World Championship Wrestling is often remembered for being a horribly-run professional wrestling organization and a company that, ultimately, lost millions upon millions of dollars before it went out of business and was bought by its competition, the World Wrestling Federation. The old adage teaches that victors write histories, which is why some World Wrestling Entertainment fans who didn’t follow WCW during the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s may only know about a handful of storylines from that organization that were surprisingly good. Instead, those individuals likely know more about all of the things that WCW got wrong during what became the dying days of the promotion. Podcasts and documentaries, some of which have been produced by the WWE over the past 17 years, have touched upon those miscues and poor business decisions that are now infamous among viewers who follow the WWE and other organizations via wrestling newsletters, Internet forums and social media platforms. The New Blood, The Dungeon of Doom, NWO 2000, the Fingerpoke of Doom and Ultimate Warrior joining WCW so Hogan could get his win back (allegedly) are only a handful of the terrible storylines that are still mocked by people who decided to give up on the promotion before it died in March 2001.

It should come as no surprise that some of the best storylines to play out in WCW before and during its rise, and even during its demise, involved a handful of the greatest wrestlers in the business at that time. After all, several WCW performers did manage to get over and become stars thanks to solid feuds and good booking even though older acts like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and Randy Savage were often protected because of all that they had achieved in the business. When one takes the time to realize just how well WCW produced some storylines, it is almost a wonder how the promotion fell so quickly, and how nobody behind the scenes was able to stop the figurative bleeding. Even in its final year, WCW had several noteworthy stars who were popular among those still watching episodes of Nitro. By then, though, too much damage had been done to the WCW brand and name. Critics of WWE shows Raw and SmackDown in 2018 can find plenty bad to say about storylines heading into the summer, but at least McMahon and others aren’t close to running the promotion into the ground. If anything, business is better than ever before thanks to television deals with NBC and Fox.

15 Ric Flair vs. Sting

via wwe.com

Arguably the best storyline that occurred underneath the WCW umbrella involved “Nature Boy” Ric Flair helping get Sting over, in time, and the two continuing their feud up through the final episode of Nitro in 2001. Flair and Sting had some epic encounters that are fondly remembered by fans who wanted to see a new star rise in WCW, and the two also participated in some forgettable television segments and bouts that ate-up TV time when viewers may have considered changing the channel to WWE Raw.

This storyline was so good and generated so much emotion from fans that even the New World Order invading WCW and forcing heels and babyface to join forces and work together couldn’t erase that watching Sting and Flair wrestle on the same side just felt weird.

They were seemingly meant to feud forever, so much so that their battles spread over to other interesting and well-done WCW storylines.

Granted, nobody needed to see Sting and Flair have that one last match on the final edition of Nitro, a contest that was sad and even a little difficult to watch at the time. Still, it was fitting that WCW officially closed its doors after these two met in the ring.

14 Diamond Dallas Page Becomes the People’s Champion

via wrestlingwithpopculture.com

The rise of Diamond Dallas Page from working mid-card feuds with babyface and heel wrestlers to becoming one of the top stars in the promotion was so well done, it is actually worth two spots on this list because of the multiple interesting storylines that involved the character in the 1990s. Page was different than so many others on the WCW roster, in that the company allowed him to become his own man rather than just one of many in a locker room who wanted to defeat the NWO.

It didn’t hurt that Page had the Diamond Cutter, one of the best finishers in all of pro wrestling during the second half of the 1990s. Fans anticipated Page hitting the move seemingly out of nowhere, and WCW did well to protect the Cutter and turn it into a finisher that ended matches regardless of who Page wrestled against. Page celebrating big victories by hopping into the audience rather than walking back up the stage got him over even more. There was actually a time when one could have believed Page would help turn WCW around during the Monday Night Wars. It’s just too bad he was already in his 40s when he was given a chance to carry the ball for WCW.

13 Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio

via hammyreviews.wordpress.com

One thing WCW did better than the WWE throughout the 1990s was the creation and establishment of a Cruiserweight division that gave fans excellent matches and new characters to cheer and boo during episodes of Nitro. Dean Malenko and Rey Mysterio were perfect rivals largely because they were opposites in wrestling styles and gimmicks. Malenko worked as the “Ice Man” and a heel who was technically sound and who didn’t take to the skies for flips or other aerial moves, in part because he cared more about winning than about doing anything to get himself over among fans. Mysterio, meanwhile, wore masks and colorful outfits, and he performed unlike any wrestlers so many fans who grew up watching only WCW or the WWE had ever seen.

