The WCW World Championship title was once one of the most prized belts in the entire world of wrestling. Only 19 different wrestlers held the title over its twenty-year existence before the WWE purchased WCW. Every major name at WCW from Sting to Booker T to Ric Flair held the title that helped define wrestling in the 90s.
Although some champions had lackluster runs or short runs as champions, the first opponent they defeated to earn the WCW World Championship is usually career-defining. This list will examine the first person these 10 WCW legends defeated to earn their first WCW World Championship.
10 Hulk Hogan: Defeated Ric Flair
When Hulk Hogan arrived to WCW in 1994 many fans did not know what to expect. He was a wrestling icon who had lost some of his appeal thanks to his age and the evolution of television and culture.
Although he's most well known for his time in the nWo, Hogan won the WCW Championship before he turned heel at Bash at the Beach 1996. Ironically, at Bash At The Beach 1994, Hogan defeated Ric Flair to win his first WCW Title.
9 Booker T: Defeated Jeff Jarrett
It's no secret that the last days of WCW were not good. The storylines were bad. The wrestlers were questionable, but Booker T stood out as one of the few positives. He won the WCW Tag Team Titles on ten different occasions as a member of Harlem Heat.
In 2000, Booker finally started entering the world title scene and defeated Jeff Jarrett at Bash At The Beach. It was the first of five WCW Championship title reigns. Booker was also the only WCW World Champion to win the title, while it existed at the WWE for six months.
8 Ric Flair: Defeated Sting
The transition from an NWA Title to a WCW belt is wonky. Before WCW used its own world title belt, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was the highest prize at the company. In 1991, Ric Flair defeated Sting to earn the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which WCW also called the WCW Championship.
The WWE doesn't even recognize Flair's match with Sting as the beginning of his title reign. Since WCW did, this list will consider the house show, where Flair defeated Sting, the first time he earned the title. Flair ended up getting fired with the title and joining the WWE in August 1991.
7 The Giant: Defeated Hulk Hogan
The Giant won the WCW World Championship during his in-ring debut. At Halloween Havoc 1995, The Giant won the title when Hogan's manager, Jimmy Hart, got Hogan disqualified.
The title changed hands because Jimmy Hart put a stipulation in Hogan's match contract that a DQ would lead to a title loss. The belt was vacated due to the controversial finish of the match.
6 Kevin Nash: Defeated Goldberg
For most of his early days at WCW, Kevin Nash was mostly an enforcer and a member of the tag team division before earning his first world title at the company. The clash between him and Goldberg was a massive main event at Starrcade 1998.
Goldberg entered the match as the champion with a staggering 173-match win streak. The two competed in a no-DQ match that saw Nash win the title with the help of Scott Hall's stun gun. It also ended one of the most famous winning streaks in the history of wrestling.
5 Ron Simmons: Defeated Big Van Vader
Ron Simmons is one of the forgotten WCW World Champions. Not only did he win the title in 1992, but Simmons also held the title for 150 days. He becomes the first person of color to ever hold a major world title in wrestling.
Simmons defeated Big Van Vader at WCW Main Event, and it was the last time he ever held a wrestling world championship. Ironically, Vader would win the title back from him at a house show ending Simmon's first and only title run.
4 Sting: Defeated Lex Luger
Sting is often considered the greatest wrestler to ever compete for WCW. For a long time, he was also one of the few WCW stars who didn't jump ship to the WWE following his time at WCW. Sting would hold the WCW Championship four times over his career.
At WCW SuperBrawl 2, Sting defeated Lex Luger in the main event and won the title. In his first run, Sting defended the belt against great competitors like Arn Anderson and Steve Austin.
3 Goldberg: Defeated Hollywood Hogan
Shockingly, Goldberg only held the WCW World Championship on one occasion. It happened during his very famous undefeated streak at the company. After jumping through a ton of hoops, including defeating Scott Hall the same night he won the title, Goldberg challenged Hollywood Hogan for the title on an episode of Nitro.
At this point, the nWo had lost a ton of heat and the win happened at the tail end of WCW's time on top of the wrestling world. Goldberg would hold the title for 174 days before Kevin Nash dethroned him and ended his winning streak.
2 Scott Steiner: Defeated Booker T
Scott Steiner was one of the last wrestlers to hold the WCW World Championship. He spent a large part of his career in one of WCW's best tag units, The Steiner Brothers. "Big Poppa Pump" entered the world title scene in 2000.
At Mayhem 2000, Steiner won his first (and only) WCW World Championship against Booker T in one of the best matches of his career. He held onto the title until the last episode of Nitro, where Booker T won the title before WWE purchased WCW.
1 Big Van Vader: Defeated Sting
Although he had a few major feuds at WWE, Big Van Vader became a wrestling star at WCW. He became the fourth WCW World Champion when he defeated Sting at The Great American Bash 1992.
He held the title three times before the end of his WCW career and was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022.