I have been a wrestling fan for twenty-one years and have worked in professional wrestling for six of those twenty-one years. In that time, I have seen a lot happen in this business both as a fan and as a worker. I have seen my share of shocking events take place both in the ring and in the dressing room.

As a fan, I remember how my mouth dropped when Rowdy Roddy Piper smashed a gold record over the head of Captain Lou Albano in Madison Square Garden. I remember how my eyes almost fell out of my skull when Andre The Giant came out on Piper's Pit with Bobby The Brain Heenan. I remember how my heart stopped when Hulk Hogan turned heel and joined The Outsiders to form the nWo. And I remember how my skin went pale when Shane McMahon revealed that he was the one behind the kidnapping of his own sister Stephanie and the formation of the Corporate Ministry.

As a worker, I remember my disbelief when Medusa threw the WWF Women's Championship belt in the garbage can on WCW Monday Nitro. I remember my shock when the late, great Ravishing Rick Rude left Raw only to jump ship and show up on Nitro that same night. I remember my amazement when Bret Hart spit in the face of Vince McMahon after the controversial ending of his last WWF match at the Survivor Series.

But of all the shocking events I have experienced as both a fan and a worker, of all that I have seen take place in the world of professional wrestling, of all the turn-of-event, monumental, pendulum shifting things that have happened in this business, nothing could have - or would have topped hearing that Vince Russo, the head writer for the WWF, signed a two year contract with WCW.

When I heard that Russo left, I could not believe it - and neither could anyone else - because no one saw it coming. Usually when someone is planning to leave one federation for another, the wrestlers as well as the fans usually know it long before their last match - not this time - this time Russo was an employee of the WWF on Friday and an employee of WCW on Monday - and this time no one knew it but Vince Russo - and this time, Vince McMahon was as shocked as everyone else.

In my opinion - and the opinion of the top people in this business - Vince Russo leaving the WWF for the WCW will have more impact on the "war" between the two federations then when Hogan, Savage, Hall, Nash, Big Show, Jericho, or Bret Hart switched federations. Vince Russo, by all accounts, is practically solely responsible for the current success of the World Wrestling Federation. It was his vision and ideas that brought the WWF to the top of the mountain. And I'm not the only one who seems to think so. Just ask Mark Madden, "Russo has always been known for being a hard-nosed s.o.b., which is what WCW needs now. Very interesting times ahead, folksŠthis is an amazing development, one I never saw coming." Or ask Bob Ryder, "This jump rivals the jump of names like Hogan, Savage, and Piper in importance, and in fact might be a more significant jump than any of the previous names." Or ask Mike Samuda, "I don't think anyone saw that one coming. I don't know what this exactly means for the war between the major pro-wrestling companies, but Russo seems to have his fingertips on the pulse of the pro wrestling audience, so this is a major coup for the guys in Turner-land."

No matter who you ask the question: "What is the best thing to ever happen to professional wrestling?" They will most likely answer, "The war between WWF and the WCW." The reason is because from the moment the war began, and to me, the beginning was the inception of Nitro and the introduction of the Outsiders, the only people that were, and still are winning are the fans. What was once a clear market for the WWF was now being threatened by another federation backed by one of the richest men in the world hell-bent on putting his rival out of business, and as a result, Monday night suddenly became the most exciting night of the week. Wrestling fans needed two televisions to catch all of the action, because when one show turned up the heat, the other did twice as hard.

The worst part of the war for the WWF came when WCW and Eric Bischoff were raiding the WWF's locker room on an almost weekly basis. Every week, wrestling fans were wondering who would be the next WWF superstar to jump to WCW. At that point, the WCW was grabbing wrestlers and ratings from the WWF at an almost astronomical level. It seemed that with each new wrestler they would acquire, they would add one more point to their ratings, which were much higher than the WWF's. In the span of two years, WCW acquired Okerlund, Heenan, Luger, Hogan, Savage, Hall, Nash, Rude, Perfect, Waltman, Piper, Hart, Smith and many more from the WWF which sent the WWF's ratings falling faster than its roster list - and then - the WWF made Vince Russo their head writer.

When Russo took the reigns of the WWF, he took fresh wrestlers and made them into the top stars of today. He took ideas and turned them into some of the most memorable storylines in wrestling history. He took already established superstars and remade them into main eventers once again - and most importantly, he took the WWF and put it back on top far ahead of WCW, so far in fact, that the WCW has fired President Eric Bischoff because they lost half of their roster and most of their ratings quicker than they gained them from the WWF.

And now Vince Russo, the man responsible for the success of the WWF, is the Creative Director of the WCW.

So what does this mean for the future of the WCW? The WWF? The wrestling business itself? Only time will tell.

How quickly the tide can turn in the world of professional wrestling indeed.