Malenko and Mysterio had multiple tremendous contests during this WCW storyline, including one at the 1996 Great American Bash that may have been the best of the bunch.

It’s a shame these two didn’t complete jumps from WCW to WWE at the same time, although it’s possible they would not have been able to continue this storyline with Vince McMahon calling the shots. Regardless, matches between Malenko and Mysterio in WCW hold up two decades after they first occurred.

12 Eric Bischoff Turns Heel

via youtube.com

Knowing everything that we now know in 2018 about the creation and use of a heel authority figure, we understand if you cannot help but roll your eyes over Eric Bischoff serving as the real leader of the NWO being listed among WCW storylines that were surprisingly good. The idea of the Bischoff character wanting to join forces with the Outsiders after he was famously attacked by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash made sense, and the man who was in charge of WCW giving wrestlers ultimatums to either join the NWO or be against that unit in a wrestling war gave that storyline an interesting twist many did not see coming ahead of time.

Bischoff drew heat from fans who wanted to see Sting and even Vince McMahon beat him up inside of a ring, but he made himself too important of a manager and in-ring performer when fans wanted to watch wrestlers and behold a definitive conclusion to the NWO storyline. Had Bischoff suffered one defeat that eliminated the NWO once and for all and that resulted in his storyline removal from power, it’s possible fans would remember the booking more fondly. Bischoff was a great heel, something he showed to be true when he was given the gig of Raw General Manager.

11 Chris Benoit vs. Booker T “Best of 7”

via mrxpunchout.wordpress.com

Here was one WCW storyline that was so good, the WWE actually copied it and used it in 2005. Before either man was pushed as a potential future world champion, Chris Benoit and Booker T embarked on a best-of-seven series involving the two wanting to hold the WCW World Television Championship. This storyline did not just elevate Benoit and Booker T in the eyes of fans who had only known them as mid-card workers. It made the TV title feel important and something a wrestler should covet.

Matches involving Benoit and Booker were always going to be good because both were so talented, but each bout is worth going back and watching because of the stories told during those encounters. Due to the tragic events that occurred during the final days of Benoit’s life, the WWE understandably will not advertise this series for any “Best of WCW” specials that may air on the company’s streaming service. Nobody can blame Vince McMahon or others within the promotion for going this route regarding Benoit’s wrestling legacy, but those who are interested in watching his old matches can easily find the entire series online. It is a storyline that is worth watching for wrestling historians who may have missed it when it first occurred in WCW.

10 Lance Storm Wins Three Titles

via pinterest.com

Revisionist history may convince you that everything that occurred in WCW in 2000 and the first several months of 2001 was downright terrible. That was not exactly the case. Once Lance Storm elected to make the move from Extreme Championship Wrestling to WCW in 2000, the company pushed Storm as one of its newest and top stars. Storm, presented as a gifted athlete and wrestler, won the Cruiserweight, United States and Hardcore Titles in his first month in WCW, and it felt as if he would not have to wait long to be given at least a brief run with the “Big Gold Belt.”

WCW folded before Storm took that next career step, and he was never pushed as strongly in the WWE as he was in WCW.

WCW as an absolute mess when Storm joined the promotion, but the company did well to push his pro-Canadaian/Anti-American character and push him as a serious wrestler who did not need a wacky gimmick to get over. That is one reason why fans popped hard when Storm arrived on WWE television after Vince McMahon bought WCW. Those viewers realized a former WCW Triple Crown winner had debuted. Too bad McMahon never pushed Storm to that level during his stint in the WWE.

9 Steve McMichael Joins the Horsemen

via ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com

Former National Football League player Steve “Mongo” McMichael was never all that great of a commentator while he worked as a member of the Nitro crew, and he failed to develop into all that talented of a wrestler after WCW put him in a storyline involving Mongo’s wife, Debra, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and NFL star Kevin Greene. Remember, though, that we’re talking about good storylines and not necessarily feuds that resulted in historic five-star matches.

