WCW

 

Introduction and Tribute

 

In the Words of announcer Tony Schiavonne "It's WCW!" and WWE's main competitor. WCW had stars who once were huge names in the WWE. When they came to WCW they put the company on the map and it became as the slogan says "Where the Big Boys Play." WCW also had some talented Home Grown Superstars that were twice as better than the superstars in WWE during their heyday. Here is a special tribute to a Great Company.

 

 

 

The Greatest Champions

 

World Heavyweight Championship

 

Sting

 

First won in 1990

 

 

Sting was the Face of WCW his charisma, persona, and in-ring ability made him a great champion. He's known to be the only one to stay with the company from the time Ted Turner bought Jim Crockett Promotions until the demise of WCW. He's had solid matches with guys like Big Van Vader, Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Ravishing Rick Rude, and his Archenemy Nature Boy Ric Flair.

 

 

The United States Championship

 

Ravishing Rick Rude

 

First won in 1991

 

 

Rick Rude is underrated in wrestling. He had the look of a champion, a great persona, great in-ring skills, and great mic skills. Rick Rude debuted at WCW Halloween Havoc 1991 and quickly made his intentions known that he wanted the US Title. He most certainly accomplish that when he beat Sting for title at the Clash of the Champions. He had one the longest reigns with the title holding it for 14 months. Since holding the title he has had two great matches with Ricky Steamboat, Nikita Koloff, Brian Pillman, and with Dustin Rhodes. Rick Rude for all his accomplishments really deserves a WWE Hall of Fame induction he was the true definition of a superstar. R.I.P

 

 

Television Championship

 

Arn Anderson

 

First won in 1986

 

 

Like Ric Flair who owned the World Title and made it special Arn Anderson made the Television title just as important as the World title or the US Title. Anderson is a 4 time TV champ even at one point had one of the longest reigns with 336 days as champion. Anderson was a great Technical Wrestler and  lived up to his nickname the "Enforcer" when the time called for it.

 

 

The Cruiserweight Championship

 

Rey Mysterio

 

First Won in 1996

 

 

Rey Mysterio really put the Cruiserweight Division on the map in 1996. He first won the title from Dean Malenko on Nitro. Rey Mysterio was an awesome High Flyer and his matches with guys like Psychosis, Malenko, Juventud Guerrera, and even with his greatest opponent Eddie Guerrero really educated the fans about the Lucha Libre style of wrestling that came from Mexico.

 

 

The Tag Team Championship

 

Harlem Heat

 

First won in 1994

 

 

Harlem Heat owned the Tag Team division and was the team you didn't want to mess with in the ring. They held the WCW Tag titles a record setting Ten times and even elevated Booker T to top of Main event status. The brothers had great chemistry in the ring and brought there street toughness to every match. Even when they didn't team they still where dominant as single stars with Stevie Ray holding the TV Title. Booker T held the US Title, 6 TV Titles, 5 WCW World Titles, and is also a member of the WWE Hall of Fame.

 

 

Top 10 Greatest PPV's

 

1. Bash at the Beach 1996

 

 

This was the PPV(Pay Per View) that changed WCW and wrestling forever. The show was built around the main event which was Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage against the debuting Outsiders Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and the mysterious third man which turned out to be none other than Hulk Hogan. For the first time since 1980 Hulk Hogan turned Heel when he came out and delivered the Leg drop on Randy Savage. He gave one his best promos when he said that he will never wear the Red and Yellow again and proclaim Him, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash as The NWO (The New World Order). The other matches on the PPV was forgettable however there was a great Cruiserweight match between Rey Mysterio and Psychosis. It common in WCW at the time were the cruiserweight matches stole the shows. I rate this PPV 9 out of 10

 

 

 

2. Great American Bash 1989

 

 

From Top to Bottom this was one of WCW Greatest PPV's of all time. This was the year after Ted Turner brought Jim Crockett Promotions. This was also the year they were introducing younger talent to the company like Scott Hall, Sid Vicious, Scott Steiner, and Brian Pillman. There was a tremendous US title match between Lex Luger and Ricky Steamboat. This was a great year for Lex Luger he won the US title twice first defeating Barry Windham and later Michael Hayes. It was his match with Michael Hayes that he began his long US Title reign and he started his Heel Turn. From that point he was pushed like an unstoppable champion and had lots of momentum. There was a great Wargames match involving the Freebirds and The Samoan Swat Team vs The Road Warriors, Midnight Express, and Dr. Death Steve Williams. There was a solid TV Title match between Sting and the Great Muta. These two had a lot of momentum that year and was pushed heavily. Finally there was a very violent Main Event match between Ric Flair and Terry Funk. They had a great build up to this match with Terry Funk breaking Ric Flair's neck. The thing with Funk is he's known for constantly retiring and coming back but this was his best year especially when he and Flair got in the ring. The match ending was great with Muta and Funk attacking Flair and Sting coming out to save Flair. Which just escalated to a wild out of control brawl. On a scale of 10 I rate this PPV a 10

