The legacy of WCW lives on in both positive and negative ways. WCW will always have the positive of beating WWE in the ratings war and becoming the top promotion in the industry for over a year. No other promotion was able to do that before or after Vince McMahon took WWE nationally. Fans still care about WCW today with podcasts by Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff finding popularity. WWE even still profits off WCW with it playing a huge role on the WWE Network along with various DVD projects often finding great success. The negative features WWE often mocking them on documentaries looking back at their worse moments.

WCW did have some horrible ideas that should be mocked, but there were also quite a few great ones that changed the industry. The roster in WCW was loaded with incredible legends at the top of the card and young new stars starting their path to becoming future legends. We will look at some of the best storylines to take place in WCW that could still be utilized well today. These angles have the potential to work in 2019 even though they were unfolding two decades ago. Find out just how much WCW’s history could help WWE. These are ten great WCW storylines that WWE should consider running along with the wrestlers that should take part in them.

20 WCW storyline: New World Order takeover

The New World Order became the hottest act in WCW history. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan forming the heel group threatening to take over WCW led to the Monday Night War truly starting. It was a tremendous idea with just the concept of a faction trying to completely take over the company.

The unpredictable nature of the group attacking to get their way led to fans changing the channel from Raw to Nitro. Many future groups have tried to form similar groups, but the booking never goes all the way with it. Poor booking ended groups like Nexus and Aces and Eights, but the right execution could see a new version of the nWo finding success in today’s wrestling.

19 WWE version: Undisputed Era

The group known as Undisputed Era in NXT is already one of the hottest acts in wrestling. Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong are real-life friends and longtime co-workers on the independent circuit. It led to instant chemistry when Undisputed Era was formed in NXT to become the top heel group.

This is the next faction that should get a massive push when called up to the main roster. A wrestler or two already on the main roster like Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn could fit in to add more credibility. Either way, Undisputed Era attacking and trying to take over Raw or SmackDown like the New World Order would lead to interest spiking in WWE.

18 WCW storyline: Chris Jericho as the conspiracy victim

Chris Jericho was extremely underutilized in WCW, but that didn’t stop him from having quite a few memorable moments. The talent of Jericho was obvious from day one as he had tremendous matches and delivered the entertainment with his wacky heel character.

Jericho did a great job getting attention even when the company didn’t fully believe in him. A great storyline with his heel character featured him claiming there was a conspiracy against him. Jericho constantly complained that WCW management was trying to hold him down. It was full of self-delusion with the over the top nature of it, but there were real elements that led to fans finding entertainment.

17 WWE version: Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler has been in the WWE world for over a decade now. The current role has him still in the mid-card picture after years of trying to break out. WWE did show faith in Ziggler by having him feud with Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship picture, but that was the peak of his run in recent years.

The conspiracy victim storyline could give Ziggler some momentum. Fans know he’s been held down at certain times when having strong momentum. The reality aspect could lead to Ziggler being able to show elements of his genuine frustration while having fun ranting about everyone working against him. It could be a final effort for Ziggler to try to higher up the card.

16 WCW storyline: Sting becoming a dark character

Many fans only think of Sting as the darker version of his character due to how successful it was. The black-and-white face paint of Sting became his trademark look towards the end of WCW and into his other runs in Impact Wrestling and later WWE.

However, most of Sting’s WCW run featured him rocking the surfer look with the blonde hair and colorful face paint combinations. The decision to change things up for Sting gave him a darker persona after WCW friends wronged him. Sting’s run as a character inspired by The Crow led to arguably the greatest storyline in WCW history when he defeated Hulk Hogan.

15 WWE version: John Cena

The part-time status of John Cena has seen him become an afterthought in the WWE landscape right now. Cena only appears a handful of times per year due to a movie filming schedule that makes it hard for him to find time to wrestle.

Wrestling fans have been clamoring for Cena to turn heel for many years now. It finally makes sense with WWE no longer depending on Cena to be the face of the company all year. Sting showed that a popular character could add a dark edge and remain popular. Cena could keep his fan base while adding a new dynamic not unlike that of Sting during his WCW days.

