The WCW Championship is among the most valued prizes in wrestling history for the impact it had. WCW did a better job of protecting its title by having credible names win it until things got ugly at the end. The visual of the big gold belt was also tremendous to make it look like a prize an athlete would want to win.

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WCW’s management struggled to find the right timing for certain talents to win the big one. Some great stars won the title too early and couldn’t have the ideal title reign. Others won it too late and couldn’t figure out how to keep their momentum. Find out how all scenarios unfolded with the wrestlers who won the WCW Championship too soon or too late.

10 Too soon: Hulk Hogan

WCW fans had a mixed reaction to Hulk Hogan coming in specifically due to how he easily won the title so quickly. Hogan defeated Ric Flair in his first WCW PPV match to win the WCW Championship and start the new era.

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The problem was that Hogan vs Flair was the money program they went to right away. Hogan had forgettable title defenses against Vader, The Butcher, and others causing fans to turn on him by winning too early.

9 Too late: Diamond Dallas Page

Diamond Dallas Page with fans

The timing of Diamond Dallas Page’s first WCW Championship took away from the moment of fans getting to enjoy it. Page was the most beloved WCW face for a few years as an organic self-made success story.

That made it even worse when WCW turned him heel just a few weeks before his first WCW Championship win. DDP had some fun matches, but his title reigns didn’t feel as special since WCW timed it wrong with the character shift.

8 Too soon: Jeff Jarrett

Vince Russo brought Jeff Jarrett with him to WCW after gaining power following his WWE run. Jarrett achieved some mid-card success with momentum as a heel in WWE before making the jump to WCW for the win.

The push promised to Jarrett saw him winning the WCW Championship in 2000. Jarrett had been back for a few months, but he still didn’t have any main event credibility. The numbers during this time for WCW started to trend in extremely negative situations.

7 Too late: Ric Flair

Ric Flair was arguably the most decorated WCW Champion of all time looking back at his best days. However, the end of the run for WCW saw him struggling to remain as relevant after losing confidence.

Flair won his final world title back in 2000 at the age of 51. This title reign was clearly too late as Flair could no longer credibly contend for the biggest prize. WCW struggled with both familiar and new faces flopping as champ in 2000.

6 Too soon: Kevin Nash

The Wolfpac face version of the New World Order made Kevin Nash one of the most popular stars for WCW in late 1998. WCW went with Nash ending Goldberg’s incredible undefeated streak to win the WCW Championship.

The timing was a bit strange since Nash was still behind Goldberg in the fans’ eyes. If WCW waited a few months longer, Nash likely could have been a better world champion and had a real reign there instead of dropping it to Hulk Hogan.

5 Too late: Sid Vicious

WCW brought back Sid Vicious in 1999 with the gimmick of the millennium man. Sid’s first few months saw him looking great, especially since he returned following a WWE Championship reign and strong ECW stint to build momentum.

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The main goal of WCW was building to a Sid vs Goldberg match with Goldberg coming out on top. Sid won the WCW Championship in 2000 after the momentum was lost following the Goldberg feud. WCW would have been better off having Sid win in 1999 and dropping it to Goldberg.

4 Too soon: Lex Luger

Lex Luger was a WCW mainstay who just never came off as well during his WWE stint. Ric Flair leaving WCW for WWE in the early ‘90s saw Luger as the man selected to win the vacated the WCW Championship as the new face of the company.

WCW viewed Luger as the man to build around, but it just didn’t work out in the grand scheme of things. Luger was still inexperienced and struggled as champ. WCW fans viewed names like Sting, Vader, and Ron Simmons above him in the early ‘90s until his return later in the decade got him to a true top spot.

3 Too late: Randy Savage

WCW went with Randy Savage as the WCW Champion on a few occasions that all felt too late. Savage won it first back in 1995, but he was already somewhat established as Hulk Hogan’s sidekick after they reunited in WCW.

The 2000 title reign was even worse as coming too late when Savage won the WCW Championship with a new gimmick. Savage changed his look and had three valets at ringside, but it just came off as having a mid-life crisis.

2 Too soon: The Giant

The most drastic instance of a wrestler winning a world title too soon would be Big Show’s first WCW Championship as The Giant. Hulk Hogan saw something special in the big man and wanted a rivalry with him as the long-lost son of Andre the Giant.

WCW’s first match of The Giant saw him winning the WCW Championship in controversial fashion from Hogan. The Giant had a longer reign a few months later, but he was still not ready. WCW struggled with a rookie holding the top prize before he even wrestled enough to be comfortable in the ring.

1 Too late: Bret Hart

Bret Hart hoped to make a difference when joining WCW in late 1997 after the Montreal Screwjob. WCW placed Hart in a few questionable storylines and feuds that lost all the momentum built from his WWE departure.

The company was in rough shape come 1999 when struggling to rebuild. Bret was picked to become the WCW Champion and the co-face of the company with Goldberg. Despite having fun matches and memorable moments, Hart couldn’t have a title reign as great as his WWE Championship run since it came too late in WCW.

NEXT: WCW: Every Wrestler To Hold The WCW Championship In 2000, Ranked