Lasting from 1988 to 2001, World Championship Wrestling rose from the ashes of the National Wrestling Alliance and Jim Crockett Promotions to become a major fixture of professional wrestling in the United States. While competing with WWE — and scoring some huge wins in the TV ratings — WCW introduced the world to iconic characters like Sting, Goldberg, and the New World Order faction.
10 Best WCW Champions, Ranked By Likability
Not everyone had amazing reigns with the Big Gold Belt, but there were plenty of popular wrestlers who made fans rejoice as WCW Champion.However, not everything in WCW always worked. Rather than focus on the failed angles and disastrous matches, let’s take a look at something much simpler: bad wrestler names. WCW had its share of stinkers, so let’s take a look at 10 of the worst ones, starting with the last bad of the bunch.
10 The Boss Was WCW’s Attempt To Circumvent A WWE Trademark
They Couldn’t Legally Call Him Big Bossman
WCW Run As The Boss | Other Gimmicks |
1993-1994 | The Big Bossman, Big Bubba Rogers |
By the time Ray Traylor returned to WCW in 1993, more fans were arguably aware of his WWE persona The Big Bossman than they were his old NWA gimmick of Big Bubba Rogers. Naturally, WCW capitalized on this, presenting him as The Boss, complete with an all-black palette swap of his prison guard duds. While the connection to his previous gimmick was obvious, it’s tough to hear “The Boss” and not think of Bruce Springsteen, who’s far more famously nicknamed “The Boss.” Regardless, it still reeked of trademark infringement, and WCW was forced to shift gears shortly after The Boss debuted.
9 Sandman Entered WCW As Hak
The Renaming Was Also For Trademark Reasons
WCW Run | Other Gimmicks |
1998-1999 | Sandman, Mr. Sandman |
As Extreme Championship Wrestling continued on through the 1990s, it shed many of its biggest stars, reportedly due to a mixture of more money at bigger promotions and payment issues within ECW itself. One such defector was ECW icon the Sandman, who curiously arrived in WCW under a new nickname: Hak. Another ring name changed for trademark reasons, Hak at least has a basis, as it’s Sandman’s real nickname. Unfortunately, it’s not a particularly flattering name — even for a guy who drinks beer and smashes the can on his head.
8 The Guardian Angel Is Easily Big Bossman’s Worst Gimmick
The Real-Life Inspiration Isn’t Exactly Compelling
WCW Run As The Guardian Angel | Rival |
1994 | Big Van Vader |
With any variation on “Big Bossman” seemingly off the table, WCW decided to repackage Ray Traylor shortly after he debuted as The Boss. Instead of being a pro wrestling prison guard, WCW opted for a different law-related inspiration: the Guardian Angels, a real-life civilian crime-stopping organization.
10 Backstage Stories About Big Boss Man Fans Should Know
One of the more underrated big men in wrestling, there are plenty of backstage stories about The Big Boss Man that wrestling fans should know!As such, The Boss became The Guardian Angel, wearing a bright red jacket and a beret that made him look as uncool as possible. As for the ring name itself, it’s an embarrassing one that suggests that the wrestler will deliver the least amount of violence possible.
7 Woman Wasn’t The Most Creative Name
Woman Was Often Aligned With Kevin Sullivan
WCW Run | Other Gimmicks |
1989-1990, 1996-1997 | Devin Woman, Fallen Angel |
It’s tough to be nostalgic for 1990s wrestling, especially given the way North America presented its female talent. Regardless of the reasoning for it, WCW had the underrated Nancy Benoit (nee Sullivan) managing her real-life husband Kevin Sullivan under the ring name Woman, a moniker that surely wouldn’t fly today. Throughout her entire WCW run, she pretty much only ever went by Woman, even as she moved on from Sullivan to managing other wrestlers like Doom and Ric Flair.
6 The Booty Man Was One Of Ed Leslie’s Many Gimmicks
The Man Was Obsessed With His Own Butt
WCW Run As The Booty Man | Other Gimmicks |
1996 | Brutus Beefcake, Zodiac, The Disciple |
Performing for WCW from 1994 to 1999, Ed Leslie — better known as Brutus Beefcake — ran through a shocking number of gimmicks, from his first appearance as The Butcher all the way to his last run as The Disciple. But the most baffling of his WCW gimmicks was that of The Booty Man, a midcard babyface (ostensibly) whose whole gimmick was his fixation on his own butt. A repackaging that ensued after he turned babyface, aligning with longtime buddy Hulk Hogan against The Dungeon of Doom, The Booty Man mostly feuded with Diamond Dallas Page and famously got faked out by the nWo.
