WCW has been a punching bag in the WWE Universe for a while and even this article pokes fun at their failures, however, we can’t forget how much they attributed to the industry. WCW was the company that made Cruiserweight division credible on a national level. Guys like Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, and Rey Mysterio Jr., may never have become legends if WCW didn’t let them do their thing. They also started their own development training center called The Power Plant, which is similar to what’s going on down in WWE’s NXT.

For all the great ideas they had, some ideas weren’t so welcoming. From movie star David Arquette winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to the infamous "Finger Poke of Doom,” ideas don’t always pan out the way they’re intended to. This list is about ideas that were pitched in the WCW but never came to be. Some of these ideas may sound awesome while others will have you shaking your head.

Maybe some of these ideas could have changed the direction of WCW, maybe they could have saved the company, however, we'll never know. These ideas would be exposed for the whole world to know through different interviews, shoot videos, and articles over the years. Enjoy.

15 RVD As A Mortal Kombat Character

Rob Van Dam is one of the rare ECW guys to make it in the WWE. A champion in both promotions, everyone wanted RVD in his prime. Even today, indie promotions are clamoring for his talents but that’s another story. At the height of ECW, Van Dam was contacted by WCW and they pitched an idea to him. According to RVD, WCW wanted him to become a Mortal Kombat character, similar to Glacier.

When he was in the midst of his ECW Television Title run, WCW told him that they were creating a whole bunch of gimmicks based on the Mortal Kombat video game. It’s a good thing RVD didn’t sign with the WCW. Otherwise, he may never have developed his skills to become a top guy in a company. Does anyone honestly think he would have been pushed to the top in WCW? We didn’t think so.

14 Judy And Buff Bagwell As Tag Team Champions

Harlem Heat, The Outsiders, and The Road Warriors are just some of the legendary tag teams to hold the WCW Tag Titles. If you remember, there was one tag team that made a lot of people turn their heads and that was Judy Bagwell, Buff Bagwell’s mother, and Rick Steiner. In 1998, she would be chosen as Rick Steiner’s championship partner.

She was never involved in a match, however, she did represent the belts. WCW had the idea of putting Buff and his mother Judy together as a tag team but the idea was nixed. Bagwell would become seriously injured in 1998 when he damaged his vertebrae and developed spinal shock. The idea of a mother and son duo lost steam and faded away in time.

13 Changing The Big Gold Belt To NWO Theme

The Big Gold Belt was once the hottest and most coveted prize in the wrestling industry. Designed in 1985 and commissioned by Jim Crockett Promotions, the belt had three large golden plates with a distinctive name plate. In 1986, the belt would replace the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was used since 1973, with Ric Flair being the first to hold it. Fast track to 1996 and the NWO storyline is still in its infancy stages.

That summer in 1996, Hulk Hogan battled The Giant for the Big Gold Belt and would come out as the winner. After the match, Hogan would spray paint his stables initials on the belt, forever changing its appearance. During the height of the faction’s success, Eric Bischoff almost got rid of the Big Gold Belt for an actual NWO designed title. He went as far as to pay for a design and casting plate but decided not to go through with it.

12 Sid's Baby Face Push In 1993

Sid Vicious, Sycho Sid, or just Sid; the guy was tall, talented and a force in the wrestling business in the 1990s. WCW would sign him in 1989 and in a year, he would become a member of the Four Horsemen. He would leave after several years with the company but would return in 1993. That year, the WCW had big plans for Sid as a baby face.

They wanted him to feud with the top guys in the business and eventually, a title run was in sight. However, Sid would be involved in a crazy fight with at a hotel with Arn Anderson in the United Kingdom. Sid would end up attacking Anderson with a pair of scissors. The whole ordeal would get Sid fired and his baby face push would never come to be.

11 WCW's Plans For The Undertaker In 2000

WCW really wanted to use this storyline but couldn’t. Apparently, the company was ready to offer The Undertaker an epic contract in 2000. According to Kevin Nash, “We had 'Taker close. All of a sudden he wasn't The Deadman. He became the American Bada$$ for a reason. That Deadman wasn't going to f'n come to WCW. He would have been the biker character and gone by Mark Calaway.”

It’s entirely possible Undertaker would have become the American Bada$$ in WCW and they would have pushed him to the top. Whatever storylines were brewing in WCW for The Undertaker, all those hopes and dreams were squashed when he re-signed with WWE. Thank the wrestling Gods that Taker didn’t sign with the WWE because the Universe would have been very strange if he left.

10 Flair's Other Daughter

All the young fans know about Ric Flair’s daughter, Charlotte, but do they know he had a son who worked in the WCW? David Flair appeared on WCW as early as 1993 but didn’t become a full-time employee until he signed on to be a wrestler in 1999. That same year, the beautiful Stacy Keibler would sign a contract with the WCW.

At this point, the crazy Vince Russo was the lead writer for WCW. He came up with the idea that David and Stacy should fall in love and be married in a WCW ring. Allegedly, Russo wanted the story to take an awkward turn. The idea was, at the last minute, Ric Flair would have to speak up during the ceremony and let the world know Keibler was actually Flair’s love child.

9 Bill Goldberg Turns Heel On Ultimate Warrior

Here’s another crazy idea pitched by Vince Russo that never happened. Bill Goldberg would burst onto the wrestling scene in the late 1990s. Billed around an epic streak, Goldberg would rise to the top rather quickly. After his streak ended two years earlier and the WCW was in limbo as to the direction it would take for the future, Russo pitched one epic idea in 2000, he wanted to turn Goldberg.

