Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan go way back. McMahon trusted Hogan so much that he put the World Title on him for the longest time. The Immortal One was the torchbearer of Vince McMahon’s promotion until he decided to jump ship. When Hulk Hogan left WWE for WCW, Vince McMahon almost considered shutting the doors of WWE. WWE’s first shock came when Hogan left in 1994. In 1996, The Hulkster turned heel and formed the NWO with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.
Nash and Hall had left Vince’s promotion just months earlier. Raw and Nitro then battled for supremacy in the Monday Night wars. For 83 weeks, WCW gave WWE a run for its money.
However, WWE’s rating made a seismic shift after the dawn of the Attitude Era. If it wasn’t for the Attitude Era, Vince McMahon would have probably been out of business.
Hulk Hogan claims Vince McMahon almost shut down WWE
Speaking in an edition of A&E Biography that was centered on the NWO, Hulk Hogan claimed that WCW’s win over WWE almost drove Vince McMahon out of business. Without a doubt, the NWO was instrumental in bumping up WCW’s ratings at the time.
But WWE was defeated to the point where Vince almost closed down his promotion and rode off into the sunset. According to Hogan, Vince told him that he was “just a couple of weeks away from shutting the doors”.
Has to be the match that essentially won the Monday Night Wars for WWE. pic.twitter.com/2s93vC6a1M
— Nate McNamara (@_natemcnamara) March 22, 2023
“That was the goal, was to become the number one company. I don’t think the goal was ever to put Vince out of business, even though we got really, really close. I had a conversation with Vince where he was just a couple of weeks away from shutting the doors.”
Watching the A&E Biography on the #nWo. Did Hogan ever successfully spraypaint a lowercase ‘n’ even once? 🤦♂️#WCW pic.twitter.com/IIJa5EWkgo
— Snark Side of the Ring (@WrestleSnark) March 1, 2023
Tables turned after Vince told his roster to tune up the attitude. Thus, The Attitude Era was born and WWE regained its throne as the number one show. A few years later, WWE acquired a floundering WCW. Ironically, Vince McMahon is pursuing a sale of his billion-dollar empire. Per WWE CEO Nick Khan, the sale should take place within a few months.
Ric Flair thinks Vince McMahon will not sell WWE
Vince McMahon came out of retirement to facilitate a sale of his wrestling promotion. It was previously reported that Vince is looking to sell WWE for around $9 billion. As noted, WWE CEO, Nick Khan, stated a month earlier that the sale process should not take more than a couple more months. But, WWE Hall of Famer, Ric Flair, thinks otherwise.
Nick Khan believes a WWE sale can happen in “maybe three months” pic.twitter.com/PtmpXKoHsp
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) February 3, 2023
Speaking on the To Be The Man podcast, Flair stated that McMahon will not sell WWE until he’s alive. He also added that McMahon will live and die with it. It remains to be seen if Ric Flair’s predictions turn out to be true. So far, the status of the sale remains in limbo.
“I don’t think Vince McMahon as long as he’s alive will ever [sell], just my opinion,” Flair said. “I don’t know anything, I heard a number, I heard he may have priced it out of the box, I don’t think he has any desire.”
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