WCW's history is somewhat complicated. What we know as the company began as Jim Crockett Promotions in the Mid-Atlantic region of the NWA. By the late '80s, JCP had become the public face of the NWA, and World Championship Wrestling was used as the name of their TV shows. When Crockett sold to Ted Turner in 1988, the entire place was technically made WCW, but it wasn't until 1991 that it formally took on the label for fans.
For the next decade, the company experienced some of the most epic highs and lows ever seen in professional wrestling. At one point, it truly seemed they were going to put WWE out of business only to entirely fall apart and be sold for a pittance in 2001. Even when WCW had good stuff, there were some truly bad bits to mar it. Here is how every year in WCW's history ranks as a reminder that while gone, it shouldn't be truly forgotten.
13 2001
It's pretty obvious why this is the worst WCW year. The sad thing was, it started with WCW giving younger guys more attention and the promise of change in a new century and plans underway for a fresh start to boost things.
It wasn't enough to save it with TNT canceling Nitro and leaving them nowhere to go. The final WCW show was at a Florida hotel pool, not a great arena, before being sold to WWE. From there, the Invasion totally buried the company, letting it die with a whimper, not a bang.
12 2000
While WWE was hitting all cylinders in 2000, WCW was making every mistake imaginable. They turned Goldberg heel; had the disaster of Hogan walking out after Beach Blast; signed up ECW's Mike Awesome and doing nothing with him; letting the Radicalz leave; and, of course, making David Arquette world champion.
That's not mentioning the weak title reigns, awful angles, and bad TV. Booker T as World champion was good, but this year was the nail in the company's coffin.
11 1999
The now-infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom" set the stage for a disaster of a year for WCW. Hotshotting titles and short-lived angles abounded while stars like Chris Jericho were driven out or sidelined like Bret Hart.
This led to Vince Russo's entrance to transform WCW into a place where wrestling was considered the least important part of a show while KISS threw concerts. Even good stuff like DDP as champion was overwhelmed by bad, ending in a horrific Starrcade and driving the audiences away to set up WCW's end.
10 1995
This year saw cartoonish angles abounding throughout WCW. The Dungeon of Doom was a laughable concept, as was the horrible Uncensored shows while Hulk Hogan acted like it was still the 1980s. Randy Savage vs Ric Flair was a tremendous feud, and Nitro's debut did spark the entire company up.
The rise of the cruiserweights was also a good touch, yet stuff like Halloween Havoc 95 made the company look like a joke. It's remarkable WCW would take off the following year given the bad stuff in this one.
9 1990
This should have been a great year with Sting winning the NWA World title from Ric Flair. But a leg injury forced Sting to sit out the first half of the year which harmed his eventual title win. And when he did get it, he was subjected to the awful Black Scorpion angle and fighting Sid.
It's a shame as there was good stuff like Doom and the Steiners tearing up the tag ranks and a new Four Horsemen but this year was not the crowning glory that WCW deserved.
8 1993
This was a strange year for WCW to be sure. It had great stuff like Ric Flair's return, Vader dominating as champion and the Hollywood Blondes taking off. But there was also Shockmaster, Cactus Jack "Lost in Cleveland" and scores of stupid characters and moments.
The undercard was strong, yet a lot of poor stuff abounded while Eric Bischoff would take over as boss. It bounced back at the end of the year with Flair regaining the World title from Vader to top off a complex year that would set the stage for wilder ones to come.
7 1991
This year began in jarring fashion as Ric Flair defeated Sting to regain the NWA World title, then went crazy when Jim Herd fired Flair so Lex Luger won the vacant World title.
Despite that and a lot of bad angles, there were bright spots like Ricky Steamboat's great return and the building of the Dangerous Alliance. Yet Flair's absence would be a blow to the company.
6 1992
This year was complex. It started great as boss Kip Frye offered cash bonuses to guys having the best matches which instantly improved the work rate. The arrival of Bill Watts and his harsh rules did lead to a bad downturn.
But this was the year of Pillman vs Liger, the Dangerous Alliance, Ron Simmons as world champ and Vader beginning his dominance. Thus, while some rough stuff abounded, there was also some good to still keep WCW fans entertained with old-school action.
5 1996
This is a tale of two different years. The first half was pretty bad with cartoonish antics like Hogan vs Dungeon of Doom, but Ric Flair back as World champion and the Giant rising up were better aspects. The true turning point though was the debut of the Outsiders and then Hogan turning heel to form the NWO.
From there, WCW took off with the NWO attacking everyone and adding guys and then the "imposter Sting" angle costing WCW a key hero. The first half is rough, but the second more than made up for it to shoot WCW to the top.
4 1994
In terms of PPV numbers, this year was one of WCW's best. The first half was unique with Ric Flair shifting to a heel World champion with a top-notch undercard, including Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and others. Hulk Hogan's arrival to beat Flair for the belt would shift the company up.
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While there was rough stuff like the awful Starrcade main event, the talent would liven up some shows and make this one of the most important years in company history.
3 1997
The entire year was all built around Sting in his "Crow" persona stalking Hulk Hogan and it's impressive WCW held off on the match as long as they could. The Cruiserweights were regularly stealing the show on Nitro and there was also the sensational DDP/Randy Savage feud that made Page a star.
Lex Luger's brief World title win was also good and the addition of Bret Hart. Yes, the Starrcade 97 Hogan/Sting showdown was a letdown, yet there's a reason people in 1997 really thought WCW was going to win the Monday Night War.
2 1998
The year began a bit rough with the Starrcade 97 debacle's fallout and it ended with Goldberg's streak broken. But in between was some great stuff, the highlight being Goldberg's incredible rise to superstardom. Chris Jericho took off as a star heel and even the NWO/Wolfpac split was handled well.
Sure, there was Jay Leno wrestling but also some great action like Goldberg/DDP. The end was bad but this year had WCW doing well handling WWE's own rise to push the business to huge success.
1 1989
From nearly start to finish, this year was glorious. It kicked off with the now-classic Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat feud that segued to the epic Flair vs Terry Funk war. Also, amid a great undercard, Sting emerged as a true mega-star.
The Great American Bash remains one of the greatest PPVs of all time and the first Halloween Havoc was terrific too. Aside from the rough Starrcade, this year kicked the Turner era off in grand style and everything great about WCW.