For nearly two years between 1996 and 1998, World Championship Wrestling truly was “where the big boys played.” WCW Monday Nitro dominated WWE’s Monday Night Raw, during this period, thanks to major WWE superstars jumping ship to WCW as well as the biggest storyline in wrestling history, the New World Order angle. The storyline kicked off with the defection of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash from WWE and then turned the wrestling world upside down with the stunning heel turn of Hulk Hogan. Storylines like the nWo Angle, Goldberg’s undefeated streak and Diamond Dallas Page’s ascension to megastar all helped make WCW must-see television. While the stories of Monday Nitro almost put WWE out of business, other WCW stories were so bad, that they would ultimately help turn the tide back in WWE’s favor.
While the nWo Angle launched them ahead of WWE, WCW couldn’t move beyond the storyline. Bad booking, nonsensical heel turns, misplaced champions, lackluster returns and chaotic storylines all hurt the company as well. Eventually, these poor storylines enabled WWE to overtake them in the ratings and helped bury WCW once and for all. Today, wrestling fans are left wondering what the wrestling landscape would look like had WCW not gone under nearly twenty years ago.
WCW produced some great storylines, but they, unquestionably, created plenty of terrible ones as well. Yet, WCW also ran a lot of storylines that, unfortunately, never got the chance to get off the ground. Other storylines that were solid either occurred too late in the lifespan of the company, died after the company folded or had to be cancelled due to superstars leaving for WWE. Wrestling fans certainly cannot ignore the storylines that helped end WCW’s run, but there were also plenty of storylines that could have helped turn the company around if given the chance. In this article, we look at 15 of these horrible storylines that helped bury WCW but also examine 15 other storylines that were good enough to save it.
30 Hurt: The Powers That Be
After WWE overtook WCW in the ratings, and WCW starting bleeding money, former WWE writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara were hired by WCW to right the ship. Unfortunately, Russo and Ferrara would only help sink the company even faster.
The crash, smash style TV that they used successfully in WWE flopped horribly in WCW. Their angle involving The Powers That Be, a mysterious unseen authority figure that had assumed control over WCW, only turned more people off. The angle exposed the business, spawned nonsensical storylines and abruptly ended shortly after it began.
29 Could’ve Saved It: Booker T Winning The World Title (Sooner)
One of the few good things that occurred during the latter days of WCW was Booker T winning the WCW World Heavyweight Title. One of the biggest complaints about WCW was their inability to create new superstars while relying solely on stars like Hogan and Flair who were way past their prime. This changed at Bash at the Beach 2000 and remains one of the few bright spots of that pay per view.
While it was one of the more perplexing storylines, the end result was Booker T finally winning the WCW Title. Unfortunately, Booker T’s big win is a small footnote due to the controversy involved at the PPV itself, but the win was a step in the right direction for the company. Sadly, this was several steps too late and overshadowed by controversy.
28 Hurt: Bash at the Beach 2000
While Bash at the Beach 2000 ultimately ended with Booker T. becoming a first-time WCW World Champion, the pay per view had negative consequences for the company that extended well beyond the pay per view. Vince Russo’s blurring of the line between reality and kayfabe went too far and resulted in Hulk Hogan’s departure from WCW.
Hogan was scheduled to face Jeff Jarrett for the World Title, but the storyline had Jarrett allow Hogan to pin him with Russo firing Hogan afterwards. What happened next varies from who’s telling the story, but apparently Russo’s heated promo afterwards was unscripted. The promo hit a little too personal toward Hogan and Hogan's legitimate creative control, causing Hogan to leave and sue the company for a breach of contract.
27 Could’ve Saved: nWo Wolfpac Vs. nWo Hollywood Showdown
The New World Order stable was just too sweet for WCW. The entire nWo storyline nearly crushed WWE until the stable got too big for itself. Because of its bloated membership, the nWo stable was split in two, nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac. While many fans say this was the beginning of the end for WCW, this nWo civil war could have led to so much more.
With Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg rising through the ranks, it seemed like the leader of the Wolfpac, Kevin Nash and nWo Hollywood’s leader, Hollywood Hogan, were destined to faceoff in an epic singles match. Unfortunately, the epic showdown between the two leaders never happened when it should have. Instead, fans got the “Finger Poke of Doom.”
26 Hurt: Kevin Nash Ending Goldberg’s Streak
Sadly, that epic match between the two nWo leaders didn’t happen when everything was set up perfectly for it. Instead, Nash went on to feud with Goldberg and ended his undefeated streak. While it’s true Nash was immensely over with the crowd, the way he ended the streak and won the WCW World Title ultimately hurt the company more than it helped.
