The world champion is often the most important wrestler for a roster of a mainstream promotion. WWE and WCW each would see their companies most represented by the person to win their respective world championship belt. Both promotions had their fair share of ups and downs when it came to the title reigns of their choices. The titles during the 90s did have strong legacies with usually the biggest names holding them.
We will look at the best from both worlds during the Monday Night Wars in the world title picture. WCW’s champions featured a mixed list of rising stars along with established legends that already had world title experience. WWE’s title holders usually featured the talent in their prime or now starting their ascension to the top. The best representatives will be selected as we name the five best WWE Champions and five best WCW Champions in wrestling history.
10 WWE: CM Punk
The success of CM Punk as WWE Champion earned him a legacy as one of the best title holders in company history. Punk’s infamous “Pipebomb Promo” created the Summer of Punk. Fans wanted to see him get to the top as he defeated John Cena in classic matches to get the title.
Punk’s longest run would see him have the longest WWE Championship reign of the modern era. Great matches against Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio and many others allowed Punk to have one of the most impressive title reigns in WWE history.
9 WCW: Sting
Sting was arguably the greatest star in WCW history and had an impressive total of six WCW Championship reigns. They were enough to give him a respected legacy as a champion, but his resume lacks compared to most of the other elite WCW names.
The six title reigns of Sting only lasted a total of 250 days which makes him lower on the list of better WCW Champions. Sting’s reigns often ended too quickly before he could pass some of the other legacies on the list. The total body of work however earns him the fifth spot of best WCW champs.
8 WWE: The Rock
The Rock won his first WWE Championship in 1998 just two years after debuting in the company. Fans fell in love with the charisma and entertaining promos of The Rock during his stints as both a face and a heel. 2000 was the year Rock’s best title reigns would take place.
Classic matches against Triple H, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit made Rock the face of the company as Steve Austin missed time recovering from an injury. WWE business continued to thrive as Rock was a beloved champion fans could not get enough of. Rock even found success with a short reign during his 2013 return.
7 WCW: Booker T
The end of WCW featured mostly sad moments of the company spiraling out of control. One of the few bright spots was Booker T rising from the tag team division to the top of the card. Booker took advantage of the opportunities offered as the older names started to leave.
Fans still instantly think of Booker having five reigns as WCW Champion when looking back at his career. Booker was the only of the major WCW stars to thrive after making the move to WWE. The credibility earned in WCW with the great title reigns helped him continue to grow his career as a legend.
6 WWE: Bret Hart
Bret Hart was the wrestler to most fill the gap between the end of the Golden Era and the start of the Attitude Era. The great matches of Hart allowed him to become a fan favorite for many years. Vince McMahon made a huge gamble having Bret win the WWE Championship from Ric Flair, but it paid off.
The fan base continued to support Hart after his reign ended when WWE was searching for the face of the company. WWE eventually selected Hart over Lex Luger to win the title at WrestleMania 10 as the new top star. Hart had tremendous matches against Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Undertaker and many others to develop the legacy as an all-time great WWE Champion.
5 WCW: Goldberg
The rise of Goldberg in WCW came out of nowhere since the company was known for constantly pushing former WWE legends over their new young stars. Goldberg however received the best push in the company by defeating everyone on the roster.
An undefeated streak would see Goldberg score 173 wins before suffering his first loss. Goldberg won the WCW Championship by defeating Hulk Hogan in a memorable moment during the streak. The legacy of Goldberg made him a successful WCW Champion before even losing a match.
4 WWE: John Cena
The past fourteen years of WWE television has seen John Cena most associated with the WWE Championship. Cena received his first title win in 2005 by defeating JBL at WrestleMania 21. WWE started pushing Cena to the moon from that point with a consistent presence in the title picture.
Cena won the WWE Championship on a record thirteen occasions, not factoring in his three World Championship reigns. The legacy of Cena as champ featured classics with Edge, Shawn Michaels, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and many others. Cena represented the championship well to lead WWE for over a decade on top.
3 WCW: Ric Flair
Eight of the sixteen world title reigns of Ric Flair recognized by WWE came when he held the WCW Championship. Flair was the face of the promotion in the early 90s with classic feuds against Sting, Lex Luger, Vader and Hulk Hogan for the respected title.
WCW fans were loyal to Flair given the fact that he was always viewed as the legacy star of WCW to WWE’s Hogan. Flair is the man most fans associate first with the big gold belt when thinking of the WCW Championship history. There’s no doubt Flair is an all-time great WCW Champion.
2 WWE: Steve Austin
The success of Steve Austin as the WWE Champion earns him the spot as the best in company history. WWE waited a while before making Austin the champ at WrestleMania 14 to ensure fans were fully on board for the start of a new era in the company.
Austin represented WWE during the Attitude Era with six title reigns lasting 529 days. The reigns to come in 1998 were the strongest for Austin as he led the company to record-breaking success. Austin’s WWE Championship reigns’ legacy is remembered fondly for work against The Rock, Mick Foley, Undertaker and many others.
1 WCW: Hulk Hogan
The heel turn of Hulk Hogan to become Hollywood Hogan as the leader of the New World Order gave WCW new success. Hogan won the WCW Championship on six occasions to last 1,177 days combined, but the win defeating The Giant one month into the nWo reign was the most important.
WCW allowed Hogan to dominate the title picture in 1996-1997 due to the ratings and buy rates flying through the roof. Fans loved the nWo and Hogan’s use of the title made him seem unbeatable. Lex Luger and Goldberg had career-defining moments just defeating Hogan to end his iconic title reigns.