The legacy of WCW in the modern day is a bit of a mixed one, as it represents both an honored history of traditional wrestling and also stands as a symbol for how low a wrestling company can go in an attempt to become the best.

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Likewise, WCW's in-ring product varies wildly through its many active decades, ranging from stone-cold classics that hold up today to all-time stinkers that still deserve the ridicule they got back in the day. Let's take a look at the 5 absolute best and 5 absolute worst matches in the history of World Championship Wrestling.

10 Best: Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero, Halloween Havoc 1997

Among the best cruiserweight matches of all time is this encounter between two of the greatest talents the wrestling business has ever seen. Guerrero and Mysterio's bout is not only spoken of reverently among fans and critics but also by wrestlers who grew up idolizing the two men and still reference their match together over twenty years later. WCW's cruiserweight division is one that provided opportunities to many undersized or foreign talent that may not have had it otherwise, giving them the chance to shine brighter than any other.

9 Worst: Vampiro vs Sting, Great American Bash 2000

WCW has an unfortunate legacy of inventing gimmick matches that served to confuse and insult wrestling fans and this "Human Torch Match" between Sting and Vampiro is one of its worst. The object of the match is to light your opponent on fire, which was accomplished with so much ballyhoo that it's laughable. By the end, a stunt double in Sting face-paint was set ablaze and dove off of the video screen. The "match" was more akin to a  stunt show and showed how WCW could waste good talent on silly, useless matches.

8 Best: Steiner Brothers vs Sting & Lex Luger, Superbrawl I

At certain points, WCW had some of the most athletic and talented wrestlers on the planet. When they were able to showcase that fact, there was nothing better. This tag match between the Steiners and good friends Sting and Luger is a classic that still remains somewhat underrated but is every bit as good as it is made out to be.

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While not a long match, it's indicative of how WCW had an eye for talent and allowed them to do their thing, resulting in some of the best matches in North American history.

7 Worst: Chamber of Horrors Match, Halloween Havoc 1991

This clunker came at a time when WCW was struggling to find its identity amid a changing wrestling landscape and matches like these were an example of them trying something that didn't work.

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The match, ostensibly an 8-man tag by way of a horror movie, had the objective of putting someone from the opposing team into an electric chair and throwing the switch, seemingly shocking them to death. The match (held inside a steel cage that more resembled a deep fryer) featured poor wrestling and absurd theatrics, capped off with Abdullah The Butcher seemingly killed via electricution.

6 Best: War Games, WrestleWar 1992

Before WWE officially adopted it in recent years, WCW was the home for the War Games match, a traditionally violent and intense affair. The 1992 version of it is viewed by many as the very best of them all, featuring Sting's Squadron taking on Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. The talent on display, including future star Steve Austin and legend Ricky Steamboat among others, and the violent brawling they engaged in made this an affair to remember, even netting the elusive (at the time) 5-star review from wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer.

5 Worst: War Games, Fall Brawl 1998

Not all the War Games were winners and this one takes the cake as the worst in company history. In a baffling move, the match was changed from 5 vs 5 to  3 teams of 3, with WCW and both nWo factions represented. The match was laid out confusingly and even featured a cameo from the Ultimate Warrior, all of which led to Diamond Dallas Page pinning the out-of-place Stevie Ray. This remains one of the clearer examples of WCW complicating what was already pristine, which ended up ruining one of their can't-miss matches.

4 Best: Ric Flair vs Sting, Great American Bash 1990

WCW is often remembered as a company that had trouble creating new stars but every once in awhile, it got it right. Having already tangled years before for the championship, Sting spent his time as a slowly-rising star before finding himself across from WCW Champion Ric Flair again and finally capturing his first world title.

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This passing-of-the-torch moment launched Sting as one of WCW's biggest stars and stands as a fantastic match in its own right. Another jewel in the crown of one of the best wrestlers in history, Ric Flair.

3 Worst: Doomsday Cage Match, Uncensored 1996

The addition of Hulk Hogan to WCW led it down a new path. One that, while financially successful, was often creatively bankrupt. This match involved a double-decker cage that Hogan and Randy Savage had to fight their way through, facing opponents from Ric Flair to Lex Luger and Hogan's movie nemesis Z-Gangsta among others. The match was a plodding affair that both the live crowd and the home audience had trouble seeing and proved that the company was willing to kowtow to Hogan to a ridiculous degree to keep him happy.

2 Best: Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat, WrestleWar 1989

The trilogy of matches between Flair and Steamboat remains one of the touchstones of pro wrestling history and it's nearly impossible to determine which one is the best of the three. Their third and final encounter does stand out as the best because of the dynamic between the two from a character standpoint, as Flair became desperate in his bid to become NWA World Champion. Their match together was a pitched struggle to be the best and cemented the legacies of both men, along with WCW as a place to find world-class wrestling.

1 Worst: Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior, Halloween Havoc 1998

As much as Flair and Steamboat set the bar for good wrestling in WCW, Hogan and Warrior's years-too-late rematch did the same in the opposite direction. The protracted encounter between the aging legends was boring and borderline-embarrassing as they used every trick in the book (including a failed fireball) to get anything from one another. Hogan's win was another example of him using his influence to avenge a years-old loss, at the expense of WCW's credibility and the fan's patience. The match remains the worst of the worst and one of the company's worst decisions in the string of many.

NEXT: The 10 Longest WCW Championship Reigns Of All Time