How much did Vince McMahon pay for WCW?
For Vince McMahon, WWE coming out on top of the Monday Night Wars with WCW meant everything. The war wasn't just about television ratings. It was about promotional supremacy and the fact that WCW was the biggest threat to WWE in its long history.
That war, of course, was famously won by Vince McMahon and WWE in 2001, days before WrestleMania X7. It was Monday night, six days before what would eventually be labeled as the greatest WWE pay-per-view of all time.
WCW Nitro was airing on the same night, but something had changed. Vince McMahon was seen walking backstage on Nitro, and it was soon confirmed that he had purchased WCW.
There was a lot that happened to reach that point, but McMahon paid a sum of $2.5 million to acquire his biggest rival and competitor. After he additionally bought out WCW's videotape library, the total fee came up to $4.2 million. At the end of the day, it was a huge victory for Vince McMahon and WWE, as they paid a relatively meager sum to acquire WCW.
Despite WCW dominating the Monday Night Wars for 84 straight weeks, WWE eventually bounced back in a big way. The shift to an edgier, adult-oriented product, labeled "The Attitude Era," paid dividends for WWE. The Attitude Era began in late 1997 and lasted till WrestleMania X7 in 2001.
However, it was ultimately the financial mismanagement of WCW that resulted in the company's demise. At one point, they were on the cusp of overtaking WWE in the pro wrestling/sports entertainment industry.
What did Vince McMahon and WWE get for $2.5 million?
When Vince McMahon paid $2.5 million to acquire WCW, it was more than just the brand name that he received:
"They had bought the rights to the WCW brand, including their tape library, trademarks, and some contracts of talent and personnel. The WWF’s purchase of WCW ended an 18-year rivalry between the two wrestling corporations, who had gone horn to horn with each other since 1995 when the Monday Night Wars started with the ratings war between WCW’s Nitro and WWF’s Raw. It also signified WWF as the wrestling superpower corporation as they went on to buy out former rivals Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2003, who closed just weeks following WWF’s purchase of WCW." (H/T Wrestling News Source)
Following the buyout, Vince McMahon opted not to immediately sign some of WCW's biggest names. Many WCW stars would eventually sign with WWE at some point, which was proof that McMahon had become the number one man in the sports entertainment industry.
He still holds the most power in the industry. But over the past decade, the emergence of other promotions has led to WWE's complete dominance in the pro wrestling/sports entertainment landscape reducing partially.