The 50 Greatest Stars of WCW

[mizerable]

Malenko is a little too high, but to be honest, he was pretty damn over in 1997 and put on some of the better matches. Yeah, it's easy to reflect because of how great some of these other guys came out, but back in '97-98...Malenko was on the path to bigger things over Eddie, Jericho and Misterio.

[chiapet22]

May 21, 2012 14:52:43 GMT -5 psychokiller said:

How the hell is Jeff Jarrett at #50? This is why these lists are annoying. They are always biased towards guys they have problems with. Jarrett should be in the top 30 easily.

Benoit being left off is a bigger mistake.

[psychokiller]

May 24, 2012 0:18:43 GMT -5 chiapet22 said:

May 21, 2012 14:52:43 GMT -5 psychokiller said:

How the hell is Jeff Jarrett at #50? This is why these lists are annoying. They are always biased towards guys they have problems with. Jarrett should be in the top 30 easily.

Benoit being left off is a bigger mistake.

True, but we obviously know the reason for why that happened.

[BlackoutCreature]

I know he's become something of a joke over the years, but Johnny B. Badd should've really made this list. He was with the company for a long time, was a multiple time TV champion, was in several high profile feuds, and had developed into a really good worker by the time he left.

[Kash Flagg]

Luger should have gotten the 5 spot.

[Allie Kitsune]

Surprised that they didn't find a way to sneak Jean-Paul Levesque onto the list.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

May 22, 2012 12:26:56 GMT -5 mizerable said:

Malenko is a little too high, but to be honest, he was pretty damn over in 1997 and put on some of the better matches. Yeah, it's easy to reflect because of how great some of these other guys came out, but back in '97-98...Malenko was on the path to bigger things over Eddie, Jericho and Misterio.

Malenko did collect himself a decent amount of titles from the US to the tag too. 13 is probably high but its hard to rectify including stuff like "cultural impact" to longevity to the things inbetween which probably include quality of matches and feuds. Hell its weird to include taking into account titles since we all know its "fake"

[HBL]

I don't really have a big problem with this list other than Jarrett being #50. That's simply WWE being biased.

[Crappler El 0 M]

I think the list is okay as a list of 50 guys, but I don't care for the actual ranking of one wrestler over another wrestler etc. In my opinion, here are some guys who deserved a spot or at least strong consideration (in no particular order). Certainly not EVERY one of these guys should have been included.

1) The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal). They were HUGE stars in 1988 until 1990 (and before, but the criteria begins with 1988).

2) Stevie Ray: Important to WCW as a member of Harlem Heat and then as a member of NWO.

3) Ernest Miller: You could make a case for him to be near the bottom of the list. He was a bright spot during the years when WCW was falling apart.

4) Roddy Piper: He had some PPV main events and was on-again/off-again attraction star
during the height of the Nitro years, doing big angles with NWO, Flair, Horsemen, etc.

5) Nikita Koloff: He was pretty big in 1988 and 1989. His comeback in 1991 and 1992 was less stellar, but he was involved in major stories with Sting, Luger, and the Dangerous Alliance. His biggest drawback for this list is that is his lack of impact in the 1990s, which was the bulk of the time period this list considers.

6) Ricky Morton/Rock and Roll Express: Morton was a pretty big star from 1988 to 1990, though mostly as a tag team wrestler. Morton would also have a heel run in the early 1990s and had memorable matches with Brian Pillman. Like Koloff, his biggest drawback for this list is his lack of impact in the 1990s.

7) Johnny B. Badd: He was pretty talented in the ring and had plenty of storylines and PPV matches throughout his run fromt he early 1990s to the mid 1990s. He was the TV Champ.

8) Stan Lane: Was a big star in the tag team scene during 1988 to 1990. However, he left in 1990 and never went back.

9) Jimmy Garvin: I wouldn't even mention him, except to say that Michael Hayes made the list and most of Hayes's work in the WCW years (1988 to 2001) was teaming with Garvin. Hayes did have some brief stints as a singles wrestler during that time.

10) The Z-Man: He had a decent run as a singles competitor and teaming with guys like Pillman and later Johnny Gunn, as well as part of 3-man babyface teams. He was the US Tag Champ, 6-Man Tag Champ, and was Television Champion.

11) Lance Storm: Was starting to take WCW by storm (pun intended), but this was during the dying months of WCW. His biggest drawback for making this list is that his run was right at the end of WCW. Edit: LANCE STORM IS ON THE LIST.

12) Wrath/Bryan Clark: Had a decent run as Wrath with Mortis and then a better run as a singles star. He ended WCW with a pretty big push as part of Kronik. He had a forgettable run as Night Stalker in 1991 or so.

13) Mike Rotundo/Michael Wallstreet: He had a good run as captain of the Varsity Club and then had fair runs as Michael Wallstreet in the early 1990s. He had a forgettable run in WCW during the mid/late 1990s again as Wallstreet with a brief stint with the NWO. If memory serves, he had one last run with WCW as Mike Rotunda with the revised Varsity Club, but this was brief.

14. Butch Reed: For a relatively brief period, he was part of a really hot tag team (Doom) with Ron Simmons. He feuded with Steiners, Horsemen, and the other top tag teams during their time. He pretty much left WCW after the split up of Doom when Ron Simmons defeated him.

