Who was the WCW's biggest star? Goldberg, Sting, Hogan, or Flair?

[gully side adidja]

I really believe it is down to one of these four men....


Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Hulk Hogan came in to wcw already a star, but in 1996, he turned wcw upside down by forming the nwo, and going from hulk hogan to Hollywood hogan, possibly the greatest heel ever, involved in some of the top feuds(vs sting, vs flair,vs new blood etc,) is it hogan?

Goldberg: from 97 to 98 Goldberg was untouchable. He destroyed everything in his path, had the greatest unbeaten streak in wrestling history, held stone cold in popularity for a while, was there a more dominant wrestler?


Ric Flair: the Nature Boy, the definition of a pro wrestler, awesome talker awesome worker, had some of the greatest matches of all time, kept wcw alive pretty much on his own in the early 90's, created one of the greatest stable of all time, the horsemen, and is of course wcw's
record, heavyweight title holder, ''to be the man you have to beat the man'' is flair ''the man''?


Sting: Possibly the most all rounded guy in wcw? he had great matches, tremendous look, possibly the greatest feud of all time(sting vs the nwo), wcw's greatest gimmick character of all time(the crow sting), and probably wcw's most consistent over guy there was.


I would personally say sting, but what do you think? OPINIONS PLEASE!

 

[650ballinwhiteboy]

Sting was the best performer, but GOLDBERG was the biggest star. Iy you thought of WCW, you thought of Goldberg. He was a larger then life person, he was huge, powerful, intense, charismatic, unbeeten, and really made you consider WCW as the real deal since he was so good. He wasn't a great wrestler by any means but he accomplished what he had to do in the ring and was ALWAYS capable of keeping the crowd excited. Most over man in WCW by far, arguably the most over man on the planet at one point. He made you want to watch

 

[ashe draven]

It depends how u analyze the question. Hogan's NWO turn was explosive & ignited the monday night war. Goldberg was undoubtably their TOP star upon his emergence & until WCW's end. But in terms of longevity its Sting, hands down. He was always their best worker besides flair, his crow angle was ultra hot, and was their cornerstone throughout his tenure there.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Good topic. Hogan was huge as Hollywood, but he already made a name for himself in the WWF. I would say it is between Sting, Flair and Goldberg. I am not sure you can choose one of those three as "the guy." Flair was their most popular heel, by far. He put on great matches time after time after time. He had some of the biggest feuds, with Luger, Sting, Vader, Hogan, Steamboat and in the early days, Harley Race and Dusty Rhodes. No heel had more heat that Flair, probably in the history of the business. Then there was Sting. He was their greatest face, for years and years. He was a tremendous athlete, and could put on a hell of a show night in and night out. I saw three of his matches live when I was a kid, and I prefered him over Hogan, who was kind of Sting's unofficial rival in those days, with both guys being the figure heads of their respective companies. When Hogan came to WCW, I knew a lot of WCW fans who were pissed, just knowing that Sting was unfortunately going to have to take a backseat to Hogan, which he did. Sting had some great feuds, most notably with Flair, Rick Rude, Vader, and even his good buddy Lex Luger. And last, but not least, Goldberg. Goldberg was very underrated inside of the ring, in my opinion. He wasn't a technical wrestler, by any means. But he was an animal. I have always thought that Goldberg is what Batista WANTED to be, but doesn't have the drive or intensity to do so. That was Goldberg; intensity. He was one of the most intense performers of that generation. He honestly looked like he wanted to kill someone each and every time he got into the ring. His unbeaten streak was the best thing WCW had going at that time (nWo had become a bit stale). I think Goldberg was a big reason the company stayed in competition as long as it did, especially after Sting beat Hogan (what I thought of as the unofficial end of the nWo). I don't believe Goldberg was the biggest star in the business during his prime (Austin was on top, no question), but if he wasn't first, he wasn't third. All three guys were essential in WCW having the success they had during the late 80's and 90's.

