has allotted for Television when you already have people that are sitting in the locker room. Yea, I'd love to see Goldberg vs. Stone Cold... I'm just wondering where the hell you would expect Angle, HHH, The Rock, UT, Kane, Show, Rikishi, Jericho and Benoit to go. Especially since Vinnie Mac MUST have 30 minutes of screen time a night anyway. Hell, as it stands now, only two of the "Fab 4" have any crowd appeal and they are easily four of your best. By the way, that's one out of the two vanilla midgets if you're using the Kevin Nash booking system. Crap, didn't I say I wouldn't get into explaining why the WCW was a good thing for the WWF. Well there went my credibility as an Internet author, and I haven't even gotten through one column.

The Second thing that cannot happen is to start burning bridges with current WCW wrestlers because of past WWF scrums. Why? Sure, getting rid of the headaches can be good, but story line wise, how strange would it look if Shane and the WCW vs. Vince and the WWF had no one from WCW's recent past involved. Take an Eric Bichoff (I have no idea how to spell his name... maybe CRZ will correct it for me.) I'm not saying he'd accept the job, but for anyone who knows the two Feds history (which if you're going to have Shane and Dad war in this fashion, the WWF fans need an education fast,) he is the perfect Advisor for Shane. The WCW will not survive as another outlet for WWFE if it's history starts in May. It needs its history, or otherwise just call it WWF 2. Not that you need every bit of it's past, but it sure would add some depth to any cross promotion story lines.

The last is this. We need a war. I'm not saying have WWF and WCW stars screwing with each others matches, in fact, please avoid that as much as possible. I'm saying Vince v. Shane Period. Otherwise get them both the hell off the screen. Have them steal wrestlers (And wouldn't Easy-E be great in that mix) from each other, use the backstage personnel to hurt each other. Hell, GIVE Mean Street something to do that doesn't require much of our viewing attention. And who really thinks they'd be good for anything other than snitching anyway. Attack each other with wrestlers. Hell, have the wrestlers attack wrestlers. Imagine the rematch of Rock v. Austin... only, there is no rematch because the Rock was taken out and replaced at the last minute due to injury by some WCW wrestler. Instead, it becomes Jericho v. Austin and Jericho takes the title. Meanwhile, Shane is giggling somewhere having screwed with Vince's toy. Now, politics aside, you've elevated Jericho and given The Rock a reason to hate the WCW even if he may distrust Vince. Voila, The Rock is loyal to the WWF regardless of what feuds he may be having within it. In other words, you now have two levels of story lines. The bulk of it is always within each federation but you always have the overlying war. Give WWF fans a reason to flip over to the WCW and vice-versa. It won't be easy, but it can be done. Even if there's no real struggle for power, make it look like the Feds are trying to do each other in. Use bizarre twists to have Madusa-esque belt trashing of each promotion's belts. Hey, I don't have all the answers or story lines; but then again, I'm not getting paid either. But if I were I would say, the WWF and the WCW need each other. Before the WCW became a power, the WWF had stagnated away. Even if you don't have real life power plays involved, the constant reinvention of each promotion is the key to the WWF's success. People get bored. And with that type of framework, you can do the really fun stuff. I'm going to now show my personal bias here. And I'll file this under the category of "Fantasy Booking"

Setting: WWF-RAW

Benoit has the IC Title
Austin has the HW Title
Malenko Has the LHW Title

Jericho has challenged Austin for the title, with Austin having the usual heel advantages of his own clique that screws everyone else on a regular basis. Oh lets say Show, Angle, Benoit, The Maple Leaf Blondes, and round it out with Steph, HHH, and Kane. Jericho goes to the ring, then Austin, flanked by Vinnie Mac and Angle. Angle starts acting dastardly so out runs Dean Malenko for no apparent reason to fix him. So McMahan motions towards the back and out comes Benoit and Kane. Kane attacks Malenko followed by Benoit Undercutting Kane to help Malenko (insert crowd gasp here by the swerve). Things are even for a while and then Big Show starts making his way to the ring. At this point you have Austin in the Walls of Jericho, and just before he can get to the ring out pops Goldberg (because the UT and the Hardy Boys w/o Lita went to the WCW after some Kane related incident to somewhat balance out the star power) and he completely takes out The Show. Crowd pops big time. Ref calls for the bell because Austin has tapped or been pinned at this point. Goldberg, Malenko and Benoit get in the ring and congratulate the new champ. Vince makes a funny face wondering what the hell he just saw. All four go to a different ring post, look out at the crowd for pops, slowly raise four fingers. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Four Horsemen have finally entered the WWF ('cause you can do that legally now). And Out come HHH, and the Maple Leaf Blondes to spoil the celebration only to get tire iron in the back from Flair and Anderson for their trouble. Vince is now all alone and the Titantron fires up with the grinning image of Shane who proceeds to tell us that the Horsemen were his little secret weapons he'd been hinting about for months now. And Shane now controls the HW Title, the IC Title, and the LHW title. Mick Foley is in the behind Shane and caps off the night with a "Have a nice day" as the show closes. Meanwhile JR's head begins to explode like it does every time there's a Raw episode. Then in the aftermath what you have is Flair and Anderson backing Jericho (the new leader of the Horsemen,) Benoit, Malenko, and Goldberg takes the old role as the Enforcer. And the Beauty is that on the next WCW broadcast, Vince has made some sort of play there. Ok, so it will never happen.... Still better than the Vanilla Midgets buried in the mid-card or in Malenko's case, be the walking, talking dirty old man doormat that he's become. Oh well, that's my un-solicited council and a 'lil fantasy booking thrown in. Enjoy.