Vignettes featuring the two football players training for in-ring action were unintentionally funny, and McMichael turning on his partner to join Flair and the Four Horsemen brought an unexpected element to the storyline. Of course the Flair character would want the former NFL starter to have his back in feuds with the Dungeon of Doom and other stables, and Mongo accepting a briefcase filled with thousands of dollars to turn on Greene was not all that major of a stretch. While just about anybody watching WCW would have preferred a better wrestler been given Mongo’s spot in the Horsemen or in any faction, the execution of this storyline was good enough that it deserves a shout-out in this piece. Besides, he was undeniably better as a Horseman and a wrestler than as a color commentator.

8 Chris Jericho, Conspiracy Victim

via pinterest.com

Chris Jericho was already an entertaining and unique heel in 1998 when his feud with Dean Malenko took an unexpected turn at that year’s edition of Slamboree. The wrestler known as Ciclope won a battle royal for a shot at the Cruiserweight Championship after Juventud Guerrera eliminated himself, and Ciclope reacted by unmasking and showing himself to be a disguised Malenko. Malenko defeated Jericho to win the title, and Y2J later claimed that he was the victim of a massive conspiracy meant to strip him of his championship.

Jericho accused everybody of being in on the scam, so much so that he traveled to Washington D.C. and suggested that President Bill Clinton was involved.

The evolution of the Jericho character throughout the decades has allowed him to continue to work as an elite performer in 2018, and some may say this his “Conspiracy Victim” gimmick was his best while in WCW. Unintentionally, WCW created a huge star in Jericho, but the company then took steps to drop the wrestler back down cards even though he received pops from audiences. Those who take Jericho at his word believe he was a victim of an actual conspiracy meant to prevent him from feuding with Goldberg during his final year in WCW.

7 DDP vs. "Macho Man” Randy Savage

via wrestlingrecaps.com

It is not an overstatement to suggest that Diamond Dallas Page would have never become as big of a star as he was while at his best in WCW if not for his feud with “Macho Man” Randy Savage in 1997. The feud elevated Page into a believable main-event wrestler fans believed could and should eventually win the WCW World Championship, and this excellent storyline provided fans with multiple matches and unforgettable television segments. Fans who watched the episode of Nitro won’t forget seeing La Parka hit Savage with a Diamond Cutter ahead of unmasking as none other than DDP and earning a shocking pinfall.

The crowd popped as if they had witnessed a title change hands, and this moment gave the storyline additional fuel during the summer.

Savage ended up winning the final match of the feud, a piece of information that has actually become somewhat forgotten by those who mostly remember the storyline for Page’s rise in the promotion. Perhaps WCW made a mistake in not pulling the trigger on Page winning the WCW World Heavyweight until 1999. He was still a star at that time, but Page felt more special during his feud with Savage. Age, injuries and some bad booking prevented Page from being a top star in the WWE after WCW shut down.

6 Ric Flair vs. Vader

via top250.tv

It is a little funny to think that the storyline all the way back in late 1993 was that “Nature Boy” Ric Flair was too old and too past his prime to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Vader at that year’s Starrcade, which happened to take place in Flair’s hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. The storyline involved Flair putting his career on the line against Vader, the unstoppable monster heel capable of legitimately hurting opponents during matches. While this is not one of Flair’s best WCW matches, he played a perfect undersized babyface who bumped all over the ring for Vader and who looked incapable of notching the victory until he used a roll-up to beat the big man and hoist the title.

Fans and analysts alike often remember Flair playing the “Dirtiest Player in the Game” and a tremendous heel who talked about his money, his belongings and even the women who walked with him to and from ringsides at shows. This match showed Flair could also be the best babyface in the world when he needed to portray that type of character. From start to finish, Flair’s WCW resume, all on its own, makes a good argument that he is the greatest pro wrestler in history.

5 Leg Luger Beats Hogan

via ringthedamnbell.wordpress.com

For whatever reasons, Lex Luger does not get the respect he deserves among far too many observers for his work in 1996 and 1997 during the storyline involving the invasion of the NWO, and WCW wrestlers feuding with that faction. Over that year, Luger completed the transition from playing a heel who pretended to be a babyface to an actual face and one of the top stars in WCW. By the time August 4, 1997 arrived, Luger was a fan-favorite who received pops in arenas and who had one of the most over submission finishers in all of WCW — The Torture Rack.

That night could have been the final redemption for the Luger character and also the beginning of the end of the NWO, as Luger won the title clean after he made Hogan submit.