14 WCW storyline: Lance Storm as a triple champion

Lance Storm became one of the few young relevant wrestlers in WCW towards the end of the run. WCW truly went all in on his push by having Storm win three separate titles. There were more titles in WCW at the time than most other promotions, but it still made a mark to see Storm holding three different belts.

The visual of one wrestler holding that many belts usually leads to the fan base viewing the wrestler as an even bigger deal. Storm was a legitimate contender to Booker T’s WCW Championship at one point, thanks to fans seeing him hold so many titles already. It was one of the final great matches in WCW.

13 WWE version: AJ Styles

The most realistic person to win three titles and have it make sense would be AJ Styles. No one is as important to their respective brand as Styles is to SmackDown. WWE has told the story that Styles is the face of SmackDown and he has built the reputation up since the brand split.

Styles winning the WWE Championship and the United States Championship could add fun dynamics to having him defend both titles in multiple matches. WWE could go all the way with it by having Styles also win the tag titles. Styles is one of the only few wrestlers that could have this storyline work for them if done right.

12 WCW storyline: Best of Seven series

The first major instance of a best of seven series working out in wrestling took place in WCW. Booker T and Chris Benoit had a great rivalry that featured them delivering great matches on multiple episodes of television. Their matches also carried the house shows considering the big name legends rarely appeared on them.

The best of seven series was booked to have them wrestle on Nitro, Thunder, and PPVs to decide the fate of the Television Championship. Both men benefited greatly from the storyline as the fan base started to support them more after witnessing them have that many great matches in the form of a playoff series.

11 WWE version: Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose

The rivalry between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose is extremely personal after Ambrose turned on Rollins the night Roman Reigns announced he was stepping away from WWE to deal with health issues. Both men have shown great chemistry in the past whether teaming or facing each other.

The idea of a best-of-seven series between Ambrose and Rollins would add finality to their feud. Not only would it make sense given the intensity involved in it, but it adds a reason to watch Raw and gives the product a purpose before WrestleMania season. The two could be done with each other by WM when they move towards other programs.

10 WCW storyline: Dungeon of Doom-type faction

The Dungeon of Doom is viewed with polarizing reactions by wrestling fans today. This '90s faction featured Kevin Sullivan leading a task of the spooky wrestlers on the roster. Guys like The Shark, Ed Leslie, The Yeti, Meng, and Barbarian bonded together to oppose Hulk Hogan and the other top faces in WCW.

The group helped The Giant become a star when feuding with Hogan as they served as heaters to help keep him strong. While it was corny, the Dungeon of Doom was a fun concept that placed a bunch of wrestlers in need of direction together and helped a few of them even past the end of the group.

9 WWE version: Bray Wyatt leading Harper/SAnitY/others

Bray Wyatt has struggled to remain relevant following the move from SmackDown to Raw in the brand split shakeup. The strongest days of Wyatt have always been when he’s been leading other spooky wrestlers in the Wyatt Family.

A different version could be formed today with the same intent of the Dungeon of Doom. Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, the members of SAnitY and others would benefit from having Wyatt leading them since all involved have nothing going on. Someone new and credible like Lars Sullivan joining would give them even more purpose to help all the talent involved find something meaningful to do.

8 WCW storyline: Veteran DDP rising to the top of WCW

Diamond Dallas Page joined the wrestling business late, but it always felt like he had a long climb to the top of WCW. Fans badly wanted to see Page get the push in the main event picture during the peak run of WCW’s dominance in the Monday Night War.

The story of a veteran fighting his way to the top of the mountain and eventually winning the WCW Championship was amazing. DDP was viewed as the “people’s champion” in WCW and it was not a catchy nickname like The Rock in WWE. Page proved that it’s never too late in one’s career to reach to the top of the mountain.

7 WWE version: Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston stands out as the one talent that has been on WWE’s roster for a long time, has a fan base and has yet to win the world title. There have been a few singles pushes for Kingston throughout the years, but WWE always slowed down on them before he could reach a true main event status.

