20 Greatest WCW Storylines
No. 1 took WCW to its zenith.
In honor of World Championship Wrestling signing off 20 years ago, here’s a countdown of the 20 greatest storylines in WCW. For the purposes of this list, WCW began on Nov. 21, 1988, when Ted Turner purchased Jim Crockett Promotions and launched WCW.
20. Col. Parker’s Newest Stud
Col. Tom Parker’s distant relative Col. Robert Parker (Robert Fuller) came to WCW in the spring of 1993 to promote “the biggest star of all time.” A week later he had a gurney beside him, telling Van Hammer that would be his fate. The prophecy came true at Slamboree as Sid Vicious returned to WCW to squash Hammer with a powerbomb and begin a main event run that sadly ended in near homicide.
19. Living Legend
An unsung hero in the fight against the New World Order, Larry Zbyszko refused to leave the broadcast booth when the rebels would take it over. The color commentator would trade verbal barbs with Scott Hall throughout 1997, as the crowds chanted “Larry! Larry!” Finally, the Living Legend came out of retirement at Starrcade, beating Eric Bischoff with the help of Bret Hart and then losing to Hall at Souled Out 1998 after being betrayed by fellow broadcaster Dusty Rhodes.
18. Macho Man’s Alimony Payments
Children of the ‘80s had their innocence stolen when Miss Elizabeth betrayed the Macho Man at SuperBrawl VI, becoming a heel for the first time. Flaunting the alimony she received, Liz would carouse with Woman and the Four Horsemen. Adding more fuel to Ric Flair and Randy Savage’s fire, Liz’ betrayal was grounded in reality compared to the fairytale in WWE.
17. Team Canada
Before Scott D’Amore unleashed his squad in Impact Wrestling, Lance Storm recruited Elix Skipper, Carl Ouellet (the future PCO) and Jacques Rougeau for the original Team Canada in WCW. Storm was at his peak, holding the U.S. Championship, Cruiserweight Championship and Hardcore Championship, renaming them the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, 100 Kilos and Under Championship and Saskatchewan Hardcore International Championship, respectively. At New Blood Rising, his match with Mike Awesome was under Canadian Rules, which changed on the fly and basically meant Storm couldn’t lose. It’s one of the highlights, perhaps the only one, of WCW 2000.
16. Who Is Torrie Wilson Talking to?
In the weeks leading up to SuperBrawl IX, a mysterious blonde bombshell was filmed in intimate settings with someone off camera. It was like we were Peeping Toms on a never-ending date. The woman (who we’d come to know as Torrie Wilson) interfered in Ric Flair’s battle with Hulk Hogan, and then a masked assailant stunned Flair with a taser. Obviously David Flair in the mask, the vignettes chronicled Wilson’s seduction of the Nature Boy’s son on behalf of the NWO.
15. Jericho vs. Goldberg
If you’re wondering why we got Mimosa Mayhem and the dinner debonair, it’s because Chris Jericho’s ideas are finally being accepted by management. Back in WCW, he created organic interest in a match with Goldberg after incessantly mocking the World Heavyweight Champion for months. Jericho often challenged “Greenberg” and when Da Man didn’t show up, he declared himself victorious and started his own winning streak. He even parodied Goldberg’s entrance with his own security guard Ralphus. Unfortunately, the match never came to fruition due to Goldberg nixing any interaction with a midcarder like the soon-to-be Y2J.
14. Sherri’s Looking for a Man
A proud gold digger, “Sensuous” Sherri came to WCW with one goal: finding a man that could bring her the World Heavyweight Championship. She’d be ringside for the next two months scouting talent, as fans wondered just who would be worthy of her allegiance. Her choice was seemingly made at Clash of the Champions XXVII, when she interrupted Ric Flair’s unification match with Sting, donning similar face paint as the Stinger. However, she and the Nature Boy were in cahoots, and she sacrificed herself to distract and help Naitch claim all the gold.
13. Magnificent 7
WCW’s last major storyline revolved around yet another stable. Ric Flair was the latest authority figure and he built a supergroup of heels known as the Magnificent Seven to protect his power: Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell, Jeff Jarrett, Rick Steiner, Road Warrior Animal and the World Heavyweight Champion, Scott Steiner. For the first quarter of 2001, they held mock funerals for the heroes they either injured or retired. Between February and March, though, members of the group were shown knocked out. We never found out what the story was because WCW was sold before the payoff came.