 

[Hulkster84]

Hogan is the bigges star in wrestling history. He was wwe and wcws biggest star, however he was made a star in wwe. As far as the biggest star created by wcw - Goldberg hands down. Biggest ovations, was a main eventer the entire time, and had the biggest undefeated streak next to Andre the Giant. Flair wasn't on top for his entire career, and was wrestling at mid card level for a lot of it. Sting was a main event guy and a preliminary main event guy throughout his career. Neither of them received ovations or pops as big as Goldberg.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Goldberg. There really is no one else that could possibly be called WCW's biggest star. His undefeated streak has been the standard that all "undefeated streaks" in storylines have tried to measure up to ever since. Also, he was quite possibly the ONLY newcomer in WCW to ever get a push to the top. Nearly all of their other main eventers were established wrestlers who had originally been big names in other federations like WWF. Goldberg was WCW's biggest star because he walked into WCW a nobody and went all the way to the top to remain one of the most popular wrestlers in WCW until the end.

 

[will5979]

If we are talking about NWA/WCW then its Flair hands down.

If we are just talking about WCW then its Sting. Old school fans when they think of one man in each federation it goes WWF-Hogan, NWA-Flair, WCW-Sting, AWA-Lawler.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

WCW's Greatest Star was Sting


Come on, folks, really? Goldberg? Hogan? Not even a little bit. Sting was the greatest star in the history of WCW, and it's by a mile. Here's why Sting is and the others aren't:

1. Sting was WCW's Consistent Franchise Performer

Sting was to WCW what Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were to WWF. Sting was the consistent, mainstay performer. Always there, always prepared. He was an immensely "over" babyface. He won a World Heavyweight Title with WCW/NWA on 10 occassions. He's the best pro wrestler to never sign with Vince McMahon, similar to what Shawn Michaels is having never been in WCW. His career with NWA / WCW touched three different decades.

2. Sting competed in all eras with all forms of opponents

Sting helped carry feuds against the 4 Horsemen. Sting was a member of the 4 Horsemen. His matches with Ric Flair are often considered some of the best all time. When the popular Road Warriors were chosen for a heel turn by Dusty Rhodes, it was clear to Dusty that the only way to get the Road Warriors over as heels was by attacking Sting because he was so over with the fans. Sting's work with The Great Muta helped bring the Japanese stars become more recognized in the US. When WCW bookers wanted Ric Flair to drop the World Title to Lex Luger instead of an injured Sting, Flair refused, citing Sting as the man he wanted to drop the belt to, and that he'd hold the belt until Sting was well enough to compete. Sting feuded with the Dangerous Alliance, Nikita Koloff, Lex Luger, Rick Rude, and many others, essentially carrying WCW in the early 90's while Flair was in WWF. Sting's work with Big Van Vader represented one of the greatest feuds of the 90's, and one of the best in WCW's history. Sting wrestled Ric Flair on both the first ever and the last ever WCW Monday Nitro shows. From there, Sting entered into one of the best feuds - with one of the worst payoffs - in wrestling history with the nWo and Hollywood Hogan. The reason the blowoff was so piss poor? Hogan's creative control.

3. Hogan and Flair were not "WCW Guys"

Flair was an NWA guy, sure, but he went to the WWF in the early 90's. Who was left holding the bag in WCW? Sting and Vader. Hogan was killing the WCW for years before leaving to sign in 1994, and when more than a year was invested in the Hogan / Sting feud in 1997, Hogan's ego wrecked the whole thing as less than a week before the big title match at Starcade, Hogan invoked his Creative Control clause to prevent a satisfying clean victory.

4. Longevity

Goldberg was in WCW for only a few years, and while they were some of the most prosperous, much of that could be contributed to the desire of the fans for somebody to tear Hogan and the nWo apart. Goldberg also ended the career of Bret Hart, and as interesting as his undefeated streak was, from there, Goldberg never developed anyone else into a star through their feuds.

Sting, on the other hand, was there until the end after starting in the 80's. His run with WCW was uninterrupted. Goldberg jumped to WWF as soon as WCW went under, as did Hogan and Flair.

To recap, here is, in order, WCW's Biggest Stars in History:

1. Sting
2. Flair
3. Hogan
4. Hall and Nash
5. Goldberg
6. Vader
7. Blanchard
8. Windham
9. Luger
10. Vicious

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

It's Ric Flair. Why? Because without Ric Flair, you don't have the WCW. Ted Turner didn't buy WCW because he liked Sting, or Dusty Rhodes, or any of the aforementioned stars. He bought it because he liked Ric Flair.

