Missed Oppurtunities: WCW

[relentless1]

now I know that WCW dropped the ball on alot of things, letting go of austin, foley, sean waltman, paul wight to name a few, storylines that didnt happen etc. i was just wondering what you ppl think was the one theat they really missed the boat on?

One of the one i was thinkin about when i wrote this was how they totally f*cked up Buff Bagwells face turn in summer of 1998; heres Bagwell with a groundswell of positive fan support after his near career ending neck injury, buries the hatchet with rick stiener, the man that did it to him, getting attacked by Hollywood Hogan...only to join up with nWo hollywood a week later?!?!

They could have had him be a breakout star in the wolfpac or i WCW, US title run and he could have had a major face run, who knows, it may have made a new main event start as well.

Also i think they dropped the ball on a major scott stiener heel run, he shouldve been pushed as a monster from mid 1998 onwards, he couldve been the one to end goldbergs streak and be believeable in doing so if he was pushed in 1998/1999 like he was pushed in 2000...

Anyways, does anybody else have and missed boats, seeing how its WCW were talking about here im sure there are lots to choose from....

 

[wrestler36]

WWE did a feature on it a few weeks ago, but the KISS Demon could have been much much more than what it was. Seems like the higher ups cut it's legs out before he even got out the gate.

Obviously, they missed the boat huge on the signing of Bret Hart. The heart and soul of the WWF comes over after one the most controversial PPV endings and he gets lost in the nWo/Sting shuffle.

Lance Storm held three belts at once, only to be booted and tossed aside like he was nothing by Kevin Nash. They didn't necessarily 'miss the boat' with him, as 3 belts at once is pretty badass, but the squash by Big Sexy did nothing.

How did WCW miss on Sean Waltman?

 

[rokuma]

Glacier was a colossal disaster. That gimmick could have been "cool" back in 1996 when it was being debuted, but Ray Lloyd just wasn't an entertaining wrestler. They hyped the gimmick for months and the videos were cool, but then he debuted and it was disappointing. If they had pegged someone with skill to be Glacier, then it could've potentially gave them a huge main event push and new star.

Also, Ric Flair's handling in 1996 onward was pretty bad. The Horsemen should have been THE GROUP to battle the nWo. The old school tradition against the new school faction, but injuries and Bischoff's refusal to use Flair led to us being cheated out of the Horsemen + Luger/Sting/Piper/etc. against the power nWo, which could have given us some of the better matches in that time. Also, there could have been a Flair vs Hogan rivalry for the title which would have been refreshing from all their other matches with Hogan playing heel and Flair as a face....a different and interesting dynamic.

Finally, I don't think DDP was ever properly utilized. He was OVER. Everybody loved the Diamond Cutter. One could argue it was more over than the Stone Cold Stunner or the People's Elbow. Rappers were doing the Diamond Cutter sign, athletes still use it...and people POPPED for it. Remember DDP vs Goldberg at Halloween Havoc? That was probably the height of DDP's popularity and people were just itching for him to beat Goldberg. I remember him hitting the Diamond Cutter...people went ballistic! That could've easily been DDP's defining moment if he had won the title. I think WCW could've ridden DDP for a while, but they kept giving the title to Goldberg or Nash or Hogan with a couple of short DDP reigns thrown in. I think WCW really dropped the ball on DDP's popularity.

 

[Foshinzo]

now I know that WCW dropped the ball on alot of things, letting go of austin, foley, sean waltman, paul wight to name a few, storylines that didnt happen etc. i was just wondering what you ppl think was the one theat they really missed the boat on?

One of the one i was thinkin about when i wrote this was how they totally f*cked up Buff Bagwells face turn in summer of 1998; heres Bagwell with a groundswell of positive fan support after his near career ending neck injury, buries the hatchet with rick stiener, the man that did it to him, getting attacked by Hollywood Hogan...only to join up with nWo hollywood a week later?!?!

They could have had him be a breakout star in the wolfpac or i WCW, US title run and he could have had a major face run, who knows, it may have made a new main event start as well.

