20 Greatest WCW Matches
So much great rasslin’!
In honor of World Championship Wrestling signing off 20 years ago, here’s a countdown of the 20 greatest matches 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. Ric Flair, Kevin Greene & Roddy Piper vs. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Syxx, Slamboree 1997
This cracks the list for the same reason The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan makes any top 10 WrestleMania matches list: the crowd. Charlotte, NC is Flair Country and the fans went apeshit for the Nature Boy’s arrival. There’s not a lot of action in this one, and there didn’t need to be. The crowd popped for every strut, crotch chop and dry hump, as these five elite workers (and natural Kevin Greene) proved that less is more.
19. Ultimo Dragon vs. Dean Malenko, Starrcade 1996
All the gold was on the line as Dean Malenko defended the Cruiserweight Championship against Ultimo Dragon, holder of the J-Crown. There’s a smorgasbord of styles on display: submissions, high flying, vicious strikes, power moves and plenty of suplexes. Malenko even hits a tombstone! The last few minutes are an adrenaline rush of reversals, counters and nail-biting near falls.
18. Goldberg vs. Raven (Nitro, April 20, 1998)
After months of hiding behind his Flock, Raven finally got stuck in the ring, just 24 hours after winning the United States Championship. His first challenger would be his last: the undefeated Goldberg. Wisely, Raven charged right away, only to get throttled. Goldberg whipped him into the guardrail, and Raven cringed in agony. Desperate for a breather, Raven blasted Goldberg’s ribs with a chair, sending him back in the ring for his signature drop toehold into the chair. That wasn’t enough to keep Da Man down, as Goldberg simply absorbed the blows before hitting a spear, drawing a thunderous pop. Realizing their leader was in trouble, The Flock swarmed the ring, but Goldberg bulldozed them.
17. Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude, Beach Blast 1992
Perhaps the most underrated Ironman match ever, albeit only 30 minutes. This is a masterclass in psychology, as Ricky Steamboat targets Rick Rude’s injured ribs in the early going. But within a three-minute window, Rude goes up 3-1 with two clean pins, getting disqualified for hitting a kneedrop off the top rope but sacrificing the fall for the third pin. The Dragon spends the next 10 minutes trying to catch up, and when he does, they exchange near falls until the last 30 seconds when Steamboat catches the “Ravishing One” in the ribs and Rude desperately tries to tie it before the time expires.
16. Brian Pillman & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington, Clash of the Champions XIX
When Jim Ross preaches the importance of maximizing your minutes, this is what he’s talking about. Chris Benoit and Beef Wellington were unknowns to the American audience at the time, but they left everyone speechless in this thriller. A showcase of Stampede Wrestling at its finest, Brian Pillman meshed well with Benoit and Wellington, matching their intensity and high flying. Jushin Thunder Liger is no slouch, either, as these four men brought the crowd to their feet with action never before seen in WCW.
15. War Games, WrestleWar 1991
Larry Zbyszko becomes an honorary Four Horseman, teaming with Ric Flair, Barry Windham and Sid Vicious against Sting, Brian Pillman and the Steiners. It’s as gory as you’d hope for, especially with Naitch in there. Pillman emerges as the resilient underdog, having his neck nearly broken TWICE by Sid. The finish makes no sense, but it was an impromptu call after Pillman was injured.
14. Steiners vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka, WrestleWar 1992
This is as close to a shoot without being one that you’ll ever see. Rick and Scott Steiner steamroll Fujinami and Iizuka, the latter of which gets a swollen eye and bloody nose. The foreigners try to battle back, but that just riles up the Steiner brothers more. Jesse Ventura claims the Michigan-based Steiners are fighting for American car companies that have lost market share to Japan, which is a helluva backstory. Unlike some of the matches on this list, there’s a great finish here.
13. Rock N’ Roll Express vs. Midnight Express, WrestleWar 1990
Textbook tag team wrestling, the way it’s supposed to be. This was the last time these archrivals tangled on a big stage, letting it all hang out. You already know who Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane isolate and who gets the hot tag. Jim Cornette also gets involved in a fun spot with referee Nick Patrick.
12. Steiners vs. Lex Luger & Sting, SuperBrawl
Four of the most popular wrestlers in the world collide in total nonstop action. The Steiners are infamous for roughing up their opponents, but Lex Luger and Sting dish it right back. Everybody was running on all cylinders until Nikita Koloff interfered to give the Steiners the reluctant victory.
11. Sting vs. Vader, Starrcade 1992
After Vader demolished Sting for the World Heavyweight Title at Great American Bash, The Stinger learned his lesson and came for revenge at Starrcade. They add new chapters to the big man vs. little man playbook, combining power, speed, agility and intensity into an exciting main event cocktail. Sting also took a page out of Muhammad Ali’s book, absorbing as much punishment as possible until Vader wore himself out.
10. Rey Mysterio vs. Psicosis, Great American Bash 1996
Lucha libre at its finest. Bringing their ECW rivalry to WCW, these incredible athletes set the tone for what would become a revolutionary night. They exchanged holds early on, but the energy quickly ramps up as they take to the air and invent new spots, such as Mysterio monkey flipping Psicosis into the steel post and following up with a hurricanrana to the floor.
9. Sting vs. Cactus Jack, Beach Blast 1992
Falls count anywhere…on the Gulf Coast! Mick Foley considered this his best match for a long time. After all, Sting put Cactus Jack on the map with this performance, and Cactus gave Sting a much-needed edge. Brawling around ringside, both men took some gruesome bumps on the concrete. (Bill Watts removed mats during his tenure.) The chaos was unlike anything seen in WCW or even WWE at the time.
8. Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Super Brawl II
Is there any hotter way to open a show? Brian Pillman and Jushin Thunder Liger draft the blueprint for what would become the cruiserweight division. They take to the air, they go to the mat, they unleash a flurry of strikes. And the crowd eats it all up. A handshake in a mutual sign of respect puts the cherry on top.
7. Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk, Clash of the Champions IX
In the immortal words of Gordon Solie, “Five letters. Two words. I quit.” Ric Flair and Terry Funk exchange fisticuffs and a chopfest, brawling in and out of the ring. Then, in a nod to how their feud began at WrestleWar, Funk targets Flair’s neck, piledriving him twice, including on the concrete. Looking to finish the Nature Boy off by setting up a table, Funk took too much time, allowing Naitch to recover and pounce. The crowd roared as Flair hopped on Funk’s back, hellbent on punishing the Funker. Instead of all the hokey ways that I Quit matches have since ended, these icons kept it simple, as Flair dissected Funk’s leg until locking him in the Figure Four. Unable to withstand any more abuse, Funk gave up and shook the champ’s hand afterward, one proud warrior acknowledging the superiority of another.
6. War Games, WrestleWar 1992
The ultimate War Games pitted Sting’s Squadron of Sting, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff against The Dangerous Alliance of Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Eaton and Steve Austin. Windham and Austin kick it off, and “Stunning” Steve gets busted open before the next man even enters. The crowd pops louder for each entrant as the tide turns back and forth. Larry ends up costing his team, which leads to the implosion of the Alliance.
5. Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys, Great American Bash 1990
Tag team wrestling doesn’t get any better than this. Tracey Smothers and Steve Armstrong run wild on the Midnight Express, forcing the U.S. Tag Team Champions to retreat to Jim Cornette for guidance. Then a karate fight breaks out between Smothers and Stan Lane, with the latter coming up short. Just when Eaton and Lane think they finally have the advantage, Armstrong flies in with a double cross body. The pacing of the match brings you to the edge of your seat over and over, as you pray that it never ends.
4. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero, Halloween Havoc 1997
These best friends each consider this their finest performance, and for good reason. Eddie Guerrero had Rey Mysterio’s number for most of the match, countering the luchador’s dazzling moves or overpowering him. Of course, Mysterio has been fighting from underneath his entire career, and with his mask on the line, he was willing to do whatever it took. There are two amazing moments: Mysterio hits a springboard DDT with such precision that he and Guerrero were never able to quite duplicate and the finish, in which they jockey for position on the top rope, with Guerrero attempting Splash Mountain only for Mysterio to counter into a hurricanrana for the three count. Easily WCW’s best match of the ‘90s.
3. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, WrestleWar 1989
The stakes were higher than ever, as Ric Flair agreed that this would be his last shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Considering that their previous match almost went an hour, three judges (Lou Thesz, Pat O’Connor and Terry Funk) have been brought in to decide the winner in the case of a draw. Having forced Flair to submit with the double chicken wing one month prior at Clash of the Champions, Ricky Steamboat’s strategy was to target the arm. The Nature Boy’s strategy was to chop the shit out of The Dragon, and man, they beat each other’s chest to a pulp.
With so much on the line, the dirtiest player in the game resorted to any devious tactic to gain an advantage, including “accidentally” tossing Steamboat over the top rope and later shaking the top rope so Steamboat fell off the turnbuckle, crashing to the concrete. With Steamboat’s knee hurt from the tumble, Naitch went for the Figure Four, but the resilient champion got a rope break. Unfortunately, the damage had been done, and when Steamboat went to slam Flair, the challenger hung on for an inside cradle ala WrestleMania III and won his sixth world title.
As great as this was, the post-match angle with Funk was even hotter.
2. Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair, Chi-Town Rumble
Each match in their trilogy had a unique energy and brought something different out of both competitors. Obviously with Chi-Town Rumble being the first chapter, there was a freshness to the bout, as Ricky Steamboat had just returned to the NWA after a great run in WWE. Eager to pick up where they left off a decade prior, only more seasoned and in the prime of their careers, the Nature Boy and the Dragon created a masterpiece.
For 23 minutes, these phenomenal athletes illustrated what professional wrestling could look like in its highest form. No wasted motion, believable selling and each man playing to their strengths: Steamboat taking flight, risking it all to become World Heavyweight Champion while Flair tried to ground the challenger, focusing on the leg to perhaps sideline him indefinitely. The end had all the makings of a Dusty Finish, but thankfully, as the fans rejoiced, Steamboat’s hand was raised and the title change stood.
1. Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair, Clash of the Champions VI
This two-out-of-three falls match goes nearly an hour, but never feels like it. The conditioning of these legends, especially in their primes, is remarkable. Creating an athletic contest that you can easily suspend your disbelief for, Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat stir a delicious cocktail of intensity, emotion and psychology, along with thrilling action, of course. Playing off the finish to Chi-Town Rumble, Steamboat reverses the Figure Four into a small package, but Flair shifts his weight to pick up the first fall. Steamboat ties it in the second fall by forcing Flair to submit in the double chicken wing.
And in true WCW fashion, the third fall ends with controversy. Steamboat locks Flair in the hold again, but his knee buckles due to Flair targeting the leg and both men crumble to the mat with Flair’s shoulders pinned. However, the replay shows that Flair’s foot was on the bottom rope, so a rematch is needed at WrestleWar.
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