What do you miss the most about WCW?

[scottyshowman82]

Man, I used to hate WCW. I never watched it a kid. Whenever I saw Sting or Ron Simmons on TBS I'd change the channel because I watched the WWF, the real pro wrestling show with the Hulk Hogans, Ultimate Warriors with the glitz and glamour. But after getting into the habit of watching WCW Saturday night on relaxing Saturday evenings which always started at the old time of 6:05 I somewhat enjoyed it. And then when Scott Hall showed up on Nitro in May of 1996 it shocked the hell of out of me and WCW became a major force in the wrestling world that could be ignored anymore.

By the Mcmahon had bought the company in 2001, although still a "WWF guy" I was a legitimate fan of WCW. I had those amazing N64 WCW videogames as many of us had and I was shocked when I logged on to WWF.com and saw the WCW logo on there with the caption "WWF buys WCW." I was excited I didn't know what to think. But in retrospect I really wish Bischoff had somehow got his stuff together and bought WCW with whatever company he was teaming up with.

I really miss WCW. And whenever whenever I see that old footage of Sting and Ron Simmons and Flyin Bryan Pillman I clamour to see it and buy it. Anything that WWE decides to put out on WCW I gotta get it.

So, What do you miss the most about WCW?

I miss so many things about it now. I miss Thunder lol. Just having a very good intriguing wrestling show on a Wednesday or Thursday was nice to help you get through the week.

I miss WCW's roster and they had a huge roster.And it wasn't like everyone came out of the same mold like the WWE, how they go through the Vince Mcmahon brainstorming machine. In one company you did have the top guys like Hogan, Nash, Hall, Luger that were big time stars made by the WWF machine, but Bischoff was a fan of Japanese stars so you had these Japanese wrestlers coming in a never saw like Chono, and Ultimo Dragan and Yugi Nagata. You had all the great cruiserweights from Mexico like Rey Mysterio, Psicosis, and Juventud Guerrera. And then you had guys those southern wrastlers with more the Bill Watt's style like Buck House Buck and Dirty Dick Slater. You had this eclectic group of wrestlers and that way the joy for me seeing all the styles clash together in the ring. It was great.

I miss the WCW Tag Team Cruiserweight Titles. I remember when the tournment was going on and this was in the final days of WCW. I thought cool I love the cruiserweight action and their gonna have tag teams amazing.
Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio won them but then WCW was bought by WWE and the belts were discontinued.

What about you guys what do you miss the most about WCW?

 

[#hamler]

Competition?

I was a huge WCW mark when I was younger. I rarely watched WWF but when I did, I noticed how excellent the quality of the show was. Their characters were great and their storylines were well thought-out. WCW is to thank for that. There's no reason for me to believe that if WWF didn't have WCW, they would be anywhere near as popular as they are now. WWF did everything they could to keep up with the much better WCW and its ratings; they pulled out all stops. WCW backed them in the corner. WCW pushed WWF (and vice versa) to the edge of the mountain until WWF had to fight back.

Nowadays, I miss the competition. Competition is what makes our World go around. Stores like Wal-Mart need it, sports teams need it, I need it, you need it; competition forces you to bring out the best in yourself and that could very well be said for WCW and WWF in the 1990's. That's what I miss most. In the 2012 wrestling world, storylines are lacking focus, characters and gimmicks are few and far between and there's just no reason for the WWE to up the ante when you're the only major choice for professional wrestling in the United States. WCW brought competition and that's something the WWE is lacking today to make them an overall better product.

 

[Xumer]

Competition?

That in a nutshell. I watched ALL pro wrestling back in the 80s but WCW was my favorite long before the nWo showed up. I hated WWF back then. I can't really put a finger on it but it seemed more "hokey" while nwa/wcw seemed more "real". I also HATED Hogan and could never understand WHY a guy who couldn't wrestle was the face of a wrestling company. WWE right now is in alot of ways like they were then; just replace hogan with Cena. When the nWo popped up and the wars began and WWF found themselves up against the wall, they were forced to put out a better product. I know everyone sings the praises of PG and how it's necessary now but I would bet everything I own that if somehow TNA managed to hit a gold mine and got 6.0 ratings every week (especially if they then moved to monday), that PG shit would get tossed out the window within 2 months.

