Another Morbid Question

Rewatching some summer of 1999 WWF and there was a period where Vince was in a wheelchair and on crutches after what the announcers said was a motorcycle accident over the 4th of July.

So let’s say this accident was much worse and Vince died, at the height of the Attitude Era. What happens then?

Certainly Stephanie wasn’t married or in any position to take over. Would Shane have been considered ready? Would it go to some kind of booking committee of Cornette, JR, Patterson…RUSSO?!? The IPO hadn’t happened yet so I don’t even know if the company even ends up going public.

There’s lots of crazy fanboy scenarios you can come up with (Heyman books! They merge with WCW! Yada yada) but what do you suppose really does happen if Vince croaks in July 99?

​I imagine the business side of the company would fall to Linda, but ultimately I feel like the company would quickly be sold to either NBC/Universal or Viacom and the wrestling world would probably be drastically different today. ​And yes, I think a merger with WCW would be a likely outcome of corporate ownership at that point.