 

 

3. Bash At the Beach 1994

 

 

This PPV was centered around the debut of Hulk Hogan and his match with Ric Flair for the WCW championship. This is a match that fans have been wanting to see for a long time and almost came close in WWE but it never happened. There was a great match between Ricky Steamboat and Steve Austin for the US title. There was also an interesting tag match with Arn Anderson and Dustin Rhodes vs Terry Funk and Bunkhouse Buck. It ended with Arn turning on Dustin which was a great angle plus it made Arn significant again. I rate this PPV 8 out of 10

 

 

 

 

 

4. Halloween Havoc 1989

 

 

 

 

After the success of that year's Great American Bash WCW hit the jackpot again with a new PPV concept called Halloween Havoc. Just like the Bash you had a very solid card. The main event was Ric Flair and Sting vs Terry Funk and the Great Muta in a Electrified Steel Cage Match. Once again this was one of Terry Funk's best years and the feud he had with Flair was awesome. There was a great match between Lex Luger and Brian Pillman for the US title which most people would find surprising. There was also a lot of good Tag team matches like the Steiners vs Doom awesome storyline with Woman dating Rick Steiner then turning on him. There was also the Freebirds vs the Dynamic Dudes for the Tag Team Titles and finally the Road Warriors vs the Skyscrapers. On a scale of 10 I rate this PPV a 10

 

 

5. Slamboree 1994

 

 

Slamboree 1994 was an overlooked WCW PPV mainly because it followed Spring Stampede. It was the last PPV before Hogan came. This was an awesome show from top to bottom a lot better than the previous year. The main event was originally suppose to be Ravishing Rick Rude vs Vader for the International World title but due to a back injury WCW vacated the title from Rude. They were originally going to give the belt to Sting but he didn't want to win that way and instead wanted to face Vader for the title. As usual these two had an excellent match. There were other great matches like Steve Austin vs Johnny B. Badd for the US title. There was an awesome Legends match between Terry Funk and Tully Blanchard. There was a bullrope match between Dustin Rhodes and Bunkhouse Buck which was fine although the first one they had was slightly better. One match that is overlooked in WCW because it followed the previous Tag Team Street Fight is the Brodstreet Bully Match with Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan vs The Nasty Boys for the Tag Team Titles. The match had former NHL player Dave "The Hammer" Schultz as the referee. This match was a very violent and out of control which was not unusual in WCW. It was also noteworthy because Cactus Jack won his first championship in WCW. Dave Schultz's involvement in the match was just brilliant attacking Saggs of the Nasty Boys and Maxx Payne smashing a Guitar over Sagg's head was cool. On a scale of 10 I rate this PPV a 10

 

 

6. Spring Stampede 1994

 

  Before Hogan came in 1994 WCW was starting to show some improvement in there PPV's and the first Spring Stampede is a perfect example. There about 5 great matches that stood out like Brian Pillman vs Steve Regal for the TV Title, Steve Austin vs the Great Muta for the US Title, Dustin Rhodes vs Bunkhouse Buck in a Bunkhouse Match. The best match on this show was Sting vs Rick Rude for the International World Title which ironically would be Rude's last match in WCW. However the match that everybody was talking about was the Chicago Street Fight between Cactus and Maxx Payne vs the Nasty Boys for the Tag Team Titles. It was a very violent match that was once again unusal in WCW and it really put Cactus Jack on the map. WCW really dropped the ball with Mick Foley they failed to capitalize on his momentum after this match. The main event was Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat for WCW Title it was an OK match. It wasn't quite as good as the series of matches they had 5 years earlier. It ended in controversial fashion with both men's shoulder on the mat so I would say this match is forgettable. On a scale of 10 I rate this PPV a 9

 

 

7. Spring Stampede 1998

 