 

[Miakisaki]

Competition is the big one, but other than that I miss just about everything (pre-Vince Russo) about WCW. I miss the luchador matches, the emphasis on cruiserweight bouts, the many talents like Ice Train or High Voltage that you could watch on Saturday nights. The original Nitro theme song, the Valvoline and Slim Jim commercials, and the mentioning of "Nitro Parties" where Mean Gene wanted you to send in your tapes of your own Nitro Parties. I miss Bischoff on commentary, Schiavone on commentary, Heenan on commentary, and hell even Mike Tenay back when he was "The Professor" and actually gave a damn about telling you about the guys in the ring. WCW was really the last bastion of the more southern "feel" to wrestling before it became a hollywood-style production the WWE has turned it into.

I really outright miss the entire company before it all went to hell with Russo and politics. I don't like how WWE '12 depicted the company either, but at least they didn't use that stupid red logo with the C all messed up.

 

[dsotm5150]

I miss a lot of things about WCW, the diverse roster. You had your cruiserweights like Kidman, Rey jr, Juvi, Psychosis, an amazing midcard with guys like Eddie, Malenko, Benoit, Raven etc and your main eventers like Sting, DDP, Kevin Nash etc. One of the things I miss most about WCW is that it was one of those bonding moments I had with my grandfather. Every Monday and Thursday night we'd hang out and watch Nitro and Thunder. I think thats what I miss most about WCW.

 

[MaverickAZ]

WCW Saturday Night on TBS. I know it was taped, but it was cool watching that on weekends growing up before the Monday Night boom happened

the competition, even though most of the stuff WCW tried was subpar, it pushed the WWE to put out the very best. Can't say that they do anymore these days really

 

[I Am Myers]

I miss tuning in to TBS at 6:05 every week for WCW Saturday Night, in fact every now and then I will watch the full episodes I found on youtube at that time on Saturdays. It brings me back to those fun times. I miss WCW Pro and Worldwide which were on at 1 or 2 in the morning on Sundays where I live. But like the majority have said here, I miss the competition. Now when I started watching wrestling back in the late 80's, I was a WWF fan. However that is only because I didn't know there was a WCW. But in the early 90's I found WCW and enjoyed both companies. I liked watching wrestling. But when the the competition started getting strong between WCW and WWF it became even more fun to watch. Everybody benefited from the "war". Sadly, now we just have one main company which has 0 competition and it's nowhere near as fun.

 

[Xumer]

Everybody benefited from the "war". Sadly, now we just have one main company which has 0 competition and it's nowhere near as fun.

Yup especially the fans. Back then if WWF put out something that fans didn't like, they'd switch to WCW and vise versa. Now WWE just puts out what they want us to like until we just accept it because there is nowhere else to go. It's either like what they want us to like or just not watch wrestling and that's why they have 3.0 ratings instead of 6.0 like back during the war.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I miss having a company where there were more heels than just typical WWE chickensh!t heels, and even more I miss a company where heels could win clean and be the top guys.

 

[trashboy]

Like everyone has already said, The Competition is the main thing i miss. WCW was great, I didn't really start watching wrestling fully until late 1996, the nWo had just started. I miss the wrestlers, i miss the cruiserweights. I loved watching the cruiserweights fly around the ring. Juventud and Psicosis were two of my favorites back then, along with Eddie Guerrero. I miss those days when your friends would call you up during Nitro and we'd talk about the show during and after the show went off the air. I miss the days of getting with buddies, a cooler of beer and hanging out during Nitro. I always watched Nitro and taped Raw, so we usually watched Raw after Nitro ended. Good times. After WWF bought WCW, it all went downhill. Sure WWE had a decent show for a couple years but then it just started losing steam. That's when my friends kind of lost interest and quit watching. I can't say this enough, I miss those days of WCW vs WWF.

But we now have TNA. Yes, I know their ratings suck, so everyone acts like they don't exist, but truthfully, they're still competition. Just not as tough as WCW was back in the day. Boy do I wish TNA could get their stuff together and start putting out a better product, so WWE could get their stuff together and start putting out something more entertaining.

 

[The Idiot]

lol....WCW Saturday Night @ 3:05 pm Pacific on TBS. If I remember correctly it was channel 23 for me. I remember that time slot well haha.

My dad made me do lawn work on Saturday afternoons so I would throw in a blank VHS tape and record it.

Great little wrestling show

 

[xp3300]

War Games, in the cage double ring was so innovative, and so different. Not knowing which wrestler from what team was coming out next was unreal. Wish WWE would adopt this instead of doing other dumb matches.

 

[T2KFreeker]

War Games, in the cage double ring was so innovative, and so different. Not knowing which wrestler from what team was coming out next was unreal. Wish WWE would adopt this instead of doing other dumb matches.

