The WCW World Heavyweight Championship. In it's day both one of the most prestigious championships in wrestling or the least, depending on the era. A lot of people have differing opinions on this, and this just just my own. For the record, this list will be strictly WCW proper, not from after the Vince McMahon purchase. These are my top ten WCW World Heavyweight Champions.
10. Bret Hart:
Yes, Bret Hart is on the list. No this isn’t a list for top
ten WWF/E champions. I know a lot of Bret’s time in WCW was wasted and by the
time he reached the top his career was about over. His short run as champion
was memorable in my opinion. Beating <name redacted> in the finals of the
WCW Mayhem tournament to crown the new WCW Champion after the fiasco that was
Halloween Havoc ’99 was an extremely memorable moment as well as a very good
match. Maybe not as good as their Owen Hart tribute match on Nitro, but very
good none the less. How could it not be with two of the greatest in ring wrestlers
of all time.
9. Diamond Dallas Page:
I feel like a lot of this list is going to be me defending
my opinion. I know Page as WCW Champion is mostly remembered for the Russo era
and the mess that was WCW 2000, but a lot of people forget his first title win
at Spring Stampede ’96 and his second win on Nitro against Sting two weeks later
were big moments for many people who have been waiting for DDP to win the big
one since ’97 (ala at the time teenage me). Yes, the stuff in 2000 involving Page
was pretty terrible, you can never take these two moments away from him as
short lived as they turned out to be.
8. Lex Luger:
Lex Luger had runs as champion during multiple eras of his
WCW run, both before and after his brief WWF stint. What puts him on the list
to me is 1997. Yes it is another short reign. That was kind of the name of the
game with guys not named Hulk Hogan during that’s era. Luger’s win over Hogan
on the 100th episode of Nitro was a huge moment for WCW in the war with the nWo.
Hogan regained the title 5 days later at Road Wild ’97, but seeing Luger
celebrate in the ring with all the top WCW guys of the time after his win is a
moment that sticks in my mind to this day.
7. Booker T:
Yes WCW 2000 sucked. We all know this. That doesn’t mean
that some good didn’t come from it. Booker T’s rise to the main event was one
of the few bright spot for WCW in it’s dying days. Hot potatoing of the title
inflating his reigns aside, he is still the 5 time WCW champion and he’ll never
ever let us forget that.
6. Randy Savage:
Macho Man Randy Savage is of course one of the greatest
wrestlers of all time. Any company, any era. While mostly remembered in history
for his WWF run, his WCW run was pretty memorable itself. His first reign as WCW
was a big one, as he won the World War 3 match, a three ring battle royale, to
win the title that was vacated the previous month after a controversy from
Halloween Havoc (where have we heard that before). He would trade the title
with Ric Flair the next two months and have a few less memorable reigns in the
latter days of WCW, but that first title win was special for sure.
5. Goldberg:
July 6th 1998. Georgia dome. WCW was red hot at
the time. One of the biggest championship matches to happen on television again
Hulk Hogan. He was again bogged down later on by crappy booking later on, but
that Georgia Dome Nitro was by far one of the most memorable moments in WCW history.
4. Hollywood Hulk Hogan:
Hogan almost has to be on this list. While he had a few
title reigns when he first came into the company, he was the champion for the
better part of a year during the peak days of the nWo’s takeover of WCW. The
amount of time he held the title alone puts him up this high on my list.
3. Sting:
Sting has many times been called the franchise of WCW due to
the fact that he was one of the few guys who didn’t jump ship to the WWF. He
had many title reigns and wins, but maybe none more memorable than him
finishing off his year long storyline with the nWo by defeating Hollywood Hogan
at Starrade 1997. Yes, the ending may have been a bit controversial, but the
end of that match with WCW guys storming the ring to celebrate Sting’s win is
an iconic moment in WCW history.
2. Big Van Vader:
I have to admit, I didn’t see much of this era of WCW at the
time. Or any wrestling really. I was a huge fan during the Hulkamania years in
the WWF, but from 1992-1996 I pretty much saw no wrestling. Thanks to the WWE
Network though, I have gone back and revisited a lot of this era. Vader was a
dominating force in the mid 90’s WCW and definitely deserves this spot if for
nothing else his battles with the likes of Ric Flair and Sting.
1. David Arquette:
Yeeeeeah I’m just kidding.
1. Ric Flair
Was there ever any doubt? Ric Flair is considered by many, myself
included, as one of if not THE greatest World Champions in the history of
wrestling. While he is best known for his NWA title reigns, he held the WCW
World Heavyweight Championship on many occasions. He, along with Sting, also
kept the company afloat during some rough times before the company’s popularity
exploded with the rise of the nWo in 1996.
And that is my list. Do you agree? Disagree? Have a completely different order altogether? Feel free to leave a comment or tweet me @DevManeuver. Thanks for reading.
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