 

Considered one of the last good PPV's WCW that year. There was a good match between Saturn and Goldberg. There was a great competitive match between Benoit and Booker T for the TV Title which was awesome. These two just had a great feud and the series of matches they did was just tremendous. There was a Street Fight match between DDP and Raven for the US Title. I was a huge DDP fan and he and Raven just had great chemistry in the ring. Raven should of held the US Title a lot longer than he did because he lost the title to Goldberg the next night. The main event was Macho Man vs Sting for the World Title. I didn't like how they built it up with Randy Savage teaming with Sting against Hogan. Only to turn on him during a match. Which added confusion about were Randy Savage alliance but the match was good with Kevin Nash helping Savage win the world title. On a Scale of 10 I rate this PPV an 8

 

8. Spring Stampede 1999

 

 

 This PPV happened during WCW's lowest point after the "Finger Poke of Doom". A lot of noteworthy things on this show occurred such as the new logo which I didn't like. Again an awesome cruiserweight match between Kidman and Mysterio for the championship was fought. As always WCW could rely on the Cruiserweight for a great match. There was a tag team match between The Horsemen vs Raven and Saturn this was a great match definitely overlooked. It was a great match some of the highlights was when Benoit did the diving head butt on Raven with a Steel chair on him. There was finally a rematch from Starrcade 98 between Goldberg and Kevin Nash with Goldberg getting some revenge on Nash. It was a decent match however they just turn Hogan and Nash Face a month prior.  This was confusing because Nash is wrestling as a Heel in this match but that was WCW's booking back then "Black and White." Finally the Main Event was a Four Way for the World Heavyweight Title which had Hogan vs Flair vs DDP vs Sting with Macho Man Randy Savage as the Special Referee. This was the return of both Sting and Randy Savage the match was actually good although I don't know why they had Savage as the Referee. He only did one thing in the match and that's give an elbow to Flair. This is also the match where DDP won his first World Title but they really didn't give him respect of a World Champion. He was  booed at every event. They should've given the belt to Sting even though he lost a lot of momentum when he joined the NWO Wolf Pack. I rate this PPV 7 out of 10

 

9. SuperBrawl 1999

 

 

This PPV was built around the world title match between Flair and Hogan. This was something fans have been waiting to see for weeks Flair took a lot of brutal beatings from NWO. It felt like the NWO's only goal was to take out Flair so fans expected a little bit a revenge in this match. This match was actually okay with both guys bleeding. It had a shocking end with Flair's son David turning on Flair and joining the NWO. This was the debut of Torrie Wilson although she was originally named Samantha. There were some other good matches like DDP vs Steiner for the TV Title. An awesome storyline with Steiner constantly stocking Page's wife Kimberly even throwing her out of a moving car. There was finally a match between Goldberg and Bam Bam Bigelow which had been building for months. It was actually one of Goldberg's best matches. There was a tag match for the vacant titles with Horsemen taking on Barry Windham and Curt Hennig in a 2 out of 3 Fall match. The Horsemen were the favorites in this match but they didn't win. There was another tag match with the Outsiders vs Mysterio and Konnan, if Mysterio lost he would loose his mask. Guys like Juventud, Mysterio, and Psychosis lost a lot of momentum when WCW made them loose their mask. Overall not a bad PPV but the thing is Flair should've won since so much was built around him. On a scale of 10 I rate this PPV a 6

 

 

10. Mayhem 1999

 

 

There was so much hype for this PPV it emanated from Toronto, Canada. The buildup was a 32-man tournament for the vacant World Heavyweight Title. Most of the matches for the tournament happened on Nitro and the final four men in the tournament which were Chris Benoit, Jeff Jarrett, Sting, and Bret Hart faced off at the PPV.This event happened a month after Vince Russo took over the booking. The first match in the tournament was Benoit vs Jarrett this was a good match. Benoit won the match and would meet the winner in the main event . The next match was Sting vs Bret Hart this match was a lot better than the match they had at Halloween Havoc 1998 of course Bret was the favorite in this match. Bret won the match but the fans were quiet. The Main Event was Bret vs Benoit for the World Heavyweight Title. It was a great technical match but once again the fans were quiet . I enjoyed seeing Bret finally had his chance to win the World Title. It was a long time coming despite the fact WCW really dropped the ball with him when he first came in.  The fans went crazy when he won. On a scale of 10 I give this PPV a 7