5 Randy Hogan Got The Name For Obvious Reasons
Hogan Was Purely A Jobber In WCW
WCW Run | Other Gimmicks |
1988-1989, 1993-1994 | Scott Colton |
Even when WCW and WWE weren’t competing for Monday night TV ratings, it wasn’t uncommon for the two promotions to make digs at one another. One such dig concerned journeyman Randy Muehl, whose horseshoe mustache and blond skullet led to him being presented on WCW television as Randy Hogan. Purely a jobber, Randy Hogan took losses from wrestlers like Rick Steiner, Sting, and Vader before retiring in 1994. Even though Randy was his real first name, fans mostly saw his ring name as a combination of the names of two of WWE’s biggest stars.
4 Triple H Debuted In WCW As Terra Ryzing
Hunter Was Later Repackaged
WCW Run | Other Gimmicks |
1994 | Jean-Paul Levesque, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Triple H |
It seems like pretty much every major Attitude Era star appeared in early-to-mid 1990s WCW before showing up in WWE, and multi-time world champion and current head of WWE creative Triple H is no exception. Trained by Killer Kowalski, the future Trips debuted in WCW in 1994 with the tremendously goofy name of Terra Ryzing.
10 Things Fans Forget about Triple H in WCW
Before Triple H became one of the top stars of WWE, The Game cut his teeth in WCW. Fans often forget about his time in World Championship Wrestling!The pun isn’t great, and Terra Ryzing lasted about four months. From there, he moved on to something completely different: a French sophisticate named Jean-Paul Levesque, who teamed with Lord Steven Regal for a spell before bringing the snooty blue blood shtick to WWE as Hunter Hearst Helmsley.
3 Gen. Hugh G. Rection Was A Repackaging Of Hugh Morrus
Rection’s Original Name Wasn’t That Great, Either
WCW Run As Hugh G. Rection | Accomplishments |
2000-2001 | WCW United States Champion (2x) |
A WCW storyline in 2000 saw a bunch of wrestlers getting kayfabe fired by WCW management. However, they managed to weasel their way back on television by repackaging themselves as the military themed Misfits in Action. Formerly known as Hugh Morrus, journeyman and disgraced WWE Performance Center head coach Bill DeMott adopted a new, worse name in General Hugh G. Rection. It was the sort of horrific sex pun that was all-too rampant on any pro wrestling television spearheaded by Vince Russo.
2 Ze Gangsta Tried To End Hulkamania Once & For All
Ze Gangsta Was Hulk Hogan’s Old Movie Rival Zeus
WCW Run | Other Gimmicks |
1996 | Zeus |
The year 1989 saw the release of the WWE-produced film No Holds Barred, in which Hulk Hogan (as fictional wrestler Rip Thomas) took on monster heel Zeus, played by actor Tommy Lister Jr. To promote the film, WWE brought Zeus from the screen into the kayfabe world for a couple of matches. Seven years later, WCW enlisted Lister to reprise the role to once again combat Hulk Hogan as part of the Dungeon of Doom storyline. However, this time — once again, for trademark reasons — Lister waged war on Hulkamania under the name of Ze Gangsta, which is easily the laziest ring name one could ever give to a black man.
1 The Final Solution Name Was In Extremely Poor Taste
The Wrestler Is Better Known As Jeep Swenson
WCW Run | Other Gimmicks |
1996 | Jeep Swenson, The Ultimate Solution |
The Dungeon of Doom storyline saw the bad guys stacking the deck against Hulk Hogan and friends. Alongside Z-Gangsta was Jeep Swenson, former World Class wrestler who’s best known for playing Bane in Batman & Robin. Unfortunately, WCW gave him one of the most poorly thought-out ring names of all time: The Final Solution. While certainly evocative to say the least, Jeep Swenson was just portraying a big henchman in facepaint and camo pants, nothing to do with Nazis or the Holocaust. Upon realizing that they made a huge mistake, WCW quickly renamed him The Ultimate Solution.
