WCW had a great presence in the wrestling industry throughout the 90s as the main competition to WWE. The two promotions battled to be the top company in the wrestling world with WCW going through various changes in different eras. WCW hoped to book strong programs with the wrestlers up and down the card in feuds.
The best programs include the New World Order feuding with WCW, Sting having an iconic rivalry with Ric Flair, and Diamond Dallas Page breaking out against Randy Savage. However, there were plenty of negative scenarios to even things out. Each of the following feuds in WCW were the worst of each year in the ‘90s decade.
10 1990: Sting Vs The Black Scorpion
WCW put a lot of time into the mystery Black Scorpion wrestler entering a feud with Sting. The masked figure interfered in Sting’s matches and tried to torment him for months setting up a huge match at Starrcade 1990.
A win for Sting meant that the Black Scorpion would be forced to unmask with fans expecting a big reveal. The most predictable choice of Ric Flair when Sting unmasked him completely ruined the appeal since it was the person Sting mostly feuded with in recent years.
9 1991: El Gigante Vs Sid Vicious
The concept of a giant vs giant match is always hit or miss depending on the talent involved. WCW hoped that the feud between Sid Vicious and El Gigante aka Gaint Gonzalez in WWE would make both men look like intimidating figures moving forward.
Unfortunately, there was little appeal for the inexperienced El Gigante and inconsistent Sid. A boring stretcher match at SuperBrawl 1991 saw El Gigante winning after just two minutes. Both men came out looking bad after this terrible short program.
8 1992: Sting Vs Jake Roberts
WCW made a few big mistakes in the Sting vs Jake Roberts feud that should have gone way better than it did. Roberts targeted Sting as his first major rival when jumping ship from WWE to become an instant top heel for WCW.
Halloween Havoc 1992 featured the spin the wheel concept leading to a legitimately unexpected Coal Miner’s Glove match. The worst stipulation on the wheel being selected ruined their big match. Roberts then left WCW before they could pay it off with a better blowoff match.
7 1993: Davey Boy Smith Vs Vader
Another feud to miss the mark due to a lack of an ending featured Davey Boy Smith challenging top monster heel WCW Champion Vader. WCW signed Smith not too long after this classic SummerSlam 1992 win over Bret Hart and hoped to push him in the main event scene.
The matches between the two either ended in DQ/no contest and a house show bout in the United Kingdom even had a bait and switch of a title change being reversed. Smith was reportedly in line to win WCW Championship at Starrcade 1993, but he was fired for getting in a bar fight to make the feud incomplete.
6 1994: Hulk Hogan Vs The Butcher
1994 was a massive change for WCW when Hulk Hogan joined as the top star and brought many of his friends with him for a push. Hogan’s best friend Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake received a main event push as The Butcher in WCW.
The rivalry between the two referenced their close friendship ending when The Butcher betrayed Hogan. WCW main evented their biggest event of the year Starrcade 1994 with a terrible bout between the two. Hogan won a match barely worthy of a house show, let alone the biggest annual event.
5 1995: Hulk Hogan Vs The Giant
Another brutal Hulk Hogan feud came one year later in 1995 when working with The Giant. Hogan discovered Big Show before he became a wrestler and talked him into joining WCW to make huge money working with him.
WCW placed a rookie Giant into the main event picture against Hogan. Halloween Havoc 1995 saw Giant falling off a roof in a sumo monster truck battle and bear hugging Hogan with the Yeti on the same night. Hogan also came up with the idea of have The Giant play Andre the Giant’s son to make it even more embarrassing.
4 1996: The Alliance To End Hulkamania Vs The Mega Powers
Hulk Hogan was the focal point of the worst WCW feud for three straight years when joining the company. 1996 was the year that the Alliance to End Hulkamania was formed for a handicap doomsday cage match against Hogan and Randy Savage.
Members of the Four Horsemen and Dungeon of Doom merged to face the former Mega Powers in a ridiculous all-time bad match. Hogan getting the better of his enemies with the odds stacked against him represented why fans lost interest in him and influenced the New World Order heel turn later that year.
3 1997: Eric Bischoff Vs Larry Zbyszko
The New World Order attempting to take over WCW led to Eric Bischoff turning heel and becoming a figurehead for the group. WCW color commentator and Hall of Fame wrestler Larry Zbyszko got over with the audience for standing up to the nWo in impressive fashion.
Bischoff and Zbyszko entered a war of words that jumped the shark when setting up a match at Starrcade 1997.
Bret Hart’s debut was wasted as the referee of this match as it ended in DQ. WCW wasted time setting up a match between a retired wrestler and a non-wrestler on an ego trip.
2 1998: Hulk Hogan Vs Ultimate Warrior
WCW signed Ultimate Warrior many years after his prime to go back to an old feud from his WWE days. Warrior was one of the few wrestlers Hulk Hogan never defeated, with greater importance of cleanly dropping the WWE Championship to him.
The rematch in WCW held appeal, but that was lost during the build of Warrior having a supernatural side. Hogan seeing things in mirrors and Warrior cutting incoherent promos culminated with an all-time bad match at Halloween Havoc 1998. WCW decided to stop booking Warrior afterwards due to how poorly the feud with Hogan went.
1 1999: Randy Savage Vs Dennis Rodman
WCW was in a rough spot around the summer of 1999 after losing ratings and falling far behind WWE in the Monday Night Wars. Randy Savage returned with a new gimmick of having three female managers in Team Madness.
NBA star Dennis Rodman also came back after his previous highly successful appearances as a member of the New World Order. A singles feud between Savage and Rodman turned into a train wreck with Rodman attempting to abduct Savage’s love interest Gorgeous George. The big blow off match was even more bizarre with standout moments like Savage trapping Rodman in a porta-potty before winning decisively.