Also i think they dropped the ball on a major scott stiener heel run, he shouldve been pushed as a monster from mid 1998 onwards, he couldve been the one to end goldbergs streak and be believeable in doing so if he was pushed in 1998/1999 like he was pushed in 2000...

Anyways, does anybody else have and missed boats, seeing how its WCW were talking about here im sure there are lots to choose from....

The one I remember most was just any random Cruiserweight star not reaching out of the division. I understand it was harder for guys like Hogan and Nash to work with smaller cruiserweights, especially the luchadors, and that's probably why they fought their advancement so hard, but these guys were the real future of the company, if you count Benoit in with them. Of course, Benoit got the world title run, but Malenko could have been worked up past that division, Rey and Billy Kidman were definitely stars that never reached their potentials with that company, Eddie was arguably one of the ten best ever, and we all know the colossal mistake that was not pushing Jericho. That entire division, one thing that made WCW great, was probably their biggest mismanagement ever. They had two handfuls of guys that should have carried the show, but they held on to non-athletes that couldn't work with them and were past their prime, even if they were athletic at some point. The Cruiserweights should have led WCW into the new millennium starting aroun 1998, but just three years later, the company closed and now we're wondering what could have been.

 

[AmerikanWolves619]

Glacier was a colossal disaster. That gimmick could have been "cool" back in 1996 when it was being debuted, but Ray Lloyd just wasn't an entertaining wrestler. They hyped the gimmick for months and the videos were cool, but then he debuted and it was disappointing. If they had pegged someone with skill to be Glacier, then it could've potentially gave them a huge main event push and new star.

Also, Ric Flair's handling in 1996 onward was pretty bad. The Horsemen should have been THE GROUP to battle the nWo. The old school tradition against the new school faction, but injuries and Bischoff's refusal to use Flair led to us being cheated out of the Horsemen + Luger/Sting/Piper/etc. against the power nWo, which could have given us some of the better matches in that time. Also, there could have been a Flair vs Hogan rivalry for the title which would have been refreshing from all their other matches with Hogan playing heel and Flair as a face....a different and interesting dynamic.

Finally, I don't think DDP was ever properly utilized. He was OVER. Everybody loved the Diamond Cutter. One could argue it was more over than the Stone Cold Stunner or the People's Elbow. Rappers were doing the Diamond Cutter sign, athletes still use it...and people POPPED for it. Remember DDP vs Goldberg at Halloween Havoc? That was probably the height of DDP's popularity and people were just itching for him to beat Goldberg. I remember him hitting the Diamond Cutter...people went ballistic! That could've easily been DDP's defining moment if he had won the title. I think WCW could've ridden DDP for a while, but they kept giving the title to Goldberg or Nash or Hogan with a couple of short DDP reigns thrown in. I think WCW really dropped the ball on DDP's popularity.

I couldn't agree with you more on the DDP issue. He was THE FIRST PEOPLE'S CHAMPION (before the Rock started using DDP's moniker) and the fans were all over him like the new Hulk Hogan. The Diamond Cutter was the best finishing move at that time. He had charisma, athletism for his age, told a story in each of his matches (at times carried the match), and had a strong connection with the fans. Yet, WCW just could not see into what he had created and depended on others to carry the WCW flag with some major disappointment.

 

[Tree Of Woe]

Scott Norton. He could have been used in the higher mid-cards but never really made it past nWo enforcer. His debut for WCW had him challenging Savage. I think there was a lot of potential that was never used. He was huge in Japan.

 

[Don1978]

I saw alot of good ones (I mean missed oppurtunities!) like letting go of Foley, Austin, The giant.... DDP, Bagwell face run etc., but what about they put like almost half the roster in on the N.W.O. instead of keeping the numbers down to max. 4 or 5 wrestlers!
Also the signing of alot of "older" WWF talent was not al that great, but there were some who could still go and sell offcourse!
Also I thought Big van Vader was a real monster and by the time Flair returned from the WWF (and winning the title of him) and later when Hogan came in WCW he was pushed to the sideline, while he still in my eyes could do much more (especially with Race in his corner!).

