Who would have been a good transitional champ for WCW?

[wildojinx]

While WCW (not even in the JCP era) never really did transitional champs, they still could have done some. One that I've heard floated around a lot is Luger in 1990 (after Sting's injury) with having him win at Wrestlewar while Flair regains it at Capital Combat or the Clash right before Bash 1990. Any other ideas? I'm kind of surprised they never gave DDP the belt (even for a quick run) as a face (he only held the belt as a heel). Vader winning the belt in early 1995 would have added more to the Hogan/Vader matches. Here's an oddball one, Bam Bam Bigelow in 1999. Have him beat Nash for the belt (maybe with help from Savage, who he was feuding with at the time), then have Nash regain the title at the Great American Bash. Bigelow had enough cred to be somewhat of a decent monster heel, and it also would have added a new wrinkle to the Jersey Triad angle.

[tafkaga]

Guess it depends on what you mean by 'transitional champ', but there are some examples in the lineage that seem transitional to me. Savage beating Sting for the belt at Spring Stampede '98 to lose it to Hogan the next night on Nitro is one example. Even Nash taking the belt off Goldberg at Starrcade '98 setting up for the fingerpoke of doom less than a month later looks pretty transitional.


Also, pretty sure DDP was a babyface when he won the belt at Spring Stampede '99 in the four way, and wasn't he also a babyface when he beat Jarrett for the belt?

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Jun 29, 2022 23:51:59 GMT -5 tafkaga said:

Guess it depends on what you mean by 'transitional champ', but there are some examples in the lineage that seem transitional to me. Savage beating Sting for the belt at Spring Stampede '98 to lose it to Hogan the next night on Nitro is one example. Even Nash taking the belt off Goldberg at Starrcade '98 setting up for the fingerpoke of doom less than a month later looks pretty transitional.


Also, pretty sure DDP was a babyface when he won the belt at Spring Stampede '99 in the four way, and wasn't he also a babyface when he beat Jarrett for the belt?

DDP was a babyface when he won the title in 1999, but immediately started going heel on Nitro the night after. You are right about his 2000 run as he was a babyface for the very short time in between his victory against Jeff Jarrett on Nitro and his title loss in that tag match that resulted in David Arquette becoming champion (which itself might be one of the most transitional reigns WCW ever did).

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

The answer was me.

[tirtefaa]

Mike Awesome in 2000.

Heck, go a step further and have him win it in a debut at Spring Stampede. Doesn't mean he has to hold it for long. It's not like it was going to diminish the legacy of the belt. It also gives the New Blood an injection of credibility, and it keeps Awesome away from being in midcard purgatory immediately.

[Mozenrath]

Jun 30, 2022 4:09:37 GMT -5 tirtefaa said:

Mike Awesome in 2000.

Heck, go a step further and have him win it in a debut at Spring Stampede. Doesn't mean he has to hold it for long. It's not like it was going to diminish the legacy of the belt. It also gives the New Blood an injection of credibility, and it keeps Awesome away from being in midcard purgatory immediately.

That'd have been a little wild in that it'd make two WCW champions Horace Hogan would be kin to, since I think Awesome was Horace's cousin on his mom's side and thus not directly related to Hulk Hogan. Wonder if they'd have ever mentioned that on TV.

[nevthebassist]

Scott Norton

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Muta or Meng?

I remember at the height of Goldberg’s title reign he defended the title against Meng in a Nitro main event. One of my friend’s lied to my other friend saying Meng won the main event and the other guy bought it. I don’t think Meng should’ve ended the streak but he was very over for a period.

And Muta just has such a great legacy. It would’ve been great if it was for an extended tour of Japan or crossover with NJPW or something.

[wildojinx]

Jul 2, 2022 7:44:49 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Muta or Meng?

I remember at the height of Goldberg’s title reign he defended the title against Meng in a Nitro main event. One of my friend’s lied to my other friend saying Meng won the main event and the other guy bought it. I don’t think Meng should’ve ended the streak but he was very over for a period.

And Muta just has such a great legacy. It would’ve been great if it was for an extended tour of Japan or crossover with NJPW or something.

Muta could have worked in 1989. Have him beat Flair at the November 89 Clash (do the Flair/Funk lights out match at Halloween Havoc instead), defend against Sting at Starrcade (get rid of the iron man tournament), then have Flair win back the belt at the Jan 1990 Clash. I dont know you fit in the heel turn there, maybe have it happen on the weekly tv show.

[Mr Captain Falcon]

I feel like we could have had 96 Arn Anderson before the nWo formed as a quick, cheap heat, chickenshit champ. Buff Bagwell could have been one too maybe as a quick baby face champ.

[Mozenrath]

Jul 2, 2022 7:44:49 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Muta or Meng?

I remember at the height of Goldberg’s title reign he defended the title against Meng in a Nitro main event. One of my friend’s lied to my other friend saying Meng won the main event and the other guy bought it. I don’t think Meng should’ve ended the streak but he was very over for a period.

And Muta just has such a great legacy. It would’ve been great if it was for an extended tour of Japan or crossover with NJPW or something.

Honestly, it's still weird to me Meng and Barbarian never won the tag titles.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Jul 2, 2022 17:59:36 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jul 2, 2022 7:44:49 GMT -5 KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! said:

Muta or Meng?

I remember at the height of Goldberg’s title reign he defended the title against Meng in a Nitro main event. One of my friend’s lied to my other friend saying Meng won the main event and the other guy bought it. I don’t think Meng should’ve ended the streak but he was very over for a period.

And Muta just has such a great legacy. It would’ve been great if it was for an extended tour of Japan or crossover with NJPW or something.

Honestly, it's still weird to me Meng and Barbarian never won the tag titles.

Yes, it’s very weird that Haku/Meng didn’t have ANY gold in the WWF or WCW between the time he held the WWF Tag Titles with Andre and when he briefly held the WCW Hardcore Title. I guess you could make the argument he was one of those guys like Jake Roberts who didn’t need a belt to get over. But this was the late 1990s when some belts were being passed around like hot potatoes. So you’d figure a guy as over as Meng would have something more than the illustrious WCW Hardcore Title.

[Main Event Mark]

If there was some point where the nWo vs WCW angle didn't need the title involved, a heel WCW champ Raven could have been good.

[Hypnosis]

Jul 3, 2022 12:17:38 GMT -5 Main Event Mark said:

If there was some point where the nWo vs WCW angle didn't need the title involved, a heel WCW champ Raven could have been good.

I've always wondered what a Fatal 4 Way match between the WCW Revenge cover stars (Hogan, Nash, Goldberg, and Raven) would have been like.

Probably Hogan saying "That don't work for me, brother.  I'm going over all three of you."

[Jindrak Mark]

If you could keep him under control Scott Hall could have been a good one. The fingerpoke would have made more sense if it was Nash laying down and giving his buddy Hall his first world title (and Hall was the reason he beat Goldberg in the first place). Hall holds it for a month or so until Goldberg gets revenge. This all hinges on Hogan staying out of the way though.

[Clawley Race]

I still think Lance Storm should have won the World Title when he faced Booker T while being US/Cruser/Hardcore Champion