Best WCW memories

[relentless1]

Alot of the threads in this forum are WWE related, and for the most part, rightfully so as they are the only ones left. In the Old School section ive always wanted to see more of a positive light shone on WCW even though the last 2 years were crap there are alot of great memories from the NWA/WCW that usually go over looked so this is just an appreciation thread for all the great moments that JCP and its offspring gave us. Memorable story lines, characters, iconic moments should all be shared here.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

At the height of the NWO when Hogan and company were ending every show laying out various WCW wrestlers and spray painting them just before they went off air, Hogan right into a camera says, "I am God." I'm pretty sure he meant it to.

 

[Matisyahu]

Yeah its sad that all anyone remembers WCW for is how horribly ended and not for the greatness that it displayed for such a long time.

I always loved WWF and WCW pretty equally as both entertained me. So it was a very sad day for me when WCW closed its doors. As a matter of fact, I was crushed when I saw Vince and Shane McMahon on the last Nitro telecast because I knew that it was really all over. I knew deep down the vast majority of the guys I liked in WCW like Kanyon, Ernest Miller, the cruiserweights, Lance Storm and Team Canada, DDP, etc. wouldn't cut it in WWE because Vince McMahon had the reputation of not exactly wanting to go all in with talent or characters that he didn't create. But in Vince's defense he had both WCW and ECW talent to try to integrate into his programming. Some of the talent he made some effort give a chance and they didnt fit in, blew their shot (Buff Bagwell), or went out due to injury.

That being said, I truly miss WCW being around because they had some great tv and most especially WCW Saturday Night is the most sorely missed because it preceded even Nitro and I never missed an episode for years! There was just something about it that drew me in such as the over head shot with the ring spinning when coming back from commercial breaks, backstage interviews with Mean Gene, Mean Gene WCW Hotline promos, etc.

The earlier WCW days had some of the greatest matches and moments in the history of the sport such as Flyin' Brian Pillman vs Jushin Thunder Liger feud, Stunning Steve Austin vs Ricky The Dragon Steamboat, Cactus Jack and his wars with Big Van Vader, Ron Simmons becoming the first African American World Champion, Sting's war with the Four Horsemen, and the list goes on.

WCW was also notorious just like WWE, for some of the absolute WORST gimmicks of all time such as The Yeti who looked like a mummy, PN News the fat rapper, The Maestro, Kidman when he was a heroin addict scratching and looking dirty, Oz, Arachnaman (Not Spiderman but close), Art Barr as The Juicer (Beetlejuice ripoff), The Renegade, and of course the many music inspired groups/wrestlers such as the No Limit Soldiers, The Misfits, and the Kiss Demon.

I miss WCW the most because of the possibility of seeing WCW guys showing up in WWE or vice versa when they left or got fired. Best of all I really enjoyed seeing guys with strong gimmicks from WWE go to WCW and get saddled with some of the most embarrassing stuff imaginable such when Big Bossman became The Guardian Angel, Earthquake became The Shark, Brutus Beefcake became The Booty Man, etc. And of course, WWE did some of the same when they got guys like 2 Cold Scorpio making him Flash Funk.

 

[Matisyahu]

At the height of the NWO when Hogan and company were ending every show laying out various WCW wrestlers and spray painting them just before they went off air, Hogan right into a camera says, "I am God." I'm pretty sure he meant it to.

Yeah but lets not forget Sting coming out week after week and destroying all 40 something members of nWo with the Styrofoam bat.

Schaivone: "ITS STING AND WE GOTTA GOOOOO!"

They always had to sign off went shit hit the fan. I never understood that

 

[donfryeismyhero]

My best memories of WCW were of the 1st 2-3 years of the nWo angle, especially during that 1st summer in 96. Everything seemed so real & gritty when Hall & Nash would show up creating chaos. The cruiserweight action was also top notch. Good times.

 

[Pedigree1]

You know outside of the NWO and clash of the champions and GAB my personal favorite memory is the Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit tribute match to the late great owen Hart. A lot of emotion in that match just two of the best going at it. An extremely emotional,and great technical matchup between the top dogs of the Hart Dungeon!

I am sure Owen on that night was smiling from above so that is my personal favorite memory of WCW

 

[The Butcher]

Rey Mysterio being tossed into a trailer by Kevin Nash. This moment is indelibly etched in my mind forever. The whole scenario-- the confused, harried announcers, the cutaway to the rear, guys being laid out all over, and Hall and Nash just running roughshod, was superb.

