The New Blood era of WCW allowed the company to completely rebuild the promotion. Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff formed a new faction of all the younger wrestlers on the roster that were being “held down” in their eyes by the older wrestlers. The New Blood entered a war with the Millionaire’s Club with both sides trying to gain control and establish dominance of WCW moving forward.
WCW’s booking would make them look bad as the feud went on and the angle never achieved its full potential. We will look at the best overall wrestlers from the New Blood in terms of performance, star power and impact. All these wrestlers had a role in trying to make the younger stars stand out during their short time together. Find out which talent stands at the top of the ten best wrestlers from WCW’s New Blood stable.
10 Booker T
Booker T was one of the hottest younger talents in the New Blood when the angle started. Fans loved him and he was among the few New Blood wrestlers to not get booed. Booker only spent a short time in the faction before leaving due to their heel intent.
The movement of Booker would see him help the Millionaire’s Club and eventually join the Misfits in Action faction. Booker benefited most when the New Blood angle reached the end as the factions ended. The rise of Booker came on his own as one of WCW’s last breakout stars.
9 Scott Steiner
Another wrestler with a short run in the New Blood was Scott Steiner. The first few weeks would see Steiner as one of the main New Blood members looking to take over WCW. Steiner however was better off on his own and eventually left the group.
Shoot promos from Steiner did represent the New Blood style was he ripped apart older talents like Ric Flair and Diamond Dallas Page. Steiner took off to the next level of star power when the New Blood angle ended. WCW needed singles stars to step up and Steiner was one of them.
8 Stacy Keibler
WCW would see Stacy Keibler become one of the all-time popular female stars in company history and one of the final new stars made. Keibler had a stunning look and an inherent charisma that led to her reaching strong levels of popularity in WCW.
The time in the New Blood gave her more time in the ring even in the larger group segments. Keibler was ready to get more television time when the angle ended, and WCW needed new characters to push. The rise of Stacy in WCW led to her finding more success when joining WWE.
7 Rey Mysterio
The only instance of Rey Mysterio turning heel throughout his WCW and WWE runs came when he was part of the Filthy Animals faction in WCW. All the members of the group joined the New Blood to portray the heel characters.
Mysterio was unmasked and tried playing an annoying heel character. Despite it not connecting, his matches were still among the high points of WCW television. Mysterio always deserved consideration among the best performers in WCW during his time in the company.
6 Mike Awesome
The start of the New Blood storyline would see Mike Awesome make his WCW debut attacking Kevin Nash. Awesome was the active ECW Champion when his contract ended, and he made the jump to WCW leading to a controversial moment.
The matches of Awesome against Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon helped him break out in impressive fashion. Awesome’s momentum would not hold up as WCW gave him poor comedic gimmicks that hurt him.
5 Eric Bischoff
The character work of Eric Bischoff made him a tremendous addition to WCW television. Bischoff was clearly better than Vince Russo in that aspect of the job. The New Blood angle saw Bischoff return to television as one of the leaders.
Bischoff represented Billy Kidman and Jeff Jarrett in feuds against his former best friends Hulk Hogan and Diamond Dallas Page. The New Blood angle didn’t necessarily fit Bischoff’s strong suits, but he did a solid job in the role and added more credibility to the new faction.
4 Sean O'Haire
The Natural Born Thrillers were a group of talented young wrestlers from WCW’s Power Plant. It was the perfect timing to push them on WCW television with the New Blood storyline providing a platform. Sean O'Haire stood out as the most talented member of the group in the early stages.
The incredible work of O’Haire led to him looking like a future superstar. WCW did get a boost from the Natural Born Thrillers looking like capable performers despite the limited experience. If the company lasted longer, O’Haire may have been a world title contender.
3 Billy Kidman
Billy Kidman received the biggest push of his career during the New Blood storyline. The cruiserweight rarely worked with top names before this angle. Kidman would get placed into a singles program with Hulk Hogan of all people after Hogan made insulting comments in a radio interview.
WCW booked Kidman to pin Hogan, but the finishes made him look extremely weak as he never could go toe to toe with Hogan. The push of Kidman ended after the Hogan feud and he moved back into his usual routine of cruiserweight or tag team matches.
2 Jeff Jarrett
The wrestler to benefit most from the New Blood was Jeff Jarrett. Vince Russo talked Jarrett into joining WCW with him in 1999 and it paid off in 2000. Jarrett was the first new WCW Champion after all the titles were vacated on the first night of the angle.
A feud with Diamond Dallas Page saw Jarrett become a fixture in WCW’s main event picture. Jarrett remained an upper card performer for the rest of WCW’s history until the company was purchased by WWE. Aside from Russo and Eric Bischoff, Jarrett was the leader of the group.
1 Goldberg
Goldberg’s return to WWE following an injury would see him get involved in the New Blood vs Millionaire’s Club rivalry. Despite making fans think he was aligning with the veterans, Goldberg turned heel by spearing Kevin Nash in shocking fashion.
The alliance of Goldberg with Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff made him by far the most important member of the New Blood. WCW ended the angle shortly after this as Goldberg would only feud with Nash during his time in the faction. Based on the star power and his heel turn, Goldberg still deserves the top spot of all New Blood members.