I thought that the cruiserweight division was one of the best things that they showed on tv at the time and they probably had some of the best wrestling matches and talent in that division from all over the world and I thought they could do much more with it, but I guess that was not how the BIG BOYS wanted to play!
Also they missed the boat of letting the radicalz (especially Jericho, Benoit and Eddie) go! Not doing anything (well, they stripped him of the title!) with Benoit winning the big one in WCW is also another!

They also missed the boat with the warrior!! He was still a big name in the wrestling business and they could do much better, but I guess most of you agree with that even there are allways some who say he was not that good of a wrestler and maybe he wasn't just as Cena now, but he just as Cena now could sell out arena's if used right!

There are tons of more missed oppurtunities probably like the lack of real good and longer storylines, the lack of passion by some wrestlers because of the big money from mr. turner and Sting going from fighting the N.W.O. to joining them, but I'll stop for now! Wrestling would be really that much better when the WWE still had some big time competition, that's for sure!

 

[bigsexyNWO]

i have to agree with the guys on the DDP push. I was and still am a huge DDP fan wwe waisted him remember how they brought him in with the undertaker angle witch was pretty good and then squashed him that was it for him after KOTR. To get back to the discussion about WcW it just pissed me off at the amount of heel turns it was like there was one every week. Goldberg makes his return and bang heel turn wtf. he was the biggest face they had.They had so much talent like i think if your going to pay mike awesome $666,000 and have him attacking kevin nash on his debut and then have him doing nothing for the rest of his time there was just a waist.Mike was great in ECW and then he went down hill in WcW.The four horsemen should have been kept around to fend off the nWo and keep ric flair doing somthing good.people are going to hate me for this but scott hall (i know i know) but they could have used him a bit more then they did he could work when he wasnt too drunk.There were so many mid-carders that could have been pushed not given the belt but got a main event or two like lance storm chris jericho buff bagwell and Bam Bam Bigelow but they (wcw) had there sights set on true talent like Mr.PPV david arquette wtf.But for some reason i still love WcW. They missed the boat on everything but Goldberg,nWo,sting(in 1997) they had flashes of greatness with all the top talent but managed to fuck it all up over and over ha ha R.I.P WcW

 

[relentless1]

i say sean waltman because releasing him was the beginning of the switch, he was the first guy to defect from wcw to the wwf that mattered, it was because of that, plus mcmahon austin that tipped the scales in favor of the wwf, plus u know if he hadve stayed then the red n black would have needed sting or luger, it wouldve been the original wolfpac ( hall nash syxx) plus konnan and buff bagwell, THAT wouldve been the DX army instead of the wwf having it

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I remember Berlin for some reason he had those awesome videos leading up to his debut (repackaging) and he was pretty cool in his debut. Plus Alex Wright has always been quite good in the ring. But for some reason he jobbed to a guy who I never seen on Nitro until the rivalry. I think he was Road Dogg's relative or something.

 

[GrandSword]

Many missed opportunites.

Some great stuff already mentioned. I'll just say that they ddin't centre the company around Goldberg. I know he kept getting injured and was off tv a lot, but the fact that he was kept down, so Hogan, Nash etc. could stay at the top was rediculous for business. This guy was so over that he was sitting with the President at football games. Did Austin ever do that? Now I'm not here to debate Austin vs. Goldberg so please don't respond to that comment. It's just that Goldberg was the future for the company who had relied on stars from elsewhere for so long.

Goldberg loses the title and then.. what? He loses the title in Dec, and he's not even on the Feb ppv!?!? WTF!! WCW shoudl have kept his momentum going, got him to go after the nWo or whatever and get the belt back. WWF did it with Austin, why not Berg. A lot of money flew out the door when the title kept jumping around to the old guard instead of being firmly around Berg's waist.

Look at how business is booming for WWE with Cena. Berg was WCW's Cena and should have stayed in the main event, and WCW could may have very wll been still around today.