His pitch was to turn Goldberg into a heel at The Great American Bash against none other The Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior was notorious for destroying his competition in a short amount of time, similar to Goldberg. The only problem was the fans loved Goldberg and WCW thought they would never boo him in any circumstance.

8 The Original Gimmick Of Harlem Heat

The ten-time WCW World Tag Team Champions may never have been known as Harlem Heat if there wasn’t common sense in WCW. Before blowing up as one of the most recognizable and successful tag teams of their generation, the Harlem Heat almost wasn’t booked as we know them today. WCW creative looked at the two and an idea went around for the duo to be called “The Posse.”

The gimmick would be two paroled men that came into the ring with prison outfits and chains. They would be managed by a white southerner, Colonel Robert Parker, and basically be his slaves. Do we really need to tell you why this idea was nixed? Sadly, the WCW actually did a test run at a house show and the fans hated the racially offensive gimmick.

7 And The Father Is..... Woooooo!

We told you about Stacy Keibler and David Flair almost being brother and sister in WCW but Russo and WCW backed out of it. There was another storyline involving Keibler and Flair but this time Buff Bagwell would be involved. Lead writer Vince Russo decided to have Keibler, David, and Bagwell in a love triangle. Keibler would announce she was pregnant and Flair thought he was the father.

Bagwell would ruin Flair’s relationship and the two would battle to obtain the DNA. It would turn out that neither David nor Bagwell were the father but it would be Ric Flair, the supposed grandfather. Russo also pitched the idea that he would come out and claim to be the father as well. The top brass at WCW wasn’t buying it, and it’s just another idea we’re glad didn’t happen.

6 Tank Abbot Winning The Biggest Prize Of Them All

You’ve read several nixed ideas that former lead writer of WCW, Vince Russo, pitched in the company. This idea would actually lead to Russo’s downfall in WCW. The company was hurting badly during the end of the 20th century and desperation leads to a lot of bad ideas and chaos. WWE was winning the Monday Night Wars so Russo was throwing every idea at the wall to see if it would stick.

One idea he threw at top brass was making MMA fighter turned pro wrestler, Tank Abbott, the winner of the vacant WCW World Title. The idea was turned down quickly and the powers at be decided to demote Russo from the lead writer position. No longer in a position of power, Russo faded from WCW but that doesn’t mean you can’t hear him say the word “bro” a million times on his podcast.

5 KISS Inspired PPV

Poor Dale Torborg, at the time, he probably thought the best thing for his wrestling career was to work as The Demon, an inspired gimmick dedicated to the rock band KISS in 1998. We know today that the gimmick failed horribly and it turns out, people aren’t that interested in KISS in a wrestling environment. However, WCW thought the idea was great and decided to make a KISS-themed pay-per-view.

Just like the motorbike inspired pay-per-view, Hog Wild, the KISS event would feature rock ‘n’ roll themes and a live performance by the band. After several logistical problems, and the thought of having to pay the band a lot of money, the entire event was scrapped and never heard of again. To be fair, Torborg did make it to prime time television as The Demon, so maybe it wasn’t a bad gimmick for him after all.

4 A Roman Flair

Woooo! Pipe down soldier, you’re a legionnaire now! Rick Flair is a legend but what if we told you WCW, Executive Vice President Jim Herd to be precise, wanted to turn the limousine riding, airplane flying, champion into a Roman soldier. Oh, it’s true, it’s damn true. Flair and Herd did not hit it off well and the two fought tooth and nail on a lot of the creative moves made behind the scenes in WCW.

Remember when Flair had the luscious locks flowing from his head and then he cut it off? That’s because Flair actually was teasing the idea of being a Roman soldier but he decided to cut his hair was as far as he would go. Flair had such a falling out with Herd, he would be fired just two weeks before Great American Bash in 1991.

3 Nixing Team Piper Before Uncensored 1997

Don’t you hate when a storyline starts in a wrestling promotion and then it just disappears out of nowhere? In 1997, Roddy Piper was white hot with the fans and one of the only talents to realistically feud with the NWO. Piper challenged the notorious faction and said he would pick his own team to take them on.

On an episode of WCW’s Monday Nitro in March of ’97, Piper would select three wrestlers after having a series of mini-matches with them. They were Tenta, Roadblock, and a guy who used boxing gloves. Not exactly a crop of top talent that the fans can get excited about. The next night, WCW went into panic mode and decided to scrap the three guys and paired the Four Horsemen with Piper.

2 The Hunchbacks

We told you about Jim Herd’s failed Roman soldier idea that involved Ric Flair but that’s not the only terrible thought he had. Herd wanted to bring a fresh look to the tag team division in WCW. His idea was to have a tag team called the Hunchbacks. He figured two dudes could dress up in costumes with artificial humps tied to their backs.

WCW would then book the team as being undefeated because every time an opponent would try to pin one of them, the hump would prevent that opponent from doing so. It makes sense, how can you pin a guy’s shoulders down if the hump on his back is preventing him from doing so? Maybe Herd had too much of that funky tobacco and thought it was a great idea but we’re glad WCW didn’t pull the trigger.

1 The Big Bang PPV 

Eric Bischoff may have done some shady things in the past but we have to give him some credit for actually facing our overlord, Vince McMahon, and almost beating him at his own game. You can’t talk about wrestling in the 1990s without mentioning Bischoff. He had the drive to bring us the best content imaginable. In late 2000, WCW finally gave Bischoff the okay to sell the company.

Bischoff worked his tail off finding partners to acquire the company and even had a plan to shut down the company and then relaunch in Las Vegas with a Big Bang pay-per-view event. There were countless roadblocks in the way for Bischoff and his partners and in the end, WWE would swoop in and purchase the rights to WCW.