April 2, 2001 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Final episode of WCW Monday Nitro
The purchase of World Championship Wrestling by WWF Entertainment this past week combined with the ending of all wrestling programming on the Turner networks changes the entire landscape of the pro wrestling industry forever.
The final episode of Nitro, at least on TNT, the show which forever changed television wrestling from the squash match/interview format to the idea of weekly blow-out almost PPV-like shows, started with the almost surreal image of Vince McMahon addressing the audience after purchasing the show. Perhaps even more telling, and the final moment of 29 years of wrestling on the Turner networks was a music video promoting the Steve Austin vs. Rock match at Wrestlemania. It was an amazing climax to the story, which ended a few days earlier, of wrestling on stations that had been the centerpiece of the opposition to McMahon for the past 16 years.
In between was the big television angle, simulcast on both Raw and Nitro, with Vince in Cleveland for Raw and son Shane in Panama City for Nitro.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.