During the heated Monday Night War, WWE and WCW went to extreme lengths to outmaneuver each other, including secret meetings and aggressive talent poaching behind the scenes. Over 20 years later, new information is still coming out about the tactics employed by each side.
Former WCW star Buff Bagwell has revealed a secret meeting he had with WWE’s McMahon family while still under contract with WCW. In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Bagwell shared how Vince McMahon personally invited him to discuss a potential jump to WWE in 1998 or 1999. At the time, Bagwell had just signed a new WCW contract while recovering from a broken neck.
Vince McMahon calls me up and asks if I want to fly up and talk about future business,” Bagwell recalled. “I thought, ‘This would be heat, but I’ve got a three-year deal, so it wouldn’t be that bad.’
However, when he arrived for the meeting, Vince McMahon was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was greeted by Shane McMahon at a Holiday Inn conference room.
Looking back, I really believe this was during the time Vince was getting the rumbles of buying WCW,” Bagwell speculated.
Despite the conversation with Shane, nothing materialized because Bagwell’s contract was too restrictive. Vince later called him personally to break the bad news.
Vince told me, ‘Your contract is ironclad. There’s no way you’re getting out,’” Bagwell revealed.
Ultimately, WCW folded in 2001, and Bagwell became one of the wrestlers brought into WWE under the new regime—but his tenure was infamously short-lived. Looking back, he wonders if a different contract could have changed his entire career trajectory.
Would Buff Bagwell have thrived in WWE’s Attitude Era if things played out differently? Fans can only speculate on what might have been.
