WCW Nitro was one of the most impactful weekly shows in wrestling history. The show sparked the Monday Night Wars with its iconic rivalries, edgier storylines, and a great deal of creative experimentation.

RELATED: 10 Best Matches in WCW Nitro History

Fans remember Nitro fondly for the emergence of the nWo, Sting’s Crow persona, the evolution of Goldberg’s streak, and more. However, the show wasn’t always in peak form. It ran for five and half years and the last couple of them had more memorably bad moments than good ones—arriving not only at poor booking decisions, but segments that wound up so bad that they made fans laugh.

9 The Warrior In The Mirror

Hogan Warrior Mirror

When the man formerly known as The Ultimate Warrior joined WCW, it made complete sense that there would be a different approach to the character. The past Warrior who bolted to the ring and squashed the opposition had run his course, and the athlete behind the gimmick had grown older.

RELATED: 5 Reasons Vince Russo Is The Most Hated Man In Wrestling (& 5 Why It’s The Ultimate Warrior)

So, fans can follow the reasoning for why WCW might experiment with more magical elements for The Warrior character. The concept went off the rails quickly, though, as the rules of what Warrior could do and what fans and other wrestlers could see or understand were wildly inconsistent. In a particularly bad moment, Warrior materialized in Hogan’s locker room mirror. The visage was visible to Hogan and the television audience, but not to other wrestlers, to suggest Hogan was losing his mind, though if that were true, so were the millions fans watching at home.

8 Jim Duggan Finds The TV Title In The Trash

Duggan TV Title

The WCW Television Championship had a long history of being held by great wrestlers and rising stars. But in late 1999, one of the least appealing versions of Scott Hall won the title, didn’t want it, and tossed it in a dumpster.

Months later, Jim Duggan found the title in a dumpster and declared himself champion. Becoming a champion by finding the belt is problematic, but the situation introduced a bigger plot hole. The story assumed WCW had moved that dumpster of trash from town to town with them for months at a time to keep in the back of arenas, until Duggan happened to make his discovery.

7 Torrie Wilson Talks To The Camera

Torrie Wilson First Appearance

In February 1999, WCW ran an experimental episode of Nitro that featured new signee Torrie Wilson (called Samantha for that night) in recurring segments. Wilson’s acting was not exactly refined, and speaking directly into the camera, meant fans had to believe she was seducing the camera operator.

This production was probably meant to appeal to the stereotypically heterosexual male fan base who could imagine a great-looking Wilson talking to them. In practice, the whole scenario introduced too many plot holes and contrivances—why couldn’t we know whom she was talking to? It was laughably bad.

6 The Filthy Animals Bury Ric Flair

Filthy Animals

Even though The Filthy Animals aren't on anyone's list of all-time great factions, they featured a lot of talent—not least of all Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio.

The group had its highest profile interaction in warring with Ric Flair, culminating in them kidnapping him in Las Vegas, driving him out into the desert, and burying his body. Violence is par for the course in wrestling, but this storyline of attempted murder was so over the top that it became downright comical.

5 Rick Steiner And Chucky Have A War Of Words

Steiner Vs Chucky

In the build to Halloween Havoc 1998, mysterious, haunting laughter occasionally filled the arena. Finally, the source was revealed; Chucky from the Child’s Play movies.

The idea of a horror movie doll getting involved in wrestling was absurd. Doing crossover promotion has been a part of wrestling for the last forty years, though. Savvy advertisers recognize that wrestling has a dedicated fan base, and wrestling has a history of craving mainstream connections. Chucky’s appearance—via video screen—didn’t exactly do either side any favors, though, as the character felt out of place and his one-off exchange of insults with a disinterested Rick Steiner came across as a joke.

4 The Piñata Falling Off The Pole

Pinata On A Pole Match

In late 1999, Nitro played host to a Piñata on a Pole Match. To be fair, one has to assume that between the concept of the match and the debut of Ed Ferrara’s Oklahoma character on commentary, WCW intended for this outing to be comedic.

Still, it doesn’t seem like anyone meant for the eponymous piñata prize to fall from its perch less than thirty seconds into the match, thus shifting what may have been intentional (if terribly conceived) comedy into the column of unintentionally laughable material. Nitro had its share of lackluster moments, and this one ranks among the most infamously terrible choices in WCW history.

3 The Wall Confronts Hulk Hogan From Afar

Hogan Vs Wall

When WCW booked The Wall to challenge Hulk Hogan, the concept had promise. One of the most reliable templates for Hogan's successful rivalries as a babyface was for him to fend off monsters. At least The Wall was a new star to put in The Hulkster’s way and to potentially elevate.

The short feud between these two is best remembered for how it started, though, on an outdoor episode of Nitro in which The Wall appeared atop a building while Hogan cut a  promo. Despite, by most estimates, being about a mile away and impossible for Hogan to actually be able to see, he immediately identified, “It’s The Wall, brother!” Wrestling storyline are often contrived, but this bit of staging was comically bad.

2 Vampiro And Evan Karagias Are Another Team That Can’t Hold It Together

Vampiro 3 Count

The final Nitro of 1999 saw the WCW Tag Team Championships vacant and a “Lethal Lottery”, set up makeshift teams to fight for the title.  Having randomly assigned partners did offer potential to establish new teams, as well set up new rivalries if partners couldn’t win together or struggled to cooperate out of the gate.

The trouble with the booking on this Nitro is that every match played out in pretty similar fashion, with one team imploding in almost every one of the eight matches from the tournament. The rift between Vampiro and Evan Karagias became downright comical. Vampiro dominated everyone involved in their match, including Karagias and his allies from the Three Count faction, before ultimately getting pinned himself. From the creative  redundancy, to the match's execution, to the way in which everyone involved wound up looking terrible, this match was unintentional wrestling comedy at its worst.

1 The Fingerpoke Of Doom

Finger Poke Of Doom

No list of unintentional comedy in WCW would be complete without perhaps the company’s most infamous moment: The Fingerpoke of Doom. The concept of Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan manipulating everyone around them and negotiating an nWo reunion had some merit and at least fit the ethos of the faction. However, having Hogan literally poke Nash to send him crashing to the mat for the pin, and transfer the most prestigious title in the company, was comedic.

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Even if some fans do wish to defend this moment as intentionally absurd with the nWo guys making a mockery of WCW, the “match” fails the most basic litmus test of wrestling booking. If someone were to watch it without surrounding context, it comes across as a nonsensical farce, impossible to take seriously as any kind of sport.

NEXT: 10 Important Title Changes In Nitro History (That Weren't The World Championship)