 

[jpickens]

The failure to stand up to the old guard and push the young and up and coming talent is what they missed the boat on particularly when it came to the likes of Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, and Buff Bagwell if the top brass would've stood up to the old boy cronyism that was rampant in WCW and had faith in the company WCW could've made them allot of money.

 

[harrythem]

New Blood Vs Millionaires Club...

This feud had serious potential but, from Russo's crazy booking and the vets squashing of the young green guys, it just never managed to go anywhere.

 

[justtxyank]

Many missed opportunites.

Some great stuff already mentioned. I'll just say that they ddin't centre the company around Goldberg. I know he kept getting injured and was off tv a lot, but the fact that he was kept down, so Hogan, Nash etc. could stay at the top was rediculous for business. This guy was so over that he was sitting with the President at football games. Did Austin ever do that? Now I'm not here to debate Austin vs. Goldberg so please don't respond to that comment. It's just that Goldberg was the future for the company who had relied on stars from elsewhere for so long.

Goldberg loses the title and then.. what? He loses the title in Dec, and he's not even on the Feb ppv!?!? WTF!!

Goldberg wrestled at Superbrawl 1999, he defeated Bam Bam Bigelow. It was the March ppv he didn't wrestle on, but I think he was injured. He returned in April and fought Sting at that PPV.

As to your later point that WCW would still be around today, people love to make posts about what they would have done differently that would have saved WCW. It wasn't possible. Once the AOL-Time Warner merger happened WCW was dead. People forget this.

Two posts that were made that I want to echo:

Scott Norton and Buff Bagwell.

On Bagwell, I won't say I was ever really a fan, but when he came back from that neck injury he had massive babyface love from the crowd. One thing WCW always tried to do was work the crowd to generate heat for guys. Turning people like crazy for shock effect. (They even had an article in WCW magazine once about how awesome all their heel turns were lol) Bagwell should have been a face when he came back. It generated big time heat for Scott Steiner when he attacked him and Bagwell could have been the redeemed son of WCW who came back after being in the nWo.

As for Norton. Wow. Loved that guy. Don't know why WCW wouldn't push him. His feud with the Cat where Cat kept getting his butt whooped was awesome television.

 

[bxbigshow]

One thing that bugs me goes before the Monday Night Wars.

They had at one point: Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, Mark Callous (Taker), Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Paul Levesque ALL UNDER CONTRACT at the same time. Taker left earlier, but Hulk Hogan coming to WCW was a lot of money.

Bringing in his friends had also cost a lot of money...and spots. In time all of those mentioned above became stars in WWF/E.

All before the Monday Night Wars. Imagine the roster they would've had...

Oh...don't forget Mick Foley and Edge were in WCW also.

 

[x24hrs2livex]

One thing that bugs me goes before the Monday Night Wars.

They had at one point: Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, Mark Callous (Taker), Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Paul Levesque ALL UNDER CONTRACT at the same time. Taker left earlier, but Hulk Hogan coming to WCW was a lot of money.

Bringing in his friends had also cost a lot of money...and spots. In time all of those mentioned above became stars in WWF/E.

All before the Monday Night Wars. Imagine the roster they would've had...

WCW never had all of these men at the same time. You might want to check out wikipedia before posting something like this.

As far as missed opportunities go I say Starcade 97. Should have killed the nWo once and for all and cemented Sting a notch above Hogan, but they fucked up

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

As to your later point that WCW would still be around today, people love to make posts about what they would have done differently that would have saved WCW. It wasn't possible. Once the AOL-Time Warner merger happened WCW was dead. People forget this.

WCW was also loosing money at the time but I'm pretty sure if managment planned things out better and made better decisions it would have made more money.

I am not sure what happend or what was said in the AOL-Time Warner merger but if they saw WCW making money it would stand a better chance of staying on TV.