Fans still love Kofi to this day with the New Day remaining among the most popular acts in the company when it comes to crowd support and merchandise sales. The potential of Kingston moving up the card and being the veteran that finally wins the gold could create a story like Diamond Dallas Page in WCW. Hopefully, Kofi’s push wouldn’t be held off until his early 40s like Page.

6 WCW storyline: Eddie vs. Rey with mask on the line

Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero at Halloween Havoc 1997 is arguably the greatest match in WCW history. Wrestling expert Dave Meltzer gave it a rare five-star rating for the time. The crowd lost their minds witnessing some of the moves shown in that match.

Mysterio and Guerrero also had a great story in place ahead of the match. Guerrero was obsessed with trying to embarrass Mysterio by taking away his mask. The stipulation of Eddie’s Cruiserweight Championship vs Rey’s mask led to a great storyline that set up the iconic match. It made the win an even bigger deal for Mysterio.

5 WWE version: Daniel Bryan vs Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio is still the most beloved masked wrestler competing full-time today. The return of Mysterio has already seen Randy Orton teasing wanting to unmask him for good. WWE would be better served saving that storyline for an even bigger feud against a better opponent.

Daniel Bryan has been obsessed with the idea of a match with the mask on the line for a few years now. At one point, he claimed he was scouting Mexican promotion CMLL with the hopes of wrestling there in a Hair vs Mask match where he’d lose his hair. This could be done today in WWE with Bryan putting the title and/or his hair on the line against Rey’s mask. Bryan is one of the few WWE wrestlers capable of telling that story with Mysterio to perfection.

4 WCW storyline: New Blood vs. Millionaires Club

WCW had one final major storyline they hoped would turn the sinking ship around in 2000. The elephant in the room was addressed when the young talents formed a giant faction to try to drive the veterans out of the company. It played on the real scenario of WCW’s main eventers holding down the young talent.

The young wrestlers formed the New Blood and attempted to drive out the older wrestlers known as the Millionaire’s Club. Wrestlers like Vampiro and Billy Kidman received huge pushes. The problem is they were booked like jokes for years and held zero legitimate threat to the main eventers. WWE could spin it in a different way.

3 WWE Version: Full-time stars vs. Part-time legends

The WCW storyline of tension between young stars and veterans more so features a different version of this issue in WWE. There are the full-time wrestlers that work the rough WWE schedule all year long hoping to get the top spots. This is until WrestleMania season comes around and the part-timers return for huge matches.

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and a few other wrestlers have spoken about their dislike of Brock Lesnar, among others, coming back and taking the big match spots at WrestleMania. Top stars today like Rollins, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and many more could oppose the veterans like Triple H, Big Show, Undertaker, and others. There would not need to be faces or heels as the fans of each side would have a valid reason to support. WWE’s culmination of this story would have the full-time stars go over to get the rub.

2 WCW storyline: Goldberg's undefeated streak

Goldberg became the hottest star in WCW towards the final few years. WCW was criticized for not building any new talents with the main event spots held by veterans like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, and Sting. Goldberg, however, changed that by becoming the first young star to break into the main event picture in a long time.

WCW got Goldberg over to such a level by giving him the storyline of an undefeated streak. They did not even build it up right away as the mysterious Goldberg won his first few matches in impressive fashion. Fans started to take note and that’s when WCW struck gold by selling the undefeated streak. This storyline became the last major draw for WCW as Goldberg became the face of the company.

1 WWE version today: Matt Riddle

WWE has tried to the undefeated streak route a few times in the past with new talents. It failed horribly when Ryback’s version of the storyline was a cheap rip-off of as he looked just like Goldberg. Asuka’s streak obviously worked well in NXT, but it’s been quite some time since a male wrestler did it effectively.

The best bet for someone debuting on the main roster today and having an undefeated streak is Matt Riddle. One reason for the streak would be that he’s a former MMA fighter. The record of MMA fighters is how they are judged. Riddle also has strikes and submissions that can end matches quickly as seen with his victory over Kassius Ohno at TakeOver. No one is better served by joining the main roster with an undefeated streak in today’s wrestling climate than Riddle.