Main eventing a pay per view is one of the most prestigious acheivements a wrestler can accomplish. An event that customers have paid their hard earned money to see and to be the final match on that card, the one match that the whole night has been building to, must be something truly something, especially when you're signed to a major company like World Championship Wrestling.
The likes of Ric Flair, Sting and Hulk Hogan have got dozens of main events between them, with DDP, Lex Luger and Scott Steiner also having a strong number of show closers under their respective belts. However, within all of WCW's pay per views, there are a few names that only got to close the show once and here are 10 of those wrestlers.
10 RON SIMMONS - HALLOWEEN HAVOC 1991
This is one of the most frustrating, yet historic moments not just in WCW history but in wrestling history. While Ron Simmons main eventing Halloween Havoc in 1991 is a slice of history that people will look back on fondly, this event is only known for the 'Chamber of Horrors' match at the beginning at the show which was SO BAD it was almost good. Nevertheless, Simmons made history on this night.
Facing Lex Luger in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Simmons was on the losing end of the match. That being said it doesn't undermine the achievement made by Ron Simmons at this event. He would become the first African American world champion in the following year - October 27th 1991 will be a night that Simmons broke down cultural barriers, even if it was just on a single occasion.
9 RICK RUDE - WRESTLEWAR 1992
The ravishing one had a stellar post-WWE career in the early 1990s. He competed at select independent shows and in All Japan Pro Wrestling before finally landing permanently in WCW in the fall of 1991. It wasn't long after that he alligned himself with Paul E. Dangerously (a.k.a. what's Paul Heyman doing with that massive phone?) and would form 'The Dangerous Alliance'.
It was as a member of said Alliance that Rude would get his one and only WCW main event, when he competed in the gruelling WarGames match taking on 'Sting's Squadron' at WrestleWar 1992. Rude's career would prematurely end just 2 years later meaning that Rude actually has the same amount of WCW main events as his manager at the time, Mr E. Dangerously.
8 STEVE AUSTIN - WRESTLEWAR 1992
The other member of The Dangerous Alliance who made his one single main event appearance in WCW is a man who would eventually go on to become arguably the most popular wrestler of all time. A man who would wrestle at 70 different WWE pay per views in later years, with over half of those events having him in the main event match, Steve Austin.
The future Texas Rattlesnake would be the final piece of the puzzle for The Dangerous Alliance when Paul E. would add Austin to the ranks as the young rookie who would be the future of the business (he wasn't wrong there). The Alliance would eventually crumble in the wake of them losing to Sting's Squadron, however Austin wouldn't have to worry too much as bigger plans were in store for him later on down the line.
7 JAKE ROBERTS - HALLOWEEN HAVOC 1992
Not only was this Jake Roberts' single WCW pay per view main event, it was also his single pay per view match for the company. After leaving WWE shortly after Wrestlemania 8 due to not getting a position on the writing team, Roberts would debut for WCW in the summer of 1992 and thanks to his star power, incredible promo work and an intimidating snake at ringside, he found himself in a title match.
Competing for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in a 'Coal Miner's Glove Match' that was ultimately forgettable, Roberts' stint in WCW was so quick that a fan would potentially miss it if they so happened to blink a bit longer than usual. However having already been in the business for 18 years at the time of the match, Roberts was already prepared to start winding down his career, even though that didn't happen for another 2 decades.
6 THE SHOCKMASTER - FALL BRAWL 1993
His debut lives in a weird paradox of a world where it is both the worst debut in the history of wrestling and also the best piece of footage that was captured by WCW cameras, in ring or out. However, Fred Ottman has owned the embarassing moment to the point that his moderately successful run as 'Tugboat' in the WWE is often not the first thing that pops into fans minds when the big man is mentioned.
Despite the mishap on his debut, The Shockmaster and his lovely stormtrooper helmet covered in purple glitter got to headline Fall Brawl 1993 as a member of Team Sting for that year's WarGames match against Harlem Heat, Vader and Sid Vicious. The big man even got the victory for his team putting Booker T (then known as Kole) in a bearhug to gain the win, so at least he has that on his resume.
5 CACTUS JACK - HALLOWEEN HAVOC 1993
When fans think of the success that Mick Foley has had in his career in Japan, ECW and WWE, it's truly baffling that he only got to headline a single WCW pay per view event during his run there. Even worse, the angle that was running in the lead up to the main event of Halloween Havoc 1993 where he would wrestle Vader is one where he has apparently escaped from a mental institution and developed amnesia, because of course he did.
While WCW didn't know what they had on their hands with Foley, he and Vader put on a true match of the year in the show closer. A brutal Texas Death Match that still makes fans cringe to this day when they see Foley taking some of the bumps that he did. Foley would go on to take even more wince inducing bumps on his way to being one of the most celebrated wrestlers of all time.
4 KAMALA - FALL BRAWL 1995
The reason why a company like ECW did so well in the mid 1990s was while they were putting on the extreme gritty bloodbaths that fans wanted to see, the WWE resembled a childrens' saturday morning cartoon and WCW had 'The Dungeon of Doom'. The stable that on camera was poised to destroy Hulkamania forever, when in theory it was set up so all of Hulk Hogan's friends could get some work.
One of those short term members was Kamala who made a brief pit stop in WCW in 1995 to try and stop Hogan and his legions of Hulkamaniacs. Kamala was on the Dungeon's team for that year's WarGames match that Hogan won, of course, but that was the last of Kamala that fans would see in WCW. He would truly wind down his career following his WCW exit, only making select appearances until retiring in 2010.
3 NWO STING - FALL BRAWL 1996
It's not often that someone can have a successful career being a rip off of somebody else, but that's exactly what Paul Farmer did in 1996 when he transformed from 'Cobra' to 'nWo Sting'. After Sting had gone away for a while to rehab injuries and reimagine his gimmick into the crow inspired crusader that is still going strong to this day, the New World Order thought they would have their own.
nWo Sting would only have a few official matches in WCW with this being his only pay per view match, a member of team nWo in that year's WarGames against team WCW. While Farmer would be the fall guy to the likes of Hogan, Hall and Nash whenever nWo needed to be on the losing end of something, the fake Stinger would achieve a respectable level of success in Japan as a member of nWo Japan.
2 CURT HENNIG - FALL BRAWL 1997
The Four Horsemen vs The nWo on paper seems like an absolute dream match, however their WarGames match at the 1997 Fall Brawl event was less than desirable. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. What also wasn't good was that this match was the only WCW main event that the former Mr Perfect Curt Hennig wrestled in, which is a crime punishable by watching WCW in 2000.
Hennig wasn't even technically in the match either. After being jumped backstage by his opponents on the night, The Horsemen were left without their enforcer who eventually turned up to ringside with a sling around his arm. This was of course a swerve, as Hennig would betray The Horsemen, join the nWo, and yet never main event another pay per view despite being a member of the most powerful stable in the entire company. Madness.
1 DAVID ARQUETTE - SLAMBOREE 2000
In a way, it's actually quite easy to feel sorry for David Arquette looking back on his ill-fated WCW run in 2000. He was only there to promote the even more ill-fated movie 'Ready to Rumble'. He didn't want to win the World Championship, he knew it was a bad idea, why put the poor guy through all of this for ratings, Vince Russo? Why? In the midst of his run, Arquette even got to headline a pay per view too, because why not.
Defending his title in a 'Triple Cage Match' which was the same cage from the movie Arquette was promoting, Arquette did what every good actor does at a time in their career and sells out. He turned heel on opponent/friend/main rival (in the movie) DDP to side with Jeff Jarrett who became champion in this, David Arquette's only pay per view main event.