Flair was a guaranteed quality match. "But he's had the same match everyday for 30 years!" If that match is GOOD for 30 years, I'll take it. Sting is second, but a distant second. Because Flair made Sting a star. Sting got over well in WCW and was their franchise player, but Flair was the man before Sting even got to WCW. Mind you, I'm also including Jim Crockett Promotions in the WCW category as many of the same wrestlers were there when WCW was created.

Goldberg? Sure, for a year he was WCW's biggest star, but not the biggest overall. He made an instant impact and was gone just as instantly. Not good in an argument for the biggest star moniker.

And I don't count Hogan. He's WWF/E through and through. Even in his run in WCW, he was a WWE/F product in my eyes. And Hogan was a star of his own making. He booked himself to win, and didn't care about anyone else. Flair put deserving wrestlers over on a regular basis, and even jobbed to Hogan too many times.

So as far as I'm concerned, when I think of WCW, I think Ric Flair. So he's the WCW's biggest star.

 

[SSJPhenom]

If we are going to go all the way back to the NWA days, then the answer is Ric Flair. There wasn't a star in the NWA that was ever, EVER, as big as Ric Flair. He was their consistent champion, the face of the company, and by far and away the most recognizable figure from the NWA.

If we are just going to go from the WCW days then the answer is Sting. Sting was WCW's biggest star because of all the things that IC has already listed. Sting was the franchise player for WCW, he had longevity, and he was by far the biggest face of the company.

So, I'm going to split it into two different eras. NWA goes to Flair and WCW goes to Sting, however, let's not forget, Flair made Sting!

 

[Chill]

I'm going for Sting with this one, as far as WCW's biggest star is concerned. There is no doubt that Flair was the star of the NWA but by the time WCW came about, many thought Flair was past it, at least in comparison to the gems he put on during his NWA days. Hogan wasn't a 'WCW person' in that he was made famous during his WWF days and he was also past it (i.e. past his prime) by the time he arrived with the company. Goldberg created a huge impact in WCW but was only there for a few years and so I can't consider him as WCW's biggest star, he certainly was one of them though.

As for Sting, this guy was WCW born and bred, he was arguably the most consistantly over face they had, he carried WCW's biggest feud when he feuded with the NWO, he was truly WCW's 'franchise' player in that he remained with them for the duration of his career. Who was WCW's main guy when Flair was in WWE? Sting. Who was their main face when Hogan was in WWE? Sting. Who was representing WCW before we'd even heard of a man called Goldberg? Sting, that's who. For me, Sting is definitely the answer here with Flair not far behind him.

 

[Bull_Dawgz]

I'd say it's a tie between Goldberg and Sting. There's too many things they did for WCW. Ric Flair had some good matches, and an unforgettable performance with Sting in WCW's last show in 2001, but other than that, he was like an old man who forgot to take his meds

 

[Flair is Overrated]

We're not talking about who was the best wrestler. We're talking about who was the biggest star. No room for debate, it's Hogan. Before Hogan, WCW/NWA was nothing more than a regional promotion that no one knew about or cared about unless they lived in the south. Basically, pre-Hogan WCW/NWA was like the SEC to the WWE/F's NFL. Goldberg was just a short-lived gimmick. With all due respect to Sting (and believe me, I have a lot for anyone who would stick it to Vince), if you never wrestled in the E, you can't be taken too seriously as a real star. And I may go into my opinion of Ric Flair on another occasion, but for now I'll just point out that he was never more than a regional attraction that has zero name recognition with the general public. Hogan really is a pop culture icon - casual wrestling fans, and non-wrestling fans, still know who he is. When Ted Turner started running commercials with Hogan, people took notice. Without Hogan, there were no Monday Night Wars, and WCW would have remained just as irrelevant as the AWA, WCCW, or any of the other pretenders that wanted to go national.

 

[ncwriter2908]

I think it was Flair by a long shot. Flair was an established star with the top heel group. He helped make stings career by fueding with him and then with him joining the horsemen. Lets face it Sting cannot touch Flair on the mic. It was always Flair over the top personality drawing people into the fued. He made you hate him which is what is job was. Then look at how many times he held the championship. Then as soon as the biggest star in wrestling was signed what was the match everbody had to have Flair vs Hogan. Then Flair goes on to fued with Hogan. Remember his fued with Savage and him bring miss liz with him.