Kevin Nash was definitely high on the list of people that should have ended the streak. However, the execution of his victory was extremely poor. Scott Hall tased Goldberg prior to Nash’s powerbomb thus tainting Nash’s humongous win. Even worse was this big win only led to the “Finger Poke of Doom” on the following Nitro.
25 Could’ve Saved It: Raven’s Flock
The New World Order faction dominated almost the entire roster of WCW and was the focal point of nearly every feud in the company. Due to this, mid-card factions like The Flock were often ignored, despite being a huge piece of the company’s foundation.
The Flock not only propped up Raven, but also helped elevate DDP, Perry Saturn, and Goldberg to the mid-card and beyond. Sadly, The Flock would be disbanded, and Raven would become a comedy act rather than a serious competitor.
24 Hurt: The Finger Poke
Kevin Nash ending Goldberg’s undefeated streak and becoming WCW Champion may not have been a bad choice, but the aftermath was completely detrimental for the company. When Nash became aware of Hall’s involvement in his win, Nash offered a rematch to Goldberg for the title. However, Goldberg was “arrested,” and Nash challenged a returning Hollywood Hogan instead.
Rather than have an epic match, Hogan poked Nash’s chest who fell to the ground and allowed Hogan to pin him for the title win. The swerve gave Hogan the belt back and reunited the nWo factions. Not only was the nWo storyline becoming tiresome, it put the belt back on Hogan and killed any chance of the two faction leaders facing off until much later.
23 Could’ve Saved It: The Four Horsemen
Out of all the dominant factions in professional wrestling, near the top of the list should be The Four Horsemen. Before the New World Order ascended as the top stable in WCW, The Four Horsemen had been the dominant force in professional wrestling, since 1985.
There were many incarnations of The Horsemen, but the group had been a staple in WCW for over a decade. Unfortunately, injuries departures and heel turns prevented them from ever returning to glory, but their wars with the nWo were epic. The Horsemen could have engaged in a few more before WCW’s demise and may have revitalized interest with a strong reformation.
22 Hurt: nWo 2000
WCW just couldn’t shake the New World Order storyline. The angle that gave the company its ultimate success eventually caused a dependency on it. The fans had already become exhausted towards the nWo, and this reformation was the final straw.
While this angle gave Bret Hart another World Title win, the execution was laughable. The result was another uninspiring nWo reunion, and the entire storyline ultimately folded due to Bret Hart’s legitimate injury. With Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner essentially the only members, the black and gray eventually disbanded during WCW’s reboot with Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff.
21 Could’ve Saved It: Bret Hart Winning The World Title Sooner
The Hitman had a solid WCW mid-card career, feuding with the likes of Sting, DDP and Chris Benoit. With that being said, Bret Hart is still arguably one of the most wasted talents in the history of WCW’s roster.
Considering his main event status in WWE, Hart toiled in the mid-card for far too long. That could be chalked up to WCW’s bloated roster, but still, Hart deserved better. WCW tried to book The Excellence of Execution appropriately by finally giving him the WCW World Heavyweight Title, but as usual, the title win was tainted with interference and clumsy overbooking (and happened far too late).
20 Hurt: The New Blood versus The Millionaire’s Club
While the New Blood versus The Millionaire’s Club could have revitalized the company, the result actually accelerated WCW’s death. The feud pitted established stars like Hogan and Sting into a faction known as the Millionaire’s Club against a group of young hungry upstarts, claiming to be held down, known as The New Blood.
This storyline involved most of the WCW roster, forged unique matchups and gave WCW a much needed reset. Unfortunately, it also spawned some of the absolute worst occurrences in WCW history. Irrational heel turns, worked-shoot promos that no one could understand and matches littered with run-ins. Instead of stability, WCW fans were treated to even more chaos.
19 Could’ve Saved: Bret Hart Versus Hulk Hogan
Since the first day Bret Hart joined WCW, The Hitman versus Hollywood Hogan was the matchup everyone was ready to see. With Hart convincingly siding against the nWo, a Hogan/Hart feud made perfect sense, but instead, Hart would later align himself with Hogan which made absolutely no sense.
Fans speculated that Hogan was using his creative control to duck Bret Hart as he apparently did in WWE. Whether that's true or not isn't known, but had this feud actually happened, fans would have been treated to a dream match between the two legends. That feud could have even accelerated Hart’s World Title rise rather than having him stalled in the mid-card.
18 Hurt: Goldberg’s Heel Turn
Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff’s strategy of adding controversy and more smash TV to WCW’s programming kept the fans from knowing what would happen week after week. It forced the fans to watch every show to see what would happen next. At least that was the theory. However, seldom did these storylines make any sense, and one example was the Goldberg heel turn.