Those in attendance jumped to their feet in celebration for what was one of the loudest pops in Nitro history, and Luger became the No. 1 guy in the company. His run at the top lasted less than a full week, though, as WCW just couldn’t help itself and put the championship back on Hogan five days later. People can say whatever they want about Luger as a worker or a promo. WCW blew it by not giving him an actual championship reign in 1997.

4 Original NWO

For the purposes of this portion of the piece, ignore all that you know about what happened with the NWO from the end of 1997 through the final days of WCW. Instead, focus mainly on the summer of 1996 and the original trio of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan. Hall and Nash working as an invading team, potentially one sent by Vince McMahon and the WWF/WWE, and Hogan, the WWF’s most iconic star of the 1980s and 1990s, joining forces with those two made for must-see television on Monday nights.

They created chaos, they attacked wrestlers with baseball bats and other weapons behind the curtain and inside of rings, and they were “cool” heels who got over among audiences because the faction did not feel like any normal wrestling group. As silly as it may seem for wrestling fans who grew up reading about rumors and speculation via the Internet, some believed as least portions of this storyline were real. To this day, urban legends exist about McMahon being responsible for the NWO sinking his major competition during the Monday Night Wars. The NWO idea lasted much longer than it ever should have, but it is probably the best storyline WCW created in the mid-90s.

3 Crow Sting

via uproxx.com

One cannot appreciate the NWO and all that it meant to television ratings, pay-per-view buys and the popularity of WCW without mentioning the evolution of Sting. Ahead of the 1996 Fall Brawl show main-evented by a War Games match between the NWO and WCW wrestlers, the NWO used a Fake Sting to trick Lex Luger and the rest of WCW that the actual Sting had jumped ship. The real Sting declared himself a free agent after the pay-per-view, and he appeared in the rafters wearing face paint similar to the character from The Crow.

By the time Sting was given a chance to face Hogan at Starrcade 1997, fans were ready for him to win the championship and serve as the company’s top babyface.

The build for this match was nearly flawless, and Sting should have just earned a clean victory over the heel Hogan. Instead, WCW attempted its own version of the Montreal Screwjob, one fans didn’t buy after referee Nick Patrick counted a Hogan pinfall on Sting at normal speed instead of using a fast count as he had been scripted. Some view Starrcade ’97 and not the infamous “Fingerpoke of Doom” as the real start of the demise of WCW.

2 Arn Anderson Feuds With Ric Flair

via wwe.com

“Nature Boy” Ric Flair and “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson feuding in 1995 was a storyline many thought they’d never see, and it resulted in the two having multiple matches that Anderson won with the help of Brian Pillman. The writing for this was brilliant and logical, and so some viewers probably thought nothing of it when a babyface Sting and Flair teamed-up to face the pair of heels who had tormented Flair for some time. Flair turned on Sting, of course, to spark the creation of a new Four Horsemen, which was a tremendous swerve but also one that took some momentum away from the Anderson character who had showed sparks and glimpses of potentially having one last run on his own.

Fans learned in the summer of 1997 that Anderson’s body had already begun to betray him by the end of ’96, and he was protected in any bouts or physical segments he was involved with during the final years of WCW. As good as this storyline was up until Flair’s turn, it could have resulted in more matches and a better conclusion had it occurred earlier in the 1990s. Both men cut incredible promos ahead of bouts that made us believe the Horsemen were finally finished. We all should have known better.

1 Rise of Goldberg

via culturedvultures.com

No one thing, on its own, killed WCW, but it is often remarked that the company’s unwillingness to create new stars to compete with the WWF’s “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and others was the biggest mistake made by those in charge of the promotion. There is some truth in that, but the company got one big thing right in making Goldberg its biggest draw and top babyface. When Goldberg first appeared on WCW Nitro on September 22, 1997, the assumption was that he was a jobber being used to put Hugh Morrus over. Goldberg earning a surprising victory was the start of the company’s most famous winning streak, one that is still mentioned on WWE television.

Goldberg won the United States Heavyweight Championship, and he went on to defeat Hulk Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship on an edition of Nitro in July 1998. All things considered, Goldberg may have never been hotter than he was when he beat Hogan, and it may have been better for all concerned had his victory ended the NWO storyline, and had he dropped the title to Diamond Dallas Page rather than to Kevin Nash later that year. Even when WCW made a star, the company squandered that storyline. It’s no wonder WCW was dead less than three years after Goldberg’s streak ended.