 

[vols]

i dont know if this was missed or just couldn't happen but remember in 2000 when kevin nash kept calling out scott hall? the fans were insanely pumped for him to come out one night with nash, and it never happened...i even remember t-shirts hey yo, last call hall

 

[justtxyank]

WCW was also loosing money at the time but I'm pretty sure if managment planned things out better and made better decisions it would have made more money.

I am not sure what happend or what was said in the AOL-Time Warner merger but if they saw WCW making money it would stand a better chance of staying on TV.

Nope. The new TW execs wanted absolutely nothing to do with wrestling on their networks. It's the reason Vince ended up buying the company. Bischoff and Fusient media were prepared to buy WCW but Time Warner didn't just want to sell, they refused to let WCW continue on their networks, despite the fact it was their highest rated programming, because they wanted nothing to do with pro-wrestling. It was that, coupled with no other networks being willing to take on pro-wrestling at the time that led Bischoff and Fusient to back out and let Vince buy it for nothing.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Definitely have to agree with the DDP push and what that one poster mentioned about DDP vs. Goldberg at Halloween Havoc 98. The Jackhammer into a Diamond Cutter was such a great counter and it could've easily put Goldberg away for the loss, I sometimes wish DDP would've beaten Goldberg after that, it would've received such a huge pop from the crowd. Plus if they were gonna have the streak broken by a main eventer, it would've been much better if it were DDP that ended instead of Nash who had already been a champion before. DDP would've been so over for the rest of WCW, winning his first World Title & ending Goldberg's streak all in one match.

I would also say they missed the boat with Scott Hall being WCW World Champion. He could've been a good champ imo and he was a main eventer, so why he never got the title boggles my mind. I would also say Curt Hennig but he arrived at the wrong time cause Hollwood Hogan, Goldberg, DDP, Sting etc. were all hot at the time and I couldn't really see Curt hanging with them in the main events. Proof being his match with Goldberg at Bash At The Beach 98.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Mike Awesome

WCW completely blew it with Awesome, who had the potential to be a NEW main event level talent for them.

Coming in from ECW, and already notorious for walking out on the Extreme league while still their Heavyweight champion, and even attempting to bring the ECW title to Monday Nitro, Awesome immediately made an impact in WCW, but then was completely buried with two of the worst gimmicks of all time in "That 70's Guy" and "The Fat Chick Thriller".

Seriously? Is that really the best they could come up with for a 7 foot, 300lb+ powerhouse destruction machine like Mike Awesome?? It pisses me off just thinking about it.

Awesome had the size, power, look and moveset to make a huge impact on WCW's heavyweight division. He was devastating in ECW, and his array of powerbombs are still the best I have ever seen. Other than Mike Awesome and Undertaker, I have never seen such a big man dive over the top rope, he could hit frog spashes, and everything he did looked brutal. Awesome was a sure fire superstar and WCW (and later WWE wasted him).

He should have been booked as an immediate threat to the WCW title. The company was suffering from a lack of new Heavyweight talent, with old guys like Hogan, Nash, Savage, Hart dominating the title scene, with only Goldberg as a home-grown young main eventer (DDP was home-grown but was already old by then). Awesome could have been something fresh and exciting in the title scene, as alot of fans would not have seen him in ECW and he could have been one of WCW's new breed of main eventers.

I would have loved to have seen Mike Awesome collide with Goldberg for the title, or Awesome powerboming Hollywood Hogan through a table, then standing over the broken body of The Hulkster, raising the WCW title in the air, signalling the new generation had taken over...

Sadly, we never got to see it and Awesome was saddled with the ridiculous gimmicks instead. RIP Mike "Awesome" Alfonso, a true talent who was never given the opportunities in the big leagues that his talent deserved.

 

[justtxyank]

Seriously? Is that really the best they could come up with for a 7 foot, 300lb+ powerhouse destruction machine like Mike Awesome?? It pisses me off just thinking about it.

6 ft 6 more like it.

I've always wondered if Awesome did something to piss someone off backstage and got punished with those gimmicks.

I would also say they missed the boat with Scott Hall being WCW World Champion.

