WCW's demise over two decades ago was probably - and tragically - inevitable, despite the company making some incredible achievements in an industry dominated for the prior decade-plus by Vince McMahon and WWE. The late 1990s period of WCW, which had the benefit of being well-documented via the blossoming internet and its myriad wrestling sites, was a veritable rollercoaster.
Eric Bischoff and the red-hot nWo helped launch the promotion, which wasn't that far removed from its territory-era roots, into the stratosphere.
Unfortunately for everybody involved, a combination of factors led to it crashing as briskly as it ascended. What was drawing huge television ratings and PPV buyrates in 1997 and '98 was suddenly out of vogue in '99 and beyond, and although fingers often get (rightfully) pointed at the likes of Bischoff, Vince Russo, Kevin Nash, and more, the truth is fairly simple, if bleak: there was so much going wrong by the end, there was no way WCW was going to survive deep into the 21st century.