For many years, WCW was one of the biggest promotions in pro wrestling. It rivaled WWE and came a lot closer to shutting them down than some people in McMahon Land want to admit. But being a big company like WCW requires a lot of moving parts to keep functioning, particularly wrestlers.

RELATED: 10 Backstage Stories About WCW Nitro We Can't Believe

Several big names worked for WCW, particularly throughout the Monday Night Wars. Guys like Ric Flair and Sting continued to work long after WCW shut down. But there were also wrestlers who were mainstays of the company during that era, but many fans have forgotten about since it came to an end.

10 Billy Kidman

Billy Kidman in ring

Debuting in 1994, Billy Kidman found his footing in the business and is regarded as a legendary Cruiserweight by those who remember him. His first notable run came with WCW in the late 1990s as a member of Raven's Flock. He would go on to become a multi-time Cruiserweight and Tag Team champion in both WCW and WWE.

Since 2007, he has spent the majority of his career working behind the scenes with WWE as a trainer and a producer. While he is undoubtedly an invaluable member of the team, a lot of fans have forgotten about this top tier competitor.

9 Ernest Miller

Ernest Miller fights in the ring

Known in his WCW days as Ernest "The Cat" Miller, he debuted with the company in 1997. He was apparently a karate instructor who was training Eric Bischoff's son. As such, Eric asked him to join the company as a wrestler. Miller was also a three-time karate world champion as well as an ISKA kickboxing champion.

RELATED: 10 Biggest Mistakes WCW Made With The nWo

When WWE bought WCW, Miller stuck with the company for a couple of years but was ultimately released in 2004. He was one of many WCW transplants who chaffed against WWE's system. This marked the end of his wrestling career.

8 Crowbar

Crowbar is ready to fight

A lot of wrestling fans remember Crowbar from his relatively short stint with WCW from 1999 to 2001. But he debuted in the business in 1992, and worked with WWE from 1997 to 1999. Crowbar's WCW run was notable mostly due to his team with Daffney and David Flair, son of the legendary Ric Flair.

What a lot of mainstream wrestling fans don't now is that Crowbar has continued wrestling in the indies since WCW ended in 2001. He even had a couple of brief runs with TNA, though they weren't particularly impactful.

7 David Flair

David Flair is a lunatic in WCW

Charlotte Flair is not the only child of the iconic Ric Flair to try their hand at professional wrestling. That being said, she remains the most successful of Flair's children by far. Seriously. It's not even close.

The majority of David Flair's in ring career was spent with WCW where he's primarily remembered for working with Crowbar and Daffney. After the end of WCW, Flair had brief runs with WWE, NWA, TNA and on the indies. But his accomplishments in the ring have certainly been eclipsed by those of his sister.

6 Sean O'Haire

Sean O'Haire

When it comes to someone who had all the tools to be a success, Sean O'Haire was certainly on that list. After coming out of the WCW Power Plant, he debuted on a 2000  episode of Nitro. Fans only had a short time to get to know him before WCW was bought out by WWE.

O'Haire would retire from wrestling in 2006 after working with WWE, NJPW and on the indies. The next few years would see issues with depression and alcoholism plague him. Sean O'Haire tragically committed suicide in 2014, though no one should forget his talent.

5 Tank Abbott

Tank Abbott

When it comes to old school UFC fighters, Tank Abbott is one of the most old school of them all. He debuted at UFC 6 in 1995, and carved a name for himself as a brutal brawler who was low on technique and high on raw power.

Abbott's brief stint in pro wrestling was notable for the wrong reasons as he joined WCW at the worst time. This was the point the company was essentially disintegrating behind the scenes, and most of his storylines fell apart. In the end, his best angle saw him fan stalking the fictional boy band, 3 Count and trying to join them. It didn't work out.

4 Mark Jindrak

Mark Jindrak

Keeping in mind that Mark Jindrak has been wrestling around the world for two decades, the best known moment of his career is one that didn't happen. Another WCW Power Plant graduate, Jindrak debuted with the company in 1999. He continued with WWE after the end of WCW and was originally the fourth member of Evolution.

Ultimately, Jindrak was replaced by Batista. He would leave WWE in 2005, but continued to work for companies like AAA and CMLL until 2018. Mark has never officially retired but it's been a while since his last match.

3 Vampiro

Vampiro

There are long careers in pro wrestling, and then there's Vampiro. He debuted in 1984, continuing to be an active part of the industry through 2020. During that time, he worked with virtually every major promotion in Japan, Mexico and the US, except for WWE.

RELATED: 10 WrestleMania Matches Of WCW World Champions, Ranked Worst To Best

Vampiro was part of the WCW roster from 1998 to 2001 where his most notable feud was with Sting. He was out injured when WCW was purchased by WWE, and the company did not pick up his contract. But he remained active with companies like AAA, CMLL, AJPW, and Lucha Underground.

2 Buff Bagwell

Buff Bagwell

While he wasn't exactly the greatest wrestler to step through the ropes. Buff Bagwell certainly had the look. He was definitely a franchise player in WCW, working with the company from 1991 through 2001. Bagwell then accepted a contract buyout from WWE, and had a run with the company that was notable for its brevity.

Buff was hired and fired in 2001. He has continued to pop up on the indies ever since, though his career was hampered by a severe car crash in 2012. To his credit, Bagwell recovered and got back in the ring when he was healthy, again.

1 Alex Wright

Alex Wright dancing in the ring

Without question, Alex Wright should have been a much bigger deal that he was. He worked with WCW from 1994 to 2001, the vast majority of his in ring career. Contract issues prevented him from signing with WWE after the buyout and Wright retired from competition in 2003. He had been frustrated by all the backstage nonsense in WCW.

But that hasn't stopped him from being involved. Wright has been running his own wrestling promotion in Germany called New European Championship Wrestling since 2009 and operates a wrestling school called The Wright Stuff.

NEXT: 10 Awful Matches On Otherwise Great WCW PPVs