12. Conspiracy Victim
Decades before his podcast became a platform for flat earthers and COVID-19 deniers, Chris Jericho was a self-proclaimed conspiracy victim. After losing the Cruiserweight Championship at Slamboree 1998 to Dean Malenko, who earned the title shot by winning a battle royal dressed as luchador Ciclope, Jericho demanded that the title be returned to him because of Malenko’s scam. Blaming J.J. Dillon, Ted Turner and even the government, Jericho refused to be held down by the system. His crusade proved successful as the title was returned to him.
11. Wandering Eye
How did Steve “Mongo” McMichael transition from the broadcast team to the ring? Well, it all started with Ric Flair hitting on McMichael’s wife Debra. The Nature Boy clearly didn’t care about the sanctity of marriage and McMichael certainly wasn’t a pushover. So, he recruited fellow NFL superstar Kevin Greene to battle Flair and Arn Anderson at Great American Bash 1996. Adding to the spectacle was Bobby Heenan, who constantly bickered with Mongo on commentary, coming out of retirement to coach the Horsemen. The Brain had a plan, and it involved a briefcase full of cash and a Four Horsemen T-shirt. Debra handed it to Mongo in the closing moments of the tag team match, asking him to consider the offer, and then BAM! He cracked his partner in the head with it and joined the most legendary stable in wrestling history. He even shook hands with Heenan!
10. Eric Bischoff’s Revelation
After weeks of failing to sign Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan for Starrcade 1996, Eric Bischoff was exposed as the ultimate con artist. The Rowdy One showed up unannounced on Nitro, asking Bischoff specific details of his supposed trips to Piper’s home in Portland. As Easy E stuttered and stumbled, the New World Order hit the ring and snatched Piper while Hollywood Hogan embraced Bischoff, revealing that WCW’s head honcho was pulling the strings the whole time. Even more impressive is that the seeds were planted back at Bash at the Beach 1996 – the night Hogan turned on WCW – when Bischoff was MIA.
9. Rick Steiner’s Girlfriend
Looks can be deceiving. Sweet, dorky Robin Green was smitten with Rick Steiner in the summer of 1989, bringing treats to the matches and cheering him on. After a couple months, they went on their first date and to everyone’s surprise (including J.R.’s) Green had a sultry glow up, no longer appearing so naïve. She also took Missy Hyatt on a shopping spree funded by her slightly dim-witted boyfriend. At Clash of the Champions VIII, dissension arose when Green seemingly tripped Scott Steiner. Despite the fans blaming Green, Scott wanted to give his brother’s love the benefit of the doubt, only to be ambushed by two men in a limo – later revealed as Doom. Robin Green became Woman, and WCW was put on notice.
8. Best Friends
Instead of the feuding tag team partners trope, WCW put a different spin on its Tag Team Champions in 1996: one heel, one face, best friends. When Lex Luger came back in 1995, he screwed the Hulkster out of the World Heavyweight Title. While that had all the makings of a heel turn, he stayed loyal to his buddy Sting. Every week you’d think that Luger would stab Sting in the back, too, but it never happened. Their blowup only came after Luger was hoodwinked into believing that Sting had joined the NWO. Furious that his allegiance was doubted, Sting fled into the rafters and emerged a changed man.
7. Loose Cannon
Nobody blurred the lines of fiction and reality like Brian Pillman. In late 1995, he developed his “Loose Cannon” persona while part of the Four Horsemen. He grabbed an off-limits Heenan by the collar during Clash of the Champions XXXII (“What the fuck are you doing,” The Brain responded) and broke kayfabe at SuperBrawl VI, telling Kevin Sullivan “I respect you, booker man.” Convincing Bischoff to legitimately fire him so he could raise hell in ECW and then come back even hotter, Pillman then landed a guaranteed contract with WWE.
