Wrestling fans lost their minds for all kinds of reasons on March 26, 2001. That’s the date that the WWE had purchased WCW. Vince McMahon, for the most part now had control of every major wrestling promotion in North America. He also had access to just about every big-name wrestler, unless they were collecting fat checks from Time Warner and were waiting to come over. That made for a pretty crummy invasion angle.

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It should have been the ultimate wrestling story of all time featuring tons of dream matches that would have never been seen before or since. Because the big names chose to get paid big bucks (can you blame them?!), the WCW roster was filled with mostly green or unknown guys, DDP, and Booker T. That was it. Paul Heyman and ECW needed to join the fray to make things at least quasi-interesting. But what if the big guns came in at the time of the sale? We might still be talking about how amazing this story was. WCW might even still be a viable brand? Here are 10 Dream WCW Vs WWE Matches We Would’ve Loved To See (But Never Will).

10 Sting Vs. The Undertaker

Sting talks about it whenever he’s asked. He finally came to the WWE in shocking fashion at the 2014 Survivor Series and fans all hoped we’d finally see it. The two dark warriors and stalwarts for their respective companies might finally collide.

The Icon against The Phenom. WrestleMania 31 would’ve been prime real estate for this match, but Sting was set for HHH and The Deadman was coming for Bray Wyatt. Later in 2015, Sting caught an errant buckle bomb that pretty ended his career and any real hope for this match to happen.

9 Goldberg Vs. The Ultimate Warrior

This match would probably stink the joint out, but it would have been a fun incoherent build between the WCW and WWE’s resident musclebound meathead psychopaths. Both man had similar career trajectories, each rising through the ranks at a ridiculous pace neither man was ready for.

But both men had an unmatched intensity that resonated with the fans as well. Done right, the match really wouldn’t stink the joint out, it would be a hard-hitting smash mouth match that would have at least one devastating spot fans would contribute to talk about to this very day.

8 New World Order Vs. Dx

Admit it, we all thought these two factions were alike, even though they weren’t. But that is exactly what would have made this feud completely bananas. The back and forth antics of both squads, along with the infighting and betrayal of both groups.

The match would be something for the ages, until HBK, HHH, X-Pac, Hall, and Nash just annihilate everyone that isn’t them, leaving the Kliq to stand alone as an official faction.

7 The Harlem Heat Vs. The Hardy Boys

The Harlem Heat weren’t just the best tag team to never have worked in the WWE, they’re they would have been able to hold their own against any of the major tag teams during the Attitude Era.

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Since the Hardys are still around, they’ll be the arbitrary sacrificial lambs to see Booker T and Stevie Ray hurl around the ring. They’re styles are so different that they would be able to complement each other a good hard-fought match.

6 Hulk Hogan Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin

In the “my god, are they morons?!” department, the most obvious match in wrestling history never took place. Both Stone Cold and Hulk were two of the most over babyfaces ever but were both also two of the best heels either company had at various points.

The back and forth right there alone was worth the price of admission. But the WWE chose to with Rock and Hogan instead, an equally anticipated match. Perhaps if Austin didn’t go home, they could have headlined SummerSlam. But by time he came back, Hogan was locked in with Vince at WrestleMania XIX and Austin worked his last match that night.

5 Diamond Dallas Page Vs. The Rock

The match was a ready-made battle of the people and for the people since long before WWE owned WCW. Both DDP and the Rock both used to say they were The People’s Champ, the pop for DDP dropping the Great One with the Diamond Cutter would have been electrifying and all this war would’ve needed to get started.

On paper, the match itself is too hard to judge, but the buildups and whatever gaga that would’ve happened during their showdown would have made the People’s Champ Battle memorable.

4 Bret Hart Vs. Kurt Angle

Yes, Bret Hart is more synonymous with WWE, but c’mon - this is match of the night in anytime, anywhere in the world when both the Hitman and the Cyborg were at their peaks. The story was so simple - Bret still angry at Vince and how the American WWE treated assaults our Olympic hero.

It’s actually the kind of match that could never leave up to hype of it, but both Hall Of Famers worked a kind of style that would make sure they got a good to great match out their opponent. If anyone could’ve lived up to the hype, it’s these two.

3 The Steiner Brothers Vs. The Dudley Boys

While it’s not as prominent as some of other matches in this list, it would certainly be the most hard-hitting match in the history of wrestling. That’s not just hyperbole either, both true Dudleys and the Steiners were famous for working stiff and launching opponents into the air with a variety of tandem assaults.

If they would be able to get each other up for bulldogs, suplexes, the 3D, and a Frankensteiner or two, we’d have a bloody extreme war for the ages.

2 Eric Bischoff Vs. Vince McMahon

It’s understandable why in reality, Vince McMahon didn’t have any interest in booking himself in a match with Eric Bischoff. It happened on Raw once, but not to the level that fans wanted to see.

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Besides their ages at the time, Vince already bought the competition, so he would have had to have either have utterly destroyed Bischoff, leaving him no heat, or the former CEO of WCW would have had to lay Vince out, and that is something that the Vince character would have never allowed to happen. But still, had Bischoff come to terms at the time of the sale, this match no matter how terrible it would’ve been would’ve had to happen.

1 Team WCW Vs. Team WWE

Sure, this match happened several times during the Invasion angle, but nowhere near as good at it should have been. Recently, on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff had said that Team WCW, circa 1998 would’ve been Goldberg, Macho Man, Jericho, DDP, and Rey Mysterio.

Take Y2J out since he was already in WWE and substitute him with Sting (he IS the Franchise, after all) to take on some of the WWE’s best and you had a mega match for the ages instead the WCW ECW Alliance nonsense.

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