The WarGames stipulation is one which is soon to make its debut on WWE’s main roster, having only appeared in NXT when it comes to WWE programming. Prior to that, the WarGames match was a phenomenon created within NWA and WCW, becoming an all-time favorite stipulation.

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There have been several classic WarGames matches over the years in both WCW and WWE, but not every one of them has been a hit, with some bouts underwhelming and underachieving in a big way. When looking at the 10 worst matches, not all are awful - they just don’t break into the best of the best.

10 The nWo Vs Team WCW, Fall Brawl 1996

Sting walks out of War Games

From a conventional WarGames perspective, this didn’t offer the typical amount of violence that most offered, but from a storytelling standpoint, this was very enjoyable, with it coming at the height of the nWo storyline. Hogan’s work in this match as a heel was great, and Sting’s growing conflict helped to carry the bout too, even if the Fake Sting stuff got a little over-the-top at times.

Not everything was perfect, and in moments it did feel very standard and by-the-book, but the storylines ensured that it kept ticking along.

9 Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Raquel Gonzalez, & Toni Storm Vs Ember Moon, Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley, & Shotzi Blackheart, NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2020

io-shirai-trashcan-womens-wargames-nxt-2020

Unfortunately, this match just creeps onto this list as most other WarGames matches are great, whilst this was just good. There was a lot of energy in certain moments, with some inventive spots and strong action, but unfortunately the match stretched out for a long 35 minutes, with some empty segments and a lot of waiting around.

Not enough was done to ensure that the action was as good as it could’ve been whilst the ring was filling up, with things only getting much better when everyone was in the match. It must be said that this match split some opinion, with profightdb.com showing that Dave Meltzer rated it just 3.5 stars, whilst cagematch.net gave it a huge 8.09 overall rating.

8 Steve Williams, The Midnight Express, & Road Warriors Vs Fabulous Freebirds & Samoan Swat Team, Great American Bash 1989

Great American Bash 1989

This one had its moments, but it felt like a very middling WarGames match which was filled with mostly bland brawling. Thankfully, the crowd were hugely into it, elevating it in quite a big way.

Steve Williams was a big standout in this match, with an impressive spot seeing him pressing Terry Gordy into the roof of the cage. Aside from that though, this didn’t offer a lot in terms of memorable moments, but acted as a nice addition to this Great American Bash card.

7 Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes & The Nasty Boyz Vs The Stud Stable, Fall Brawl 1994

Dusty And Dustin Rhodes War Games

The 1994 edition of WarGames wasn’t terrible by any means, with those involved doing their best to overcome the fact that they were no longer allowed to draw blood, making for a watered down version of this gimmick.

Even with their hard work, it still did lack that intensity and physical nature which made the WarGames match famous. The babyfaces beat down Col. Parker from the Stud Stable late in the match, with it bordering on comedy at times, which was a little different to other WarGames bouts to that point.

6 Cora Jade, Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray, & Raquel Gonzalez Vs Toxic Attraction & Dakota Kai, NXT WarGames 2021

Cora Jade War Games Dive

This was the weakest iteration of NXT’s WarGames, but that doesn’t mean it was all bad. Everyone tried their best and there were some nice spots, but the inexperience of many involved led to some messy moments and an overly-choreographed nature.

The heart of the stipulation felt a bit lost, as the history between those involved wasn’t overly rich aside from with Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai, so it didn’t feel personal, with it feeling like everyone was shoehorned in due to it being WarGames season.

5 The nWo Vs The Four Horsemen, Fall Brawl 1997

Curt Henning wedging Ric Flair's head in between a steel cage door.

On paper this looked to be two legendary factions going head-to-head, but in actuality it was an updated version of the Horsemen, and a B-Team version of the nWo, led by Kevin Nash, meaning a lot of star power wasn’t involved.

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This was mostly built around Curt Hennig’s huge heel turn, turning his back on the Horsemen, making this more of a larger angle rather than a match. It was still decent at times, but could have been so much better.

4 Davey Boy Smith, Sting, Dustin Rhodes, & The Shockmaster Vs Harlem Heat, Big Van Vader, & Sid Vicious, Fall Brawl 1993

WCW Fall Brawl 1993 War Games

The better workers in this match such as Sting and Dustin Rhodes worked hard, but it wasn’t enough to save what was a plodding bout which had no sense of structure or planning.

A glaring issue hanging over this match was The Shockmaster, who was built up to be an unstoppable monster, but his limitations and the way he went through the opposition just didn’t work, and following his disastrous debut, this all felt far too forced. He would even win the match with a bear hug, which was an uninspiring way to win inside WarGames.

3 Team Hogan Vs Dungeon Of Doom, Fall Brawl 1995

Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Lex Luger & Sting v The Dungeon of Doom Fall Brawl 1995 Cropped

Whilst things in WCW would improve later for Hogan once he joined the nWo, this match was exactly what fans didn’t want - a super babyface Hogan overshadowing all the other good guys on the roster, and taking all the spotlight.

Hogan’s team of Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage were all afterthoughts as Hogan was the one to win the match against the Dungeon of Doom, who just felt like filler heels here. It certainly did not live up to what a WarGames match should be.

2 Team WCW Vs The nWo Vs nWo Wolfpac, Fall Brawl 1998

nWo Wolfpac v Team WCW v nWo Hollywood Fall Brawl 1998 Cropped

This was an abhorrent mess. The stipulation of the winning competitor getting a title shot made the team dynamic useless, as it became every man for himself, resulting in a messy display of action.

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The Warrior would also pull out over-the-top shenanigans, with the ring filling with smoke as he teleported around the ring. Whilst at times the action was fine given some of the high quality competitors involved, it was hard to sit through, and near impossible to tell what was going on. A terrible WarGames match capped off a terrible show.

1 Vince Russo, Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, and Scott Steiner Vs Booker T, Goldberg, KroniK, & Sting, Monday Nitro

War Games  Nitro September 4, 2000

Vince Russo’s dying WCW introduced a new variation of WarGames - the Triple Cage, so it was unrecognizable from the existing format. Three cages were stacked on top of each other, with everyone having to climb to the top to retrieve the World Heavyweight Championship, before climbing back down with the belt and exiting the door.

However, it saw two teams go head-to-head, so having the title on the line made it a complete mess, as did the WarGames stipulation. No one had any idea what was happening, it was a convoluted mess, and if the 0.91 cagematch.net rating is anything to go, it is unanimous that this is the worst WarGames match ever.