The crossover between WWE and WCW saw most wrestlers of the 90s and early 2000s working for both promotions at some point. WWE specifically had WCW stars coming over after WCW went out of business. However, there were quite a few noteworthy WWE stars of the era who just never felt the need or had the opportunity to work for WCW.
Most stories featured the talents getting over in WWE and never having to leave for WCW. A few did see WCW just not showing interest or sometimes even actively passing on future big names. Find out which top WWE stars never wrestled a single match for WCW and what caused each scenario to play out in that way.
10 Yokozuna
WWE made Yokozuna their top heel from 1993 to 1994 as a dominant world champion. Yokozuna received the huge pushes of dominating the 1993 Royal Rumble and being the man that defeated Hulk Hogan before he left WWE.
The size of Yokozuna became an issue for his health, but WWE kept him on the roster. WCW never had a chance to steal Yokozuna away since he felt loyal to WWE based on his family’s history there and how much help they gave him.
9 Batista
Batista recently shared his story with Shane Helms on Twitter about how WCW turned him down. The goal of Batista was to train at the Power Plant towards the end of WCW and make an impact on the show eventually.
WCW told Batista he’d never make it in wrestling, but WWE signed him a few years later. The legendary run of Batista showed another huge WCW mistake of overlooking talent with bright futures due to their closed mindset.
8 Christian
Edge and Christian made their names together from training to tagging in WWE. One difference in their paths featured Edge getting an opportunity in WCW, but the company didn’t see the potential to offer Christian the same chance.
The height difference saw Christian having to work a little harder to get the same chances as Edge in his career. WCW didn’t offer Edge a contract after his matches as an enhancement talent, so the two best friends were able to team in WWE.
7 Sable
Sable never technically worked for WCW despite appearing on an episode of Nitro. WWE saw things end ugly with Sable when she sued them for harassment after leaving as the most popular female star in the company.
WCW did convince Sable to sit ringside at one of their shows to put the camera on her, but that was the end of it. Sable never officially appeared for WCW or signed any contract to work for them since both sides had different ideas in mind.
6 JBL
The loyalty to WWE is one of the main reasons Vince McMahon rewarded JBL with a huge push late in his career. Bradshaw primarily worked as a lower mid-carder before finding success in the APA tag team with Ron Simmons.
The long-run in WWE saw him never leaving once to try to get a new start in WCW. Bradshaw was also regarded as someone who was anti-WCW when talents joined the company. McMahon eventually gave him the most sudden title push with a new character to thank him for never leaving.
5 Kurt Angle
The Olympic wrestling success of Kurt Angle made him a top prospect to WWE when they realized he would have some interest in making the career change. ECW was even ahead of the curve when inviting Angle to attend a show that went poorly.
However, WCW was the only promotion of the big three to not realize Angle was a huge asset. WWE signed Angle and taught him the basics before giving him a huge push. The last two years of the Monday Night Wars saw Angle stepping up for WWE with zero interest to leave for WCW.
4 Jeff Hardy
Matt and Jeff Hardy both had strong potential when entering the wrestling world as teenagers. WWE specifically brought Jeff in a few times as an enhancement act due to liking his potential and ability to bump well.
WCW could have jumped in to sign Jeff for the cruiserweight division, but he wasn’t on their radar. WWE finally realized they wanted Matt and Jeff each on the roster, and the rest is history. Jeff specifically had a legendary WWE career without ever working for WCW.
3 Lita
Lita was the third member of Team Xtreme to find success with the Hardy Boyz in WWE. The first big break for Lita came in ECW as a manager since Paul Heyman did see her potential to become a star.
WCW didn’t care enough about her ECW work to offer a contract. Lita joined WWE and was initially paired with Essa Rios before competing in the women’s division. WCW never valued women’s wrestling which played a role in not signing her.
2 The Rock
The Rock was a superb prospect for WWE with everyone in management expecting big things from him. WCW never had a real shot at signing Rock since WWE reached out to him due to his family background of his father and others working there in the past.
Once Rock got over in WWE during the Nation of Domination run and eventually became a main eventer, there was no chance for WCW to steal him away. Rock still expresses loyalty to WWE today with even more relatives like Roman Reigns, Nia Jax, and the Usos getting hired.
1 Shawn Michaels
One of the biggest “what if” scenarios in wrestling could have seen huge changes if Shawn Michaels left WWE for WCW. The rumor mill indicated Michaels wanted out of his WWE contract in 1997 to join close friends Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in WCW.
WWE kept Michaels happy enough to stick around until an injury forced him into a four-year retirement. Michaels was placed on the shelf in 1998 and never had the chance to join WCW for a spot in the New World Order with his pals.