The Monday Night Wars created a landscape that saw most wrestlers moving back and forth between WWE and WCW. Few names like Sting and The Undertaker remained loyal to one company, but most talents used the competition as leverage to get the bigger contract. A performer is typically is more valuable to a new company as WWE would end up paying big bucks to former WCW talents wanting a change.

RELATED: 5 Former WWE Stars That Helped WCW (& 5 That Hurt It)

We will look at the mixed bag of history involving the presence of WCW stars coming to WWE. Some would take their careers to the next level with incredible rises to a bigger position. Others would disappoint with lackluster runs that made WWE look terrible for signing them. Check out just what caused each scenario to play out. These are five former WCW stars that helped WWE along with five that hurt it.

10 Helped: Chris Jericho

The transition of Chris Jericho from WCW to WWE proved that there was more opportunity working for Vince McMahon. WCW always kept Jericho in the cruiserweight and lower mid-card picture with no interest in making him a bigger star.

Jericho’s move to WWE saw him instantly finding more relevance with an epic debut promo against The Rock. The entire run of Jericho would see him become a top superstar and an eventual legend. Jericho is one of the all-time great WWE stars after leaving WCW for the fresh start.

9 Hurt: Goldberg

Goldberg’s first WWE stint in 2003-2004 proved that not every WCW star could find major success in WWE. The big signing had WWE expecting Goldberg to step up following the retirement of Steve Austin and The Rock heading to Hollywood.

WWE’s booking of Goldberg saw him unable to perform how they wanted a top star to work with longer matches closing the shows. Goldberg’s push hurt WWE quite a bit with the interest in the Raw program suffering during his program with Triple H.

8 Helped: Booker T

WWE struggled to find relevant talents from WCW for the Invasion storyline. Most of the big names opted to sit out and let their prior WCW contracts expire to make huge money sitting at home. Booker T was among the few top stars to join WWE right away betting on his own skills.

RELATED: 10 Wrestlers Who Burned Bridges With Both WWE And WCW

The success of Booker instantly saw him find a relevant spot on the roster. Booker would bounce back and forth between main event roles, mid-card feuds and everything in between. WWE views Booker as an all-time great today as a huge signing following the end of WCW.

7 Hurt: Scott Steiner

WCW pushed Scott Steiner to the top of the company in its final year in existence. WWE finally added Steiner about a year and a half after WCW ended. Steiner still had huge crowd support with massive pops in his first few appearances.

Fans didn’t know what to make of Steiner during his feud with Triple H. The idea of putting him in the world title picture right away was bold, but the matches were a disaster. Steiner and Triple H’s lack of chemistry hurt them each along with the entire Raw brand.

6 Helped: Mick Foley

Mick Foley never received a fair chance to have a main event run in WCW. The look of Foley held him back from quite a few opportunities until joining WWE during the Attitude Era. Foley hit a home run with the Mankind character helping give the company another top star.

WWE would continue pushing Foley and his various characters. Fans remember Mick as one of the most important performers of the time. WCW dropping the ball and failing to get the best out of Foley opened the door for WWE to jump in and find a future legend.

5 Hurt: Lex Luger

The signing of Lex Luger saw Vince McMahon have massive plans for the former WCW main eventer. Hulk Hogan’s 1993 departure from WWE saw Luger handpicked as his replacement to become the next face of the company. Luger even received a similar patriotic gimmick to Hogan’s past gimmick.

RELATED: 10 Best Matches Of Mick Foley's Career, Ranked

Fans never reacted the way WWE expected for Luger’s push to the top. Bret Hart became the wrestler that fans wanted for the role and WWE went with him instead. The canceled plans showed how much the signing and push of Luger hurt WWE as it didn’t pan out in the slightest.

4 Helped: Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio was the ultimate underdog in both WCW and WWE. The matches of Mysterio were superb in the cruiserweight division for WCW, but the company never had serious plans for a bigger push. Rey’s success in WWE instantly saw him gaining opportunities.

The matches against top names like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar and John Cena made Mysterio an upper card talent. Mysterio would eventually create his own path to the top with WWE Championship and World Championship reigns. The legendary career of Rey is still going strong today.

3 Hurt: Marc Mero

The Monday Night Wars led to both WWE and WCW taking calculated risks with their signings. WWE thought that Marc Mero could become a major player and made him a huge priority on the free agent market. The former Johnny B. Badd was a mid-carder for WCW, but WWE felt he was worth a huge offer.

RELATED: 10 WCW Wrestlers That Were Extremely Underpaid

Mero made history by receiving the first guaranteed contract in WWE history. Unfortunately, he never lived up to the hype as he peaked with a lackluster mid-card run. The biggest success of Mero came from his wife Sable becoming his manager as fans reacted way more positively to her.

2 Helped: Steve Austin

The biggest mistake from WCW in the 90s was releasing Steve Austin during an injury. Austin never showcased the potential to become the biggest star in the industry, but he did show enough to warrant having a roster with his impressive matches.

WWE signed Austin shortly after he recovered from an injury. The motivation of Austin was quite high as he wanted to prove his skill set to the WWE audience. Austin eventually broke out and evolved into the face of the company. WCW’s error led to WWE gaining their biggest name that helped them win the Monday Night Wars.

1 Hurt: Buff Bagwell

Buff Bagwell was one of the names with higher priority when WWE purchased WCW and kept a short roster of names moving forward. The original plan was for WCW to continue existing on its own as a separate brand from the WWE product.

Booker T and Bagwell received a singles match on Raw to test the waters of the company continuing. Fans reacted with boos and negative chants as the match was a disaster. Buff was blamed for the performance since Booker had better matches afterwards. The poor outing of Bagwell essentially killed off the idea of WCW continuing which lost everyone a lot of money.

NEXT: Monday Night Wars: 5 Best Rivalries From WWE (& The 5 Best From WCW)