Well, I was gonna' say War games as one of mine, but got beaten to it. Besides War games, I miss the whole Halloween Havoc Pay Per View. For the most part, outside of a couple hokey Halloween themed storylines, the PPV was gold. I don't think I saw one really bad match from Halloween Havoc, outside of Hogan VS Warrior. That PPV is easily my favorite one outside of Starrcade. Still, I do miss Halloween havoc more because it was perfect for the season.

The Cruiserweight Division is also sadly missing. TNA got close with the X-Division a few times and the division was okay at first in WWE. It still never held the same awesomness that WCW had for it. That was a workhorse division and everyone from Rey Mysterio Jr., to Kidman, to Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko worked their asses off night in and night out. Great ways to open the house shows or Nitro/Thunder/PPV's because the matches were phenomenal at the time. You were guaranteed to see something amazing you hadn't seen before and it often set the pace for the night to come. I got to see Ultimo Dragon wrestle Chris Jericho foe the Cruiserweight title back at a house show and the match was amazing. I miss stuff like that!

Have to go with competition. I believe that one day TNA could be competition to WWE, but there is still a long way to go. When WCW and ECW both fizzled out like they did, that was the end of the most profitable era of professional wrestling, period. I don't know if this will ever happen again.

 

[ECW Sandman]

What I miss the most about WCW is Clash of The Champions I loved when NWA/WCW would announce '' this coming Tuesday Night will be Clash Of The Champions '' because it had Pay Per View quality matches on basic cable plus I miss guys like Jushin '' Thunder '' Liger, The Great Muta and teams like DOOM The Midnight Express Sweet Stan & Beautiful Bobby and The Rock 'N Roll Express lastly what I miss the most about WCW is of you did not want to watch WWF you had Nitro to watch.

 

[brighamosity]

I miss having a company where there were more heels than just typical WWE chickensh!t heels, and even more I miss a company where heels could win clean and be the top guys.

I agree with this, but I want to elaborate. The problem with WWE, in my opinion, is that 90% of the time the faces look incredibly dominant throughout most of the feuds. But that goes against all good storytelling. In movies and TV shows, for most of the story, the good guys appear to be losing, only to win in the end. I feel like that in most WWE feuds, the good guys have too much of an advantage.

Not to mention that WCW was a lot more unpredictable, in that you often didn't know who would win. There were a lot of matches that I was completely shocked at who the winner was. (When Hogan went over Sting at Starcade 1997, for example). In WWE, the faces just come out on top too much, to the point where the heels always look weak in comparison.

 

[Defekt]

The problem with WCW is that they went out of their way to ruin or attempt to repeat anything good about the company.

Yeah, Wargames was cool, but pretty much all of them past 1993 sucked. Clash of the Champions was great, but WCW quit doing those in 1997.

I guess the only things I really miss about WCW is it was legitimate competition for the WWE, and the random defections were good surprises.

 

[The Idiot]

I miss the risks that WCW would take (such as Hogan turning heel), that would force WWE to take a even riskier risk. If WCW was around, Cena would have turned years ago.
For a full analysis on the Cena heel turn check out my article: http://votiwc.wordpress.com/

Yeah but if you think about it, it wouldn't work so well. Everything back then was trying to top one another.....which would result in shock TV. No build up whatsoever which would look stupid.

Now imagine if/when Cena does turn heel....it'll be that much better because of the years that have passed to help build the story.

 

[Khalifa]

I'm going to just go with superstars. People like Sting, DDP and Billy Kidman were awesome to watch and it has been disappointing because they haven't been the same since WCW was bought out. Every single person and their dog was a Sting mark and I reckon everyone knows it just isn't the same when he is in TNA (mainly because of his age). DDP was never the same when he went to WWF because of the way WWF booked him and Billy Kidman was lost in a careless cruiserweight division.

If there is one thing I noticed WCW seem to put a lot of effort for crusierweight division and made the US title very, very, very credible. Although it was because they wouldn't allow anyone other than has beens be in the world title picture, it was still enjoyable to watch. They also had a load of variaty of superstars which can be considered a good thing to us but a bad thing to them. We had like Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, Chris Jericho and Juevetud Guerrero in the cruiserweight divison and then guys like Bret Hart, DDP, Raven and Booker T in the U.S title picture.

So I definately miss the superstars from WCW and the variarty they had.

 

[wushady]

The main things I miss about WCW are the cruiser weight division for one. In my opinion it's the only thing WCW always did better than WWF. The WWF had some talented wrestlers in their Cruiser weight/light heavyweight division at times. But nothing even close to the talent WCW had nor did they give them the amount of air time WCW gave their talent to build up their personas. The matches in the cruiser weight division were far better too. Many times on Nitro and PPV's the cruiser weight matches were far better than any of the main event matches in WCW.