6. Ric Flair’s Retirement
Heading into Starrcade 1993, Ric Flair challenged the unstoppable Vader for the World Heavyweight Championship. When Vader asked what Flair had to offer, he put up his career. Already a legend at this time, it was very likely that this would be Flair’s swansong in his hometown of Charlotte, NC. Especially considering that Vader had demolished so many other challengers. A “Flair for the Gold” 10 years after the first Starrcade, the Nature Boy took fans on an emotional ride as he was shown saying goodbye to his family at home before riding to the arena in a limo with “Mean” Gene Okerlund. In a rare WCW moment, the fairytale ending did happen as Naitch rolled up Vader for the pin to the delight of Flair Country.
5. Dangerous Alliance
Here’s some free advice: Never fire Paul Heyman from commentary. When Vince McMahon did it in 2001, Heyman unleashed Brock Lesnar on the world. A decade earlier, he was taken off commentary, but still had his manager’s license, so he formed the Dangerous Alliance to take over WCW. Fuck the Avengers, look at this assembly of talent – Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Larry Zbyszko and Madusa. Together, they concocted a plan to take the U.S. Championship from Sting while holding the T.V. Title and Tag Team Titles. After a dominant six-month run, the stable dissolved after a hellacious War Games in 1992.
4. Sting Fooled Again
Fool Sting once, shame on you. Fool Sting twice, c’mon Stinger! After being double-teamed by Anderson and Pillman, Flair begged his archrival Sting for help. Reluctantly, Sting agreed after Flair brought out a bunch of little Stingers to plead for his help. Before the tag team match at Halloween Havoc 1995, Flair was attacked, so Sting fought off both men by himself. Naitch finally came out to even the score, and when he got tagged in, he blasted Sting! You can’t trust the dirtiest player in the game, WOOOOOO!
3. Goldberg’s Streak
On Sept. 22, 1997, a jacked, bald dude who your mom might mistake for Stone Cold had his debut on Nitro. He kicked out of Hugh Morrus’ No Laughing Matter, did a standing moonsault into a powerslam and hit the not-yet-named Jackhammer for the win. The crowd popped, the announcers popped and “Mean” Gene Okerlund couldn’t get any answers. Thus, began the most impressive winning streak in modern wrestling history. Goldberg became a household name, defeating Hollywood Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship within his rookie year. Of course, all good things must come to an end, albeit way too soon.
2. Sting’s Transformation
After his allegiance to WCW was doubted, Sting – the most loyal man in the company – emerged at Fall Brawl to destroy all four members of the NWO. He asked his supposed best friend Luger “is that good enough for ya?” before leaving the ring. The next night on Nitro, Sting expressed his frustration with everyone, including Luger, who doubted him, and declared himself a free agent. Gone for the next month, Sting was later seen in the rafters. Cloaked in black with long, greasy hair and ghostly white face paint (ala The Crow), he watched on as the NWO ran roughshod on WCW. Finally at Uncensored 1997, he rappelled to the ring and cleaned house on the treacherous group with his trusty baseball bat. Fans would have to wait eight more months for Sting to wrestle again.
1. New World Order
The storyline that changed pro wrestling.
Inspired by the rivalry between New Japan and UWF International, Bischoff wanted his latest signees Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, fresh off leaving WWE, to stage a hostile takeover of WCW. It was implied that both men were sent to invade WCW by Vince McMahon, sending the wrestling world into a frenzy. Hall’s arrival was unlike anything ever done in wrestling: he came through the crowd, interrupted a match where the competitors simply stopped wrestling, cut a promo declaring war on WCW and then the show cut to commercial. The next week, Nash showed up, threatening Bischoff and demanding a match with three of WCW’s best.
Bash at the Beach 1996 was the final step, as Hulk Hogan was revealed as the third man. Synonymous with WWE even two years into his WCW run, it made perfect sense for Hogan to be part of this New World Order. Yet, his heel turn shocked the world after all those years of saying your prayers, eating your vitamins and obeying the big man upstairs.
With its innovative vignettes, realistic beatdowns and influx of new members, the NWO ushered in a sense of unpredictability, making pro wrestling must-see TV. Business boomed and WCW jumped in front of WWE as the top wrestling promotion in the world.
Of course, the NWO also contributed to WCW’s downfall, but that’s for another list.
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