10 Best Rivalries In WCW History

At one point in time, World Championship Wrestling very nearly dethroned WWE as the top dog in sports entertainment. They didn’t, obviously, but if they had done, we’d have these great feuds to thank for playing their parts.

For this list, we’re limiting things to one entry per wrestler and we’re counting “WCW” as anything from WrestleWar 1991 onwards, as that’s when the company seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance.

This is the 10 Best Rivalries in WCW History.

10. Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

When WCW launched its own weekly TV show, Nitro, in 1995, the very first match they put on was a Cruiserweight clash between Flyin’ Brian Pillman and the owner of one of the greatest masks in wrestling history, Jushin Thunder Liger.

This would actually be the final time these two men would meet in the ring, as the bulk of their feud had taken place years earlier. Pillman and Liger first met in New Japan Pro-Wrestling but would feud in America over the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship, which the masked man beat the Loose Canon for on Christmas Day 1991 - What a present that was.

The two would continue to tussle over the title into 1992, with Pillman winning it back at SuperBrawl II and they would also team up as part of a tournament for the NWA tag titles, where, in the first round, they faced the tandem of Chris Benoit and a wrestler called Beef Wellington - Yes, you read that correct: “Beef Wellington.”

Though it wasn’t the longest feud ever, Liger versus Pillman helped put lightweight wrestling on the map in WCW, something the company would become famous for in later years.

9. Ricky Steamboat vs. "Stunning" Steve Austin

From Flyin’ Brian to his Hollywood Blonds partner and a man that WCW cared about so much that they fired him whilst he was injured. We’re sure nothing major happened as a result of that decision…

Before he was Stone Cold in the WWF, Steve Austin was Stunning in WCW, where he had an amazing feud with Ricky Steamboat spread over two years and multiple championships.

Their first encounter was for Austin’s World Television Championship, which he retained via disqualification. This was in December of 1991, and Steamboat didn’t win the belt until September 1992 - now that’s long-term booking!

In the meantime, the pair fought in numerous singles and multi-man matches, including the legendary WarGames main event of WrestleWar 1992.

After a tag title feud pitting Steamboat and Shane Douglas against The Hollywood Blonds, the two would engage once again over the United States title, which Ricky beat Steve for at Clash of the Champions 28.

The veteran clearly had the up-and-comer’s number, but the results were secondary to the wrestling art they painted on WCW’s canvas.

Stunning Steve was the perfect devious foil for The Dragon’s down-to-earth persona, and it was during this rivalry that we got our first glimpse of how great Austin would become.

8. Sting vs. Lex Luger

Everyone loves a good “Will They? Won’t They?” storyline, from Ross and Rachel on Friends to Mulder and Scully on The X-Files to Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith on The Great British Bake-Off - now there’s a soggy bottom we’d pay big money to see.

In wrestling, a great example of this is the turbulent friendship between The Total Package Lex Luger and The Man Called Sting. Sting and Luger first paired up in 1988, which was in the NWA era of WCW, but the union would continue long after the two promotions parted ways.

When Luger returned to WCW in 1995, the team immediately reunited, even though Luger would soon turn heel and Sting was one of the most popular babyfaces in the company. This unique dynamic made for some compelling TV, as Sting would constantly be caught between his friend and his squeaky-clean morals.

This wasn’t a feud in the traditional sense, but the underlying tension between these two pals was always exciting to watch, even though they didn’t have their first pay-per-view singles match against each other until 1999!

Was it a good match? Not really, but that’s besides the point.

7. Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair

At WrestleMania 8, WWE had a chance to run world champion Ric Flair against challenger Hulk Hogan. Did they? Of course not! That would have made too much sense!

Instead, fans would have to wait another two years to see these legends duke it out on pay-per-view, for rival organisation WCW at Bash at the Beach 1994. In his WCW debut match, Hogan pinned The Nature Boy to win his first WCW World Heavyweight Title and begin a rivalry that would crop up again and again… and again… and again… and again.

Unfortunately, Flair and Hogan would fight each other way too many times over the next seven years or so. Whether in singles matches, tag team bouts, or YAPPAPI INDIAN STRAP MATCHES BROTHER, what began as a dream pairing quickly turned into a nightmare.

However, you cannot dismiss how important that initial Hogan-Flair feud was in establishing WCW as a major force in American wrestling.

Naitch would also be among the first men to stand up to The Hulkster after his heel turn, playing a vital role in the early days of the New World Order.

See, it wasn’t all bad!

6. Vader vs. Cactus Jack

What happens when you put one of the toughest men in wrestling history against one of the most fearless men in wrestling history? In a word - carnage.

Having wrestled in various tag team matches, both on the same side and against one another, Big Van Vader first met Mick Foley’s Cactus Jack persona one-on-one in a World Heavyweight Championship match on an episode of WCW Main Event in 1993.

Though Jack never beat the Mastodon for the gold, the two would wage some epic wars, most notably at Halloween Havoc 1993 in a brutal Texas Death Match. It was during this feud that Foley got Powerbombed by Vader onto exposed concrete, giving him kayfabe amnesia and probably a fair few legitimate bumps and bruises too.

