History Wrestling / WCW

** Sting found God in August of 1998. He reveals in his movie ''Sting: Moment of Truth'' that he confessed all of his sins (drugs, womanizing, etc.) to his wife. Bret Hart "injured" him at ''Halloween Havoc'' '98 as an excuse to write him off TV. He was given time off to deal with "personal issues" at home. Other than a few house show appearances in early '99, he didn't make his return until April of that year.

* DreamTeam: With Turner's money, Bischoff could match any offer Vince made and even exceed it. Within a year, he'd assembled the greatest roster in the annals of professional wrestling. Only The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, {{Wrestling/Kane}}, Wrestling/MarkHenry, and a few others remained loyal to the WWF. However, it came with its downside; the fact that some of these contracts, particularly those used to lure away WWF talent, were so exorbitant is often cited as an important reason for why WCW was eventually sold to [=McMahon=] for a paltry $2.5 million. It backfired in another way, though. WCW dedicated so much time to its big stars that WWF assembled their own team out of people who had been buried and/or ignored by WCW.

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** The Outsiders invasion angle (which led to the nWo) and the Heartland Wrestling Association both started in 1996. Both were successors to the failed invasion / talent exchange WCW previously tried with [[Wrestling/{{SMW}} Smokey Mountain Wrestling]], which shut down in 1995.
** [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], both the good (like its early focus on the X-Division / cruiserweights) and bad (kayfabe-breaking and RealityTV smut). Bonus: Jarrett founded it to replace WCW in the first place. As of 2016, TNA has officially been in business longer than WCW, as has [[Wrestling/RingOfHonor ROH]]. And both companies have been around almost twice as long as ECW[[note]][[Main/GarbageWrestler "Deathmatch"]] promotion Wrestling/CombatZoneWrestling has been around even longer, having started up 2 years before WCW and ECW closed[[/note]].
** Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling is the true spiritual successor to WCW: its flagship show ''Wednesday Night Dynamite'' ([[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro remind you of anything?]]) originally aired on TNT[[note]]it had to move to TBS in 2022, but its secondary show ''Rampage'' remained on TNT[[/note]], it's backed by an influential billionaire, and it even employs quite a few people who'd once worked in WCW both in front of and behind the cameras, such as Wrestling/ChrisJericho, Wrestling/DustinRhodes, Wrestling/ArnAnderson, Tully Blanchard, Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage, Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels, and even Wrestling/JimRoss and Wrestling/TonySchiavone together again on commentary. In late 2020 they even managed to get Wrestling/{{Sting}} on board, despite him having retired 5 years earlier after his botched WWE run ended in a supposedly career-ending injury, and in 2021 the Wrestling/BigShow, who'd debuted in WCW as The Giant in 1995, jumped ship to AEW after his WWE contract expired.

* NormalFishInATinyPond: An almost literal example, albeit with no fish or ponds- the WCW ring was considerably smaller than the WWF one, which made the wrestlers look much larger than life when seen on camera.

** [[Wrestling/BillDeMott Hugh Morrus]] went by "General Hugh G. Rection" for a while when he led the Misfits In Action (MIA). His cohorts were "Major Gunns", "Private Stash" (Van Hammer), "Lt. Loco" (Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr), "Corporal Cajun" (Lash [=LeRoux=]), and Sgt. A-WOL (The Wall).
** The State Patrol, a jobber tag team, consisted of Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and Lt. James Earl Wright.

** [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], both the good (like its early focus on the X-Division / cruiserweights) and bad (kayfabe-breaking and RealityTV smut). Bonus: Jarrett founded it to replace WCW in the first place. As of 2016, TNA has officially been in business longer than WCW, as has [[Wrestling/RingOfHonor ROH]]. And both companies have been around almost twice as long as ECW.

** WCW had Mark Martin driving their car for NASCAR.

** The final straw for many fans was the crowning of actor David Arquette as World Heavyweight Champion. It had less to do with Arquette himself (though he was a star at the time) and more to do with his wife, Creator/CourteneyCox, who was one of the highest-paid women on TV via ''Series/{{Friends}}''. There is also the video packages they did with David after he won the title. There was one where Courteney is shouting at him, trying to beat (or shout) some sense into him, telling him to give up the title, and Creator/KurtRussell randomly walks by. David explains to him that he's a pro wrestling champ, and Kurt just laughs at him.

** ''nWo Souled Out''. The set is extraordinary, the production of the whole show is so outrageous. Love it or hate it, this is not a normal PPV. It was painfully-obvious that Bischoff wanted to create a rock concert atmosphere for WCW, but it didn't click with everyone.

** Usually the commentary desk is about plugs and selling products. Between Michael Buffer, Tony Schiavone, Wrestling/BobbyHeenan, Mike Tenay, and Wrestling/MeanGeneOkerlund, they set a tone of importance for "our great sport." Buffer is known for his pomp and circumstance regal announcing. You had Tony selling the drama and wrestlers, Heenan with the history of the business (and jokes), Tenay with stats and data, and Mene Gene with his 'breaking news' interview style. They made the matches seem more real than they were. (The announcers would mention it if someone botched a move.)

** The ring itself was smaller than the one WWE used, with a nice "sssssspring" sound which made the moves seem more devastating. This is something Steve Austin always brings up: due to the fact that it was smaller, the wrestlers looked bigger. For some reason, WWE has always insisted on using a bigger ring than every other promotion. (20ft x 20ft versus everybody elses' 18 x 18.) As mentioned by Cornette and Austin among others, the thing which slows down WWE matches is that they use ropes, whereas everyone else uses thick wires covered in a rubber coating, and the metal ring ropes give so much more bounce; hence why if you watch an old WCW match, they seem a lot faster.

** As WWE [[Wrestling/AttitudeEra reinvented]] itself with a new darker and edgier image (lifted in part from ECW), WCW kept milking the nWo for all they were worth. The group was originally planned to dissolve after ''Starrcade'' '97, where WCW mainstay Sting defeated Hogan for the world title. Instead, the group split into factions: nWo "Hollywood", led by Hogan, and nWo "Wolfpac", led by Kevin Nash, who feuded with each other throughout 1998. The group re-unified following the "Fingerpoke of Doom", before being split again and reshuffled into the Millionaires' Club and New Blood.

** Both companies had mostly-baseless lawsuits against one another, and for every sleazy business tactic by one side, you could counter with an equally sleazy tactic by the other. The week after Tony Schiavone warned viewers not to turn the channel to the competition because Foley was going to win their world heavyweight title, WWF mocked Goldberg by having Duane Gill impersonate him ''and'' lose to a woman. Now, let's rewind to October 1997, when Wrestling/JimCornette ripped the two most influential stars of pro wrestling's boom period, who helped transcend the genre into the mainstream (Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper), in addition to burying their cage match at ''Halloween Havoc'', whilst putting over Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at ''Bad Blood'' that same month. Point being, the inside barbs and jabs each company gives each other was a weekly occurrence.

** According to the ''Monday Night Wars'' documentary, during the conclusion of the episode of ''Nitro'' in which Nash and Hall wrecked havoc with baseball bats and then lawn-darted Rey Mysterio into a nearby trailer, residents in Orlando watching the events unfold on TV called the police to report a gang war, and as a result, the firetrucks and ambulances seen pulling up as the show closed were not scripted, but instead were real.

* MoneyDearBoy: The reason why Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and especially Bret Hart came to WCW, since [=McMahon=] couldