From late 1988 to 2001, WCW was a steady competitor to WWE. That includes a late 1990s run in which the company really clicked with a tremendously deep roster and hot acts like the New World Order and Goldberg.
Related: 5 Good Ideas WCW Had But Never Did (& 5 We're Glad They Didn't)
Despite WCW’s successes and a star-studded roster, the promotion had its poor moments, and that’s particularly so for its late stages. The company scrambled against an insurmountable combination of declining ratings, an exodus of talent, and a great deal of strife from a management perspective. The result was a number of dramatic shifts in creative direction, many of which didn’t make a great deal of sense in WCW’s last year.
10 Sting And Ric Flair’s Respectful Final Match
On paper, the choice for Ric Flair to face Sting in the final Nitro match made sense. They were two legends synonymous with WCW and they had an iconic history together. Moreover, given the long story and real life friendship between them, seeing the two embrace was a fine parting shot for the brand.
However, in the context of storylines, Sting and Flair’s demonstration of respect and mutual admiration made no sense. Sting had been off TV for months after world champion Scott Steiner—under the direction of heel authority figure Flair—kayfabe injured him. Granted, if there were ever a time to set storylines aside, it was the last ever episode of Nitro. Nonetheless, the resolution effectively neutered the plotlines leading up to it.
9 Goldberg Teams With DeWayne Bruce With His Career On The Line
Sin 2001 saw Goldberg put his career on the line. It was a tag team match against Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell. Goldberg’s partner? DeWayne Bruce. If that name isn’t familiar, then don't blame yourself. Though Bruce was a respected trainer and enhancement talent, he was never booked as even a mid-card talent at the national level.
The story of one of Goldberg’s trainers teaming with him for this high-stakes match had some poeticism to it. It also felt hard to believe, though, that Goldberg would intentionally team with someone who'd been booked as a jobber when his career was at stake. It was one of the more dramatic cases of WCW failing Goldberg, one of the promotion's biggest stars.
8 Who’s Attacking The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven faction dominated the upper card for the final months of WCW. The group featured some of the company’s biggest names: Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, Animal, Lex Luger, and Buff Bagwell, all working in heel personas.
The final weeks of WCW programming saw a running mystery angle around the group. One by one, members of the group were found unconscious backstage, often with spray-painted messages on the walls offering hints as to who was responsible and why. The angle felt a bit strangely inverted for the heels being subject to cowardly sneak attacks. Worse yet, the storyline was never resolved as WCW failed to acknowledge it on the last Nitro, and we never found out who the culprit was.
7 Ric Flair Changing Match Rules On The Fly
Ric Flair was a reasonable choice to play a heel authority figure in the final days of WCW. After all, hardly anyone could compete with The Nature Boy’s credibility as a wrestler, he remained a great talker, and he had lost a step working as a full-time wrestler.
Related: 5 Best and 5 Worst Ric Flair Feuds In WCW
Flair went to extremes in this role, however. Most memorably, at SuperBrawl: Revenge, Flair repeatedly changed the rules of the match between Scott Steiner and Kevin Nash. After Nash captured the pin and the world title, Flair declared it a two out of three falls match. Then he made it no disqualification so Steiner could cheat. Finally, he declared that falls could count anywhere so Steiner didn’t have to lug Nash’s unconscious body back in the ring. Heel authorities always manipulate circumstances, but this case was downright embarrassing for Steiner, Nash, and Flair alike.
6 Animal Returns In The Main Event
Road Warrior Animal was a favorite of long time wrestling fans for his iconic tag team work with Hawk. He was never established as a singles wrestler, though. So when WCW revealed him as the mystery fourth man for the main event of the Sin PPV, it felt underwhelming--particularly given Animal's last national appearance was a lukewarm WWE run.
Animal hanging around the top of the card from there felt further out of place. While he was believable enough as an enforcer, his featured position felt like a clear sign that WCW didn’t have rabbits left to pull out of its hat in terms of landing legitimate top stars.
5 Kevin Nash Seeking To “Make Things Right”
When Kevin Nash emerged as a challenger to Scott Steiner’s WCW Championship, one of his core principles was instilling a sense of justice and balance in WCW. In a quote replayed throughout hype videos for their SuperBrawl: Revenge showdown, Nash stated that he was going to “make things right” after all of the shenanigans Steiner and The Magnificent Seven had been up to.
The story of a veteran fighting for tradition was fine. However, Nash himself had spent most of his WCW run as a destabilizing heel force, most memorably co-launching the nWo and later facilitating the infamous Finger Poke Of Doom. For him to be the voice of justice and order was one of Nash's least sensical turns in WCW.
4 Mike Awesome Joins Team Canada
When Mike Awesome signed with WCW, he was coming off of decorated runs in Japan and in ECW. It was quickly clear WCW didn’t know what to do with the big man as he bounced between corny gimmicks like That ‘70s Guy and The Fat Chick Thriller.
Early 2001 saw Awesome join one of WCW's more underwhelming stables, Team Canada. The move made little sense given he was simply not Canadian. That Awesome replaced Jim Duggan in the faction at least maintained a sort of continuity, as an American randomly assigned to the group. Nonetheless, it was another step in WCW wasting one of its prospective stars.
3 Dustin Rhodes Hired Back Just To Punish Him
For the final version of Dustin Rhodes in WCW, "The Natural" got kayfabe fired by Vince Russo, then rehired months later by heel authority figure Ric Flair. Flair’s rationale for bringing back the son of his arch-rival, Dusty? To punish him.
It makes a certain amount of wrestling logic for a heel in power to keep a face around to abuse. However, the father and son more than held their own against Flair, including beating him and Jeff Jarrett in a tag team match at the final WCW PPV, Greed.
2 Commissioner Lance Storm
There are times when an active wrestler makes a great authority figure. When casting one, though, it makes sense for the individual to be credible as a wrestling legend or a real-life power broker. The authority figure should be a skilled talker who can carry promos.
Related: 5 Best WCW Authority Figures Ever (& 5 Worst)
Lance Storm was a gifted wrestler, at his physical peak, so taking him out of a wrestling-centric role to play commissioner was foolish. His biggest weaknesses were his promos, so highlighting that aspect of him was a misstep. Finally, Storm was respected, but still building his name and didn’t have kayfabe credentials to fit the role. In short, Storm was the antithesis of shrewd choice for WCW commissioner.
1 The McMahons Give WCW Its Parting Shot
The final segment of Nitro saw Shane McMahon perpetrate one of the greatest kayfabe betrayals in his family's history when he scooped his father on buying WCW. While a Vince and Shane promo closing the last Nitro surely felt satisfying for them and the WWE faithful, it didn’t make sense in offering a sense of closure for WCW fans.
The general understanding is that WWE intended to continue running WCW branded shows, and they were probably laying the foundation for that here. In practice, though, and particularly given that the last Nitro truly was WCW’s last show, Sting and Ric Flair’s last match would have been a more fitting sendoff than the McMahons bickering with one another via satellite.