 

[crswcw]

The first wrestling show I watch was superbrawl 92, I watch the tag team match between the steiner brothers vs sting and luger and it had me hook. Watching the drama in the match watching sting save luger from Nakita Koloff only to have luger turn on him made me a fan.

 

[PsychoBlack]

The nWo was amazing. Every Monday night me and my uncle would sit and flip back and fourth between Raw and Nitro. The nWo was special, I have literally been watching Wrestling for all 19 years of my life and I have never been more entertained on a consistent basis then I was during the heyday of the New World Order. Sting coming out and whooping their ass on a nightly basis was perfect because he was the ONLY guy on the roster who could stop them, and he did. Bret Hart being in the angle fucked it up but i have a very bias opinion on Bret Hart so don't take that into consideration. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Hogan, Syxx, and Scott Steiner were my favorites from the group.

Goldberg's streak was excellent. He came in he kicked ass and he left. It was simple yet brilliant.

JCP may have been my favorite promotion ever now that I'm older and have the excellent tool of the internet I have gone back and looked at plenty of old footage of Ric Flair and the horseman. My favorite wrestler ever cycles weekly between Ric Flair, HHH, and Kurt Angle. Flair's work in JCP is art he went out every night used the same formula and the match always seemed to be different.

Wargames, this was the mother of all gimmick matches and WWE needs to bring it back. It's the perfect way to blow off a big feud and as long as its not maid into a pay per view like elimination chamber and hell in a cell it will remain the great spectacle that it always has been

 

[Kidpolean]

Rey Mysterio being tossed into a trailer by Kevin Nash. This moment is indelibly etched in my mind forever. The whole scenario-- the confused, harried announcers, the cutaway to the rear, guys being laid out all over, and Hall and Nash just running roughshod, was superb.

I have to agee with you...as soon as I read the op this is the moment i thought of

 

[HHHsWetSpot]

Jericho-Malenko is one of my favorite feuds ever. Funny, emotional and exciting all at the same time, with Jericho pretty much doing everything himself and the payoff being one of the loudest pops in WCW history for a career midcarder who hardly cut promos.

I was also a huge fan of Lance Storm's early Team Canada super-push, where he held three titles at the same time. Then they jobbed him out to Bill DeMott and killed his momentum.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

My best WCW memories were watching Cactus Jack wrestle Nasty Boys at Superbrawl iv; that got my attention to who he was. I got a bootleg video of that somehow - not sure how or where as it was 18 years+ ago.

Im from the UK, so pre-1993, all wrestling was very hard to come by - even on SKY (our cable tv provider in the UK) they had a highlights package of Raw on a Saturday morning and it took 4 years for it to air in the UK. - I digress - The best way to catch Wrestling pre-1993, was on Saturday afternoons on ITV - WCW would be on and we would be able to see sting, luger, flair, arn anderson, Tom Zenk, Barry Windham, Johnny B Badd, Cactus Jack and Dusty Rhodes in preliminary matches.

I next caught WCW in 1996. It was on TNT in the UK (like it was in USA) but the UK version of TNT - it would come on after the cartoon network went off air. One week, I remember watching it and Lex Luger came out to defect to WCW. That was a big memory. Others include, Outsiders debuting, Hogans heel turn (two obvious ones I know), Bret Harts Debut, Sting returning as the Crow character, Ric Flair returning in 1998, Eric Bischoff being a cocky heel, and then the bad time - the confusing different factions within the NWO, the amazing fall from grace of the NWO and the top liners under Russo and Ferarrah then again with Bischoff and Russo.

 

[B.Ware]

The best way to catch Wrestling pre-1993, was on Saturday afternoons on ITV - WCW would be on and we would be able to see sting, luger, flair, arn anderson, Tom Zenk, Barry Windham, Johnny B Badd, Cactus Jack and Dusty Rhodes in preliminary matches.

YES! These are my fondest memories of WCW too. Around 93/94 Saturday afternoons in my house were strictly for watching WCW. Sting and Ron Simmons were probably my first WCW heroes because of this. I vaguely remember the Cactus Jack and Vader feud from around this time. Johnny B Badd seemed to always be on these shows and I hated that guy as a youngster.

Channel 5 aired WCW in it's last few years of business too. You'd get highlights of all the big matches from Nitro and Thunder and some awful matches taped for the international broadcasts. Lance Storm winning three titles around this time was a big deal to me then. Looking back at it all now through rose tinted glasses makes me really miss WCW and the fond memories it has given me, but I was always a WWF freak in reality and I never did truly become a full time WCW fan.