There's many things I miss regarding the competition factor during WCW's heyday. I always watched both shows either taping WCW or watching it on the replay. However i t was cool to have an alternative to switch over to when there was a lame match or promo on Raw. Another thing was the excitement when someone jumped ship from either company. It didn't matter if they jumped from WWF to WCW or vice versa. The majority of the fans knew who the wrestlers were and were excited to see them in the new promotion.

It's just not the same now a days when someone comes from ROH or even TNA. A good part of the IWC will know who someone from ROH or especially TNA are. However the majority of the average WWE fans don't watch ROH of or TNA. So they would have no immediate interest in one of their stars joining WWE.

 

[Headman]

I miss the pre-Hogan days when it was Sting, Rude, Vader, Cactus Jack and guys like that. They had really awful gimmicks, but there was a lot of good stuff going on between the bell. I also miss the old TV title rules where the title was only on the line for 15 minutes. I miss the international stars they'd bring in and well... Ric Flair in all his glory!

Then came Nitro... Ugh. Try re-watching some of those shows. It's freaking awful.

 

[GameOver]

The diversity of both WCW and WWF at the time
overall what i miss most about WCW other then the cruiserweight division and the nastalgia of WCW b4 Turner bought in, was the funky PPV entrance stage designs and that WWE was a much better show as a result of WCW breathing down there neck.

Don't miss a thing about the company in general

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

actual competition... say what you want about the last few years of WCW, but between '96-'98 WCW and Eric Bischoff, with Ted Turner's money and company behind it, pushed WWE to be better. If you didn't like one program you could switch over.

also WCW introduced the idea of multiple different styles of wrestling on a single program, unlike WWE were most of the time "new" talent seems to have been developed into the bland "WWE Style". WCW had the Cruiserweight Division which while based on Mexican Lucha Libre also mixed in a lot of the Japanese style as well.

 

[relentless1]

i miss the crusierweights, the awesome matches that the midcard would always put on, i miss the importance they placed on thier titles (up until 99) the announcers were awesome at making everything seem that much more good or bad, i really miss the nWo and the electric environment that it created, neither before or since (with the exception of warrior vs hogan @ wm 6) has the crowd in an arena been so divided wether you liked WCW or the nWo, i love how WCW created the "tweener" in the form of the Outsiders, they were hells but so cool that you couldnt help but love em, i miss DDP and the Diamond Cutter, how it could be put on from any position, i miss Goldberg the unstoppable monster and Sting the Franchise Player....damn i really miss WCW in thier heyday....

 

[ahoyhoy]

I miss incredible technical wrestling.

I think WWE pushes guys towards the same moveset and everyone's matches are so similar that you can't really pick them from a crowd. Not even at WM for some guys.

On the other hand, when I was suffering from insomnia as of late, I had been typing into youtube 'random wcw ppv' 'year before 1998' together and getting shows like fall brawl 1995 and spring stampede 1997 just to pass the time. And just to use one obvious example - oh my god, to compare Rey Mysterio in 97 v. Rey Mysterio today will blow your mind. The guy didn't even have an obvious finisher! He just went with the flow with moves against Ultimo Dragon at Spring Stampede. And the crowd were going mental. In that match you saw power-bombs, tombstone piledrivers, leaps from the top rope, amazing technical and submission work - the lot! Could you imagine ANYONE today working with such a varied skill set in the WWE? They even worked hard to encourage the likes of Eddie, Benoit and Jericho to cut down to a limited skill set. I guess it makes the video games easier to make.

There are a ton of things I don't miss, and those shows also had a lot of terrible wrestling on them and some awful storylines to boot.

 

[mycandylandxxx]

I miss Thunder, Nitro, The Television Title, The Cruiserweight Division, WCW Saturday Night, Unique matches featuring very talented wrestlers such as Alex Wright, Ultimo Dragon, Juventud, Kidman, Mysterio, Malenko, Benoit, Saturn and Jericho. I miss The Disco Inferno lol. I miss the wonderful broadcast team - featuring any combination of Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and yes, even Mark Madden. I miss the Nitro Girls (Umm yummy). I miss the party feel the Monday Nitro during the late 90s where they had the DJ hyping up the crowd before the show and during commercials....that was a brilliant idea I think. I miss the Cruiserweight title. But most importantly, I miss having the option to switch over to another wrestling program on Monday and being able to watch some great in ring action.

I forgot to mention that i miss unique match concepts like War Games and World War 3 - Sixty Men-Three Rings. Those matches, were awesome