While WCW’s booking team may have been running out of ideas for Goldberg, turning him heel wasn’t the direction they needed to go. Goldberg didn’t want to be heel, and the turn that was supposed to be a complete swerve fell completely flat with the crowd instead. The turn was eventually dropped, and Goldberg returned to babyface with no explanation.
17 Could’ve Saved It: DDP Winning The World Title Sooner
The original “People’s Champ,” Diamond Dallas Page not only turned down an offer to join the New World Order, he punctuated his position with a Diamond Cutter to Scott Hall. This catapulted DDP’s popularity and instantly made him one of the top stars in WCW.
With his newfound support, DDP would find a major push in the mid-card, winning the United States Title. However, the WCW World Title would still elude him for over a year. Page finally won the title in April of 1999, but, unfortunately, his three title reigns suffered from poor booking. DDP could have been a fresh face for WCW’s World Title scene, but the title went back to the usual superstars like Nash and Hogan instead.
16 Hurt: The Ultimate Warrior’s WCW Run
One of the biggest flops in WCW history has to be the run of The Ultimate Warrior. Not only is this an example of WCW bringing in someone well past their prime, the storylines and matches involving Warrior were some of the worst in all of wrestling.
Warrior immediately began feuding with Hollywood Hogan, and Hulk sold it like he saw a ghost. Moreover, Hogan began seeing Warrior in the mirror in one of WCW’s most cringeworthy backstage segments ever. To make matters worse, Warrior versus Hogan was a debacle, with Hogan nearly setting himself on fire with a fireball meant for Warrior. After only three pointless matches, Warrior was gone from WCW, and his presence only made the company look like a bigger joke.
15 Could’ve Saved It: Hogan’s Face Turn
Since Hulk Hogan’s earth-shaking heel turn in 1996, “Hollywood” Hogan was the top heel in WCW. However, the nWo angles were getting stale, and with Hogan taking time off later in his WCW career, other superstars began taking the mantle of top villain.
In 1999, Hulk Hogan would return as a babyface and briefly returned to the red ‘n’ yellow. As evident with his reaction during his WWE return, Hulkamania was still running wild with wrestling fans, and WCW could have capitalized on that popularity. Instead, creative differences caused Hogan to depart from WCW completely and eventually opened the door for a massive WWE return.
14 Hurt: Sting’s Heel Turn
Sting’s abrupt and short-lived heel turn in WCW may have been a swerve fans didn’t see coming, but it received the opposite intended reaction. Sting’s use of the bat on a babyface Hogan to win the WCW World Title was supposed to be a heel turn for the Stinger, but fans cheered him for the act instead.
Fans were growing tired of seeing Hogan with the World Title, and, despite Sting’s best efforts, the fans simply refused to boo him. WCW had hoped to recreate the buzz that Hogan’s heel turn generated, but Sting was still very popular among fans. Eventually, the heel turn was quietly dropped, and the entire storyline went nowhere.
13 Could’ve Saved It: Jeff Jarrett/Hulk Hogan Feud
Jeff Jarrett’s return to WCW was one of the few good superstars WCW received from WWE. Jarrett was coming off of an Intercontinental Title run and found a more serious look and attitude since his previous WCW run.
“The Chosen One” started in the mid-card of WCW but was quickly climbing the ladder to the World Title scene. A fresh feud with Hulk Hogan could have really solidified Jarrett as a main event player, but backstage politics and disorder behind the scenes prevented this feud from ever happening in WCW.
12 Hurt: David Arquette As World Champion
It’s hard to point at one specific reason why WCW folded, but actor David Arquette winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship is frequently brought up as a critical reason for the company’s demise.
In a tag match (of all matches) between Diamond Dallas Page and David Arquette versus Jeff Jarrett and Eric Bischoff Arquette would pin Bischoff thus capturing the title (as per the rules of the match). Arquette's win was to help promote his movie Ready To Rumble and generate a buzz for WCW. However, it only turned people away and diminished the title.
11 Could’ve Saved It: Elevating The Cruiserweight Division
Despite almost every WCW wrestler revolving around the nWo angle, the Cruiserweight Division was mostly untouched from that storyline. Instead, the Cruiserweights had their own feuds that separated themselves from the overreaching nWo story arc and that gave them a great deal of freedom.
Not only were the matches exciting, they also introduced the world to Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho. Jericho’s feud with Dean Malenko was a classic storyline in WCW and produced more of what the fans really wanted to see: good story-telling interesting characters and great action.