I don't get why people say this. I love Scott Hall, but he was a drunk. He got suspended from television multiple times during his WCW days because he couldn't stay sober. You wanted them to put the title on a guy a they couldn't count on to actually show up to events and worry that when he did show up he would be sloshed and couldn't work a match?

Do people not remember Hall's wife writing letters to newspapers slamming WCW when they did a story about Hall's drinking problems on television? The man needed major help.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I've posted this many times but the booking from Jan-April 99 was a disaster. Leading into Starrcade 98 WCW was doing extremely well, despite the fact that Sting, Luger, & Hart were all sidelined with injuries. Flair's return story was huge, as was the buzz for Kevin Nash, no longer an NWO heel, trying to end Goldberg's streak and win the WCW Title.

Then, after Nash surprises us witha screwjob finish to steal the title ala Scott Hall, we get the reformation of the real NWO - not the two lopsided factions packed with mid carders , but the real deal, Nash, Hogan, Steiner, Hall, the top tier guys. Nash's "Fingerpoke of Doom" vs Hogan to put the belt on him was out of nowhere, tital surprise, and getting the much overblown and too large NWO back as a lean, main event level, killer heel group was brilliant, WCW needed a major heel faction, not the watered down NWO Black & White packed with likes of Horace Hogan & Disco Inferno!!

Nitro was huge, drawing 5.0 ratings AGAINST Raw - look at today's numbers, Raw cant draw a 5.0 rating for segment most weeks, let alone an entire episode shown against a rival wrestling program. Just as the re-formed NWO was hot, so was the idea of Flair as President, giving WCW leverage vs NWO they didn't have before when Bischoff, their on screen ally, was also running the company. The NWO was back, but their arch nemesis had huge power and stroke, how would the NWO regain control, what would they do to destroy Flair ?

Meanwhile, you've got three MVP's on the bench all close to a return with Sting, Hart, and Luger, plus Savage who blew out his knee in spring 98. Don't forget Goldberg, the most popular wresler on the planet not named Austin - how much money could have been made with a long term program vs Nash, trying to get revenge for ending the streak, with the idea of his re-match with Hogan being the prize if he gets through Big Sexy - Goldberg beat Hogan in the middle of the ring in one of the biggest moments in wrestling in the decade, now Hogan is back, mega heel, World Champ, the re match would have been huge.

What did WCW do ? They quickly buried Goldberg in meaningless mid card matches, letting him beat up Scott Hal, who had little value at this point except as the NWO official jobber, never letting him get a sniff of a meaningful match vs Nash or Hogan. The Hogan match neer takes place, the rematch with Nash occurs a few months later on a non-essential PPV, buried in the midcard, one match, no feud. Completely wasted.

WCW pushes Flair as fan favorite vs Hogan as heel, gets a lot of heat, ratings big, and just when this gains steam they have Flair turn heel out of nowhere, Hogan turns face, Nash goes on his own, the NWO dies, the kill off the recently reformed Horsemen, you have no true main event heel faction, and crowds treated the whole thing with apathy. Want an example on how to force feed your ideas to an unaccepting audience watch the PPV where they try the double turn, Flair heel & Hogan face. The crowd totally doesn't want to see Flair as the bad guy, they don't buy Hogan as a good guy, about the only time they pop other than for Flair's intro before the match is when he pins Hogan and wins the belt. Sometimes, no matter how good you think your idea is, you have to let the audience decide. Vince faced a similair delima with Austin, seeing him, and initially booking him as bad ass heel, until he saw how popular his character was becoming and realized he would make more money booking him against bad guys. WCW never opened their eyes.

Right after that Hogan left for knee sugery so his face turn was wasted, they completely switched the main events by booking DDP vs Nash over the title, Sting returned and languished without a real feud or opponent, Savage returned and spent time in mixed tag matches, and by the middle of summer those 5.0 ratings were down below 4, by fall they would be 3.5, and after the first experiment w/ Russo & Friends they would drop to 3.0.