 

[MWRedskins]

Plenty of them, like Hogan vs. Warrior. what a classic or Hogan vs. Jarrett. ok, enough joking.
1) Chris Jericho-- his feuds were awesome. loved his 1004 hold list. "hold 1, arm drag, hold two armball" loved how he took trophies when he won matches and even his feud with Goldberg started off hot with him mocking Goldberg, but getting lost in the back. WCW should've allowed that feud to happen.
2) Bret Hart's first world title win-- that was a nice moment in my book and the match he had with Benoit for the title was also a great match. in the dying days of WCW, Hart had the potential to help save them.
3) the nWo at the start was super hot. the invading, the beating of Rey, the who joins up next. all of that was entertaining, suspension filled television.
4) Cruiserweight matches. those matches were on first and really helped WCW. the high flying and entertaining matches kept fans hooked.
5) Goldberg's streak also kept the fans into the show as they wanted to know when it would end, who he would run into next and of course they wanted to see him.
6) Lance Storm-- before (what in my book really hurt his character) New Blood Rising, Storm was a major star in the making. he won THREE titles clean, then he takes on Awesome, has to have help three times or more to win the match and does in Canada. didn't like that. I have no issues with a heel cheating, but they should've let him do that when they were in the United States, not in his home country where he was loved. then they put him in a feud with Morris. it was good, but in the end, it was kinda too long and then they had nothing for Storm.

WCW had his moments and at the end was trying to come back and had some talent to work with to be a good company, but in the end, Bischoff couldn't get a deal done the company was sold. it does have plenty of down things (see Jarrett vs. Hogan), but it does have a lot of highlights besides my favorite 6, but those are my favorite WCW memories.

 

[Lewis617]

God there are so many. The things that stand out to me the most, or are just easier to remember:
- The Cruiserweight Division (LaParka playing air guitar with a steel chair, lmao still gets me every time)
- The feuds between the Horsemen and NWO, Sting and Hogan, Savage and Page, the Outsiders and the Steiners, Sting and Vampiro, Sullivan and Benoit, Mongo McMichael and Jarrett, Guerrero and Mysterio
- New factions like the NWO Wolfpack, LWO
- As far as actual wrestling, if I had to pick the most memorable match(es), it would have to be:

1. Guerrero vs Mysterio Jr at Halloween Havoc 96 with the Mask vs Title match.

2. Any match that involved Malenko, Jericho, Guerrero or Benoit. Those alone were worth the price of admission because you weren't getting 15 minute pointless promos (Hogan) or 45 second squash matches (Goldberg).

3. The feud between Benoit and Booker T, Best of 7 for the U.S. Title

 

[LascoX]

I watched it when Gordon Solie announced Georgia Championship Wrestling was changing to WCW all the way to when Shane snaked it out from under Vince and everything in between. I was a big WCW fan so there are a ton of great moments during that span. The Hart / Benoit - Owen tribute match was a highlight, the rise of the NWO rocked the wrestling world, The wars that Dusty had with Rick were highly entertaining, The four horseman as they rose to power was great. I remember being in the Omni in Atlanta cheering for the Road Warriors to kick Tommy Riches and his partners ass - We got a lot of strange looks from the people around us that night as the Road Warriors were heels at the time but four months later most people were cheering for them as they waged war with the four horseman. I loved the cruiserweight division and all the lucha style wrestlers they had that kicked off the show with a high energy match. WCW build off of one of the strongest territories in the NWA so it started with a solid foundation and rose to the top of the heap. It was sad to see it decline like it did.

 

[dsotm5150]

Favorite memory, mostly because I was a HUGE Sting fan growing up, and I was there to see it live, was watching Eric Bischoff, Hollywood Hogan and Macho Man nearly shit themselves in the ring as Sting came flying over in a helicopter in Panama City Beach, FL.

 

[TeddyCJD]

My top five WCW matches or moments would be:

1) Birth of the original NWO (Nash and Hall) - it got silly for me shortly after Hogan joined!
2) Chris Jericho v Dean Malenko - the feud had everything, and the payoff at Slamboree was awesome!
3) Sting - the early years! His feuds with Ric Flair, Rick Rude, Vader, and Luger in the early years were absolutely phenominal!
4) Bret Hart v Chris Benoit in the Owen Hart tribute match!
5) Amazing Tag Team wrestling! From the late 80's NWA/WCW through to the late 90's, WCW for me was king of tag team wrestling. Through the years they had The Steiners, Doom, Fabulous Freebirds, Rock 'n Roll Express, Midnight Express, The Horsemen, Dangerous Alliance, Road Warriors, Sky Scrapers, Samoan Swat Team, Nasty Boys, Public Enemy and loads of others! Some epic matches through the years...and then in the late 90's came Kronik, 3 Count, and Totally Buff! How things changed! Sigh!