[The QC Loser]

No Roadblock or High Voltage!!!!!

[Rican]

May 24, 2012 10:34:51 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

I think the list is okay as a list of 50 guys, but I don't care for the actual ranking of one wrestler over another wrestler etc. In my opinion, here are some guys who deserved a spot or at least strong consideration (in no particular order). Certainly not EVERY one of these guys should have been included.

1) The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal). They were HUGE stars in 1988 until 1990 (and before, but the criteria begins with 1988).

2) Stevie Ray: Important to WCW as a member of Harlem Heat and then as a member of NWO.

3) Ernest Miller: You could make a case for him to be near the bottom of the list. He was a bright spot during the years when WCW was falling apart.

4) Roddy Piper: He had some PPV main events and was on-again/off-again attraction star
during the height of the Nitro years, doing big angles with NWO, Flair, Horsemen, etc.

5) Nikita Koloff: He was pretty big in 1988 and 1989. His comeback in 1991 and 1992 was less stellar, but he was involved in major stories with Sting, Luger, and the Dangerous Alliance. His biggest drawback for this list is that is his lack of impact in the 1990s, which was the bulk of the time period this list considers.

6) Ricky Morton/Rock and Roll Express: Morton was a pretty big star from 1988 to 1990, though mostly as a tag team wrestler. Morton would also have a heel run in the early 1990s and had memorable matches with Brian Pillman. Like Koloff, his biggest drawback for this list is his lack of impact in the 1990s.

7) Johnny B. Badd: He was pretty talented in the ring and had plenty of storylines and PPV matches throughout his run fromt he early 1990s to the mid 1990s. He was the TV Champ.

8) Stan Lane: Was a big star in the tag team scene during 1988 to 1990. However, he left in 1990 and never went back.

9) Jimmy Garvin: I wouldn't even mention him, except to say that Michael Hayes made the list and most of Hayes's work in the WCW years (1988 to 2001) was teaming with Garvin. Hayes did have some brief stints as a singles wrestler during that time.

10) The Z-Man: He had a decent run as a singles competitor and teaming with guys like Pillman and later Johnny Gunn, as well as part of 3-man babyface teams. He was the US Tag Champ, 6-Man Tag Champ, and was Television Champion.

11) Lance Storm: Was starting to take WCW by storm (pun intended), but this was during the dying months of WCW. His biggest drawback for making this list is that his run was right at the end of WCW.

12) Wrath/Bryan Clark: Had a decent run as Wrath with Mortis and then a better run as a singles star. He ended WCW with a pretty big push as part of Kronik. He had a forgettable run as Night Stalker in 1991 or so.

13) Mike Rotundo/Michael Wallstreet: He had a good run as captain of the Varsity Club and then had fair runs as Michael Wallstreet in the early 1990s. He had a forgettable run in WCW during the mid/late 1990s again as Wallstreet with a brief stint with the NWO. If memory serves, he had one last run with WCW as Mike Rotunda with the revised Varsity Club, but this was brief.

14. Butch Reed: For a relatively brief period, he was part of a really hot tag team (Doom) with Ron Simmons. He feuded with Steiners, Horsemen, and the other top tag teams during their time. He pretty much left WCW after the split up of Doom when Ron Simmons defeated him.

Lance Storm was on the list. In the high 30's or so. A little high IMO.

[nisidhe]

Somehow, I sense a gross omission from this list, but can't really put my finger on it....

Oh, well. Probably didn't matter much anyway.

[Rican]

If Benoit HAD been on the list where do you think he would have been? Objectively, JUST looking at his time in WCW.

[Dave the Dave]

Dunno. I'm glad some cruisers made the list that didn't go on to WWE.

I know it's wrong, but I wanted La Parka haha.

I legit could make a case for Psicosis. He did a lot in WCW and was there for a while.

[fw91]

Where is Jimmy King?

[Allie Kitsune]

May 24, 2012 14:40:16 GMT -5 Rican said:

If Benoit HAD been on the list where do you think he would have been? Objectively, JUST looking at his time in WCW.

Going by WWE Classics' unspoken criteria (and assuming this is an alternate universe where he never killed his wife and kid), he'd have got bonus points for turning down the WCW Title to jump to WWE. He'd have been somewhere between 21-25. Possibly even between 17-20.

[BlackoutCreature]

May 24, 2012 8:07:08 GMT -5 Vice honcho room temperature said:

May 22, 2012 12:26:56 GMT -5 mizerable said:

Malenko is a little too high, but to be honest, he was pretty damn over in 1997 and put on some of the better matches. Yeah, it's easy to reflect because of how great some of these other guys came out, but back in '97-98...Malenko was on the path to bigger things over Eddie, Jericho and Misterio.

Malenko did collect himself a decent amount of titles from the US to the tag too. 13 is probably high but its hard to rectify including stuff like "cultural impact" to longevity to the things inbetween which probably include quality of matches and feuds. Hell its weird to include taking into account titles since we all know its "fake"

He was also number one on the PWI 500 in 1997 while he was in WCW. It was probably the most controversial number one in the history of the list, but it was prestigious at the time.