The wasted Sting's return, Goldberg's popularity & the money from potential re matches w/ Hogan & Nash, squandered the heat surrounding Flair vs Hogan, ruined the NWO reformation, all in just a few months. Amazing

 

[justtxyank]

Good post. People forget how popular Goldberg was. I know retroactively people like to say that Austin and Rock were really the two stars of the era and Goldberg was just overrated, but this just isn't true. Goldberg was a monster. He was all over mainstream television and magazines. When Entertainment Weekly ran the "How did wrestling get so big" article it was Goldberg on the cover.

He was EPICALLY over and WCW didn't capitalize on that. I don't really have a problem with him feuding with Hall and Bam Bam right after Starrcade as that was logical. They cost him his belt.

 

[god-soldier]

I agree with everyone on DDP, Big Poppa Pump, Buff, and Goldberg but the 2 major stars they dropped the ball on that would have made them enough money to possibly still in business today and that is with Sting, and Bret Hart!!!!

Sting was a the star of WCW after Flair and before Hogan's arrival Sting was one of the most popular wrestlers in the world and could do it all he had wrestling ability, he could cut promos, draw seats, sell merchandise and he had a unique look all of these made him WCW's biggest star. When Flair came back and Hogan came they both took the spotlight from Sting when Hogan turned heel and joined the nWo WCW finally got World wide exposure that would put them ahead of the WWE. The big match was set between Hogan vs Sting @ Starrcade and it ended perfectly in controversy. Then the title was held up until SuperBrawl where Sting won the title from Hogan. Sting would go on to defeat Hall and DDP but lose the title to Savage. Savage lost it the next night to Hogan and then Sting joins a faction of nWo!!!!! This is where the ball was dropped why would you build up a match for almost 1 and a half year have Sting win the title and bring it back to WCW lose it give the belt back to Hogan and join a division of nWo?????? It makes no sense here is a guy you had been pushing for years to be the top wrestler in the world of wrestling which he was during the early 90's finally you get the world wide exposure you were looking for to make this company huge and instead of making your top draw before Hogan came over the mega star you were looking to make him all along!!!!! Sting hadn't wrestled on TV or house shows for more than a year he was ready to defend that title he should of beat every member of the nWo and all the top WCW guys to show how superior he had always been. That would of made WCW a ton of money and made Sting a mega star. Plus his character was perfect for the era he was a dark character hadn't spoken for a year had a dark look to him and seemed unbeatable at the time fans would have ate that up and Sting would of been on top of wrestling. With him dominating all of 98 it would of made his heel turn more relevant in 99 and made his character evolve to an even darker heel that could of been beaten by any WCW top guy. Such as DDP, Goldberg, Beniot, or Bret Hart. All that would have made sense and a whole lot of money you couldn't have dropped the ball more with that WCW.

Bret Hart was the WWE before he got screwed he had a lot of momentum heading into his arrival going into WCW he snubbed the nWo for some reason fought Flair and winded up in the nWo as of all people Hogan's lackie!!!! He did Hogan' dirty work for a year then remained a heel until they finally made him a face then he won the world title and was made a heel again and then his career ended. WCW should have never allowed Bret Hart to join the nWo that was the first mistake Bret Hart represented tradition he belonged in WCW as the one of the top faces. WCW should of never allowed Bret Hart to face Sting unless it was for the world title @ Starrcade or any other big PPV like Halloween Havoc, Great American Bash, or SuperBrawl other than that the match should have never taken place. WCW should have forced Hogan to face Bret Hart @ Starrcade or any of their other 4 major PPV's both of those main events right there with great storylines would have made lots of money especially if they were done in the U.S. Or Canada. Bret Hart had everything WCW needed for a major face and a great world champion in the company WCW messed up Bret Hart right after StarrCade if they would have done it right they would have remained on top of WWE for at least another 3 or 4 years.

The reason why I picked these 2 over the others was because between Sting and Hart is where WCW would have tripled their investments and made mega stars and a lot of money the other guys could have too but I feel like the most could of been made off Bret Hart and Sting.