 

[BobbyRoode444]

-watching the house absolutely come down when Goldberg jackknifes Hogan on live TV for the WCW title.

-Chris Jericho/Eddie Guerrero

-Ric Flair bossing Bischoff around when he took control

-NWO spraypainting Goldberg

-Mysterio separating from LWO

-Jericho calling out Goldberg

-NWO/NWO wolfpac split

-Steiner/DDP feud

-4 way title match at spring stampede with Savage as ref

-great depth and talent at the cruiserweight division, Kidman/Mysterio feud

 

[FlairFan2003]

Most of my fav memories were when it was still under Jim Crockett Jr as the NWA. There were fun and exciting moments in the 90s after it became Ted Turner's company and was re christened WCW But for me the best memories were all pre WCW.

Flair vs Dusty: Pro Wrestling Illustrated Magazine's Feud of the Decade for the 80s in all of wrestling. So many classic promos, beat downs (the baseball attack in the Crockett Promotions parking lot was classic), best was probably The Great Am Bash 86, when the Bash was a month long tour. Flair was scheduled to defend the World Title at every show, facing every ranked opponent. It was billed as the most difficult stretch of title defenses ever. Each week I couldnt wait to see if someone had beat him and each week he'd beat every opponent, then brag about each new city he'd be in the upcoming week and who he would be beating, also bragging about how the whole NWA would be paying homage to his accomplishment once he beats everyone. Finally, with only 1 show left, Arch nemesis Dusty Rhodes scored the upset in a classic Steel Cage Match and won the title. It was near perfect, Flair's supremely talented but villainous heel, so close to an unprecedented accomplishment that would have verified his claims as wrestling's best, upset at the last second by his polar opposite, bitter rival, the guy who had chased him and been denied numerous times over the previous two years. I was glued to the TV waiting for Flair's 1st appearance after the loss, expecting an apocolyptic meltdown, but in one of his best but underated promos, Flair calmly admitted defeat, making no excuses, putting over Rhodes as "The Man", but promised he would be back and would regain his title. Great story, great build, and great climax with the aging Rhodes being the one who upset Flair's bid for perfection.

Dusty Rhodes vs Tully Blanchard: Almost as good as Dusty-Flair, Blanchard was great at playing the cowardly but cunning heel who was always frustrated by his inability to beat Rhodes. After cheating to beat Dusty for the TV Title, Blanchard started a gimmick where he would offer 10 grand to anyone who could beat him for the belt, usually only wrestling with a 10 min time limit. After ducking Dusty for months Rhodes offered a 100 grand of his own money vs TV Title match but insisted on a 60 min time limit. Blanchard was so elated at the chance to take Dusty's money he agreed to the time limit despite hesitation from manager JJ Dillion. The match was their feud in a microcosm, Blanchard throwing everything he could at Rhodes and getting increasingly frustrated as Dusty continued to dominate. With the longer time limit the stage was set for a Dusty win, especially with his best friend Magnum TA making his 1st appearance since the car crash that left him crippled, cheering him on at ringside. Then in one of the Horsemen's greatest swerves Dillion mugged crippled Magnum at ringside, stealing Dusty's money, distracting Rhodes just as he was about to win the match and title. Of course Dusty had to leave the ring to protect Magnum and then chase JJ to get his money back. JJ escaped, Dusty was counted out, and Blanchard kept the title and the money. I couldnt believe Tully prevailed, with that set up I never saw it coming. I still remenber Magnum looking so sad, feeling he failed Dusty due to his condition, as Rhodes reeled in anger that he was duped by Blanchard.

The tag team wrestling was awesome. The Rock & Roll Express may have been the most popular team in the country and their feud vs Midnite Express w/ Jim Cornette was so huge it inspired WWE to copy it with The British Bulldogs vs Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart. LOD were trendsetters with their combo of size and athleticism, having great runs vs M-Express & Horsemen , Ravishing Rick Rude pre WWE, great Flair-Barry Whyndam matches, the rise to superstardom of Lex Luger & Sting, lots of great memories.

 

[HBsam31]

Loved watch the old Clash of the Champions. I remember Flair and Sting the most. War Games too was always fun for me. I remember wanting anyone to beat Flair for the title. Hoping somehow the Horsemen could be stopped from interfering. I loved sitting in front of the tv as a kid watching WCW Saturday Night. WCW was great, and I agree that it is sad that it is only remembered for its dying days.