Of course, you can’t talk about this rivalry and not discuss that fateful house show in Munich, Germany in 1994, where Foley accidentally lost a portion of his ear in a ‘hangman’ rope spot gone awry.

For being one of the most violent feuds in all of wrestling history, Vader and Jack have more than earned their spot on this list.

5. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko

There are many reasons why this Cruiserweight feud was one of WCW’s all-time greats - in fact, there are 1,004 of them…

At Uncensored 1998, after weeks of animosity between the two, Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho humiliated Dean Malenko by making the master of submissions tap out to the Liontamer. In his embarrassment, The Iceman vanished from TV for two months, although that didn’t stop Y2J from continuing to dump all over him.

Jericho carried on feuding with Malenko even though he wasn’t there, constantly reminding the audience that he had made Dean tap. Then, at Slamboree, fans were stunned when relatively unknown masked wrestler Ciclope won a Battle Royal to earn a shot at Jericho’s title.

But it wasn’t Ciclope at all! In fact, he was… oh come on, you know exactly who he was. You’ve seen wrestling before. The mystery man pulled off his mask to reveal himself as none other than the returning Dean Malenko, creating one of the loudest pops in the company’s history, before going on to beat Jericho to win the belt.

Sure, he would have to vacate it shortly thereafter because of his deceptive actions, but still.

4. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr.

If you asked a seasoned wrestling fan what the best match in WCW history was, then there’s a good chance they’d say Eddie Guerrero versus Rey Misterio Jr. at Halloween Havoc 1997.

With both the Cruiserweight Championship and Rey’s mask on the line, these two Latino legends showed everyone how high-flying lucha libre was supposed to be done. In a match as psychological as it was physical, Misterio countered a second rope crucifix powerbomb to pin Eddie and win an utterly incredible match.

The story didn’t stop there, though, as Eddie would actually win the belt back off Rey just a couple of weeks later. This led to a rematch at World War 3, as well as several more encounters on TV.

Though it wasn’t particularly long, the Guerrero-Misterio rivalry gave us some breathtaking matches and helped promote lucha libre on the world stage. The only thing that would have made this dispute even better would have been the fate of the custody of a small child hanging above the ring.

3. Booker T vs. Scott Steiner

Like a well-cooked leg of lamb, sometimes a good wrestling feud takes time.

Booker T and Scott Steiner were involved in the final ever episode of WCW Nitro, where the Bookerman beat Big Poppa Pump to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, although this was far from the first time the two parties had shared a ring.

Harlem Heat and The Steiner Brothers were mainstays of the WCW tag division in 1996, even swapping belts with each other a couple of times throughout the year.

Every tag team must split, though, but even without their respective brothers, Booker and Scott continued to cross paths.

At Spring Stampede 1999, Freakzilla defeated G.I. Bro in a tournament final to win the United States Championship. Then, the pair traded the world title back and forth during the promotion’s dying days, eventually culminating in the aforementioned Nitro finale.

To be able to feud up and down the card at various levels takes some serious skill, and it was a pleasure to watch both of these men evolve alongside each other over the years.

2. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage

Alongside Bill Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page was probably the biggest star WCW ever created on their own, but he needed some help from an ex-WWE name to really get to that next level.

After learning to wrestle aged 35, DDP bopped around the midcard until he came face to face with “Macho Man” Randy Savage in 1997. Page had recently turned down an offer to join the New World Order, which Savage took great offence to, leading to Page’s first-ever pay-per-view main event at Spring Stampede 1997.

In a fantastic battle between two immaculate workers, DDP walked away with the win, cementing his status as a new top guy in the company. He would continue to battle Savage until that year’s Halloween Havoc, where Savage beat Page in a Las Vegas Sudden Death Match.

For its amazing matches, memorable moments, and for elevating Page to his rightful place in the top spot, his feud with Savage gets a big “Oooooh yeah” from us.

1. Sting Vs. The NWO

Alright, alright, we know we said that it would be one entry per person on this list, but come on, could we really have left off the defining rivalry of WCW’s most successful period?

When Hulk Hogan turned heel and formed the New World Order, Sting took one look at the gathering darkness and went “See ya!”. WCW’s neon-drenched painted hero walked out on the company he had helped build, taking a leave of absence from the ring that would last over a year.

Though he didn’t wrestle, Sting was still a presence on WCW TV, lurking in the rafters in his best Crow cosplay, watching the NWO do their dirty work before, finally, he’d had enough.

After descending from the heavens at Uncensored 1997, the face-painted avenger set his sights on Hollywood Hulk Hogan, culminating in a match at Starrcade, which - actually, we don’t need to go into that right now.

Though they bungled the finish, WCW created something magical with Sting versus the NWO. The ultimate heel group against the ultimate underdog babyface, so many great moments came from this storyline and, had it ended right, the course of the Monday Night Wars might have changed forever.