Oh yeah then one of the biggest fueds for the NWO was when they fought the reformed horsemen. Oh yeah the "my spot" segment was the best ever by the NWO. The he had Flair/Piper vs NWO. Sting was great but it was flair who made him interesting and gave him his big break. Hogan was more of a WWE guy. Thats were he made his name at. Goldberg well he lost alot of interest when his streak was gone. He was only average in the ring and couldnt work the mic.

 

[Tougie]

why even ask this? Goldberg was just as popular as Stone Cold in 98 and 99. Nuff said. But seriously he had the look, his merch sold like crazy, and even though 80 % of his matches were 3 minute squashes the fans were going crazy during the whole thing. Just watch his match against Hogan in the Georgia Dome. Sting didnt even have a chance when he returned at Starrcade 97 as compared to Goldberg. But he was essentially the next Flair, he carried NWA/WCW when Flair left and of course they had some great matches.. Hogan was just Hogan, you had the NWO which got stale after 2 years when 30 people joined it. U had like 3-4 expansions off of it including the Wolfpack and NWO 2000. I mean besides the fact he was the major momentum shift in WCW becoming popular he was consistantly having terrible matches. Only thing good about them was the psychology. And the way WCW treated Flair including the haircut But Flair is the best of all time and still had great matches consistantly.

 

[wazaveli]

All I watched as a kid was WCW and I got the biggest pleasure out of seeing Goldberg and Sting.

Sting being my all time favorite wrestler, but something about Goldberg was out of this world. It was the cool thing at school to say u liked Goldberg and you were tough because he was your favorite.

My uncles liked him, my cousins, my own family all popped hard when Goldberg wrestled.

So when I think WCW...96-2001 I think Goldberg.

 

[Tastycles]

It's Sting. When it became WCW, as in actually called that, as the 80s turned into the 90s, he was on top. When WWF bought WCW, he was still there. The man consistently delivered for the company while the rest of them came and went. Goldberg was huge for a while but he spent most of 2000 completely castrated. Nobody gave a shit about Hogan before the nWo and then he left. I'm sure he was the biggest draw when he was there, but Sting spent years longer than him there, and thus I think he was their biggest star.

 

[SpecialReferee]

The most consistent of the four was Ric Flair. The fans simply adored the guy whether he was a face, heel or not even there. So, i think he is the clear cut number one here.

Goldberg is second. Sting lost ALOT of his fans during 2000 as it was clear by the reaction he got. Goldberg never lost a beat in his dominance in WCW and even in the dying days of WCW, people paid to see this guy.

Sting is third here. Everything pre 1999 holds up pretty well, but everything from June 99 onwards really kills his momentum in terms of popularity, in my opinion.

Hogan is last here. He was a great heel, but his face run in WCW wasn't that great. The fans hated him until he was heel and that is where he excelled at. He never regained alot of popularity in 1999 onwards because he simply wasn't their much to be considered a top babyface. Besides, Hogan has to be considered a WWF guy, anyway.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Sting and it is not even close. He was over for the longest period of time in WCW and was their "franchise" star. He put on great matches with Vader, Flair, and all of the WCW stars during that time. Hogan and Flair didn't do anything the last three or four years in WCW and Goldberg was only hot for a couple of years. Sure he had the undefeated streak, but nothing really came out of it. He didn't put anybody over when he should have. Sting was WCW's most consistent performer and its biggest star even when he didn't speak for about a year.

 

[Terry'sGordy]

Old school fans when they think of one man in each federation it goes AWA-Lawler.

I don't know anyone personally who thinks of Lawler when it comes to the AWA.

It's usually Gagne or Bockwinkel that comes to mind first and then guys like the Crusher, Mad Dog Vachon, Ray Stevens, or Bobby the Brain.

 

[Davi323]

If we are talking about the NWA/WCW, and include the 1980s, etc, before the NWA changed its name to WCW, I would say Ric Flair, easily. Even including the time he spent in the WWF, Flair was the NWA/WCW. If we are only talking about WCW, and discount its time as the NWA before that, I think a strong case can be made for Sting, so it all depends on how inclusive we are being as far as length of time. As someone who had watched it before the name change, when I think WCW, its always going to be Ric Flair as the face of the organization.

On a side note, I think will5979 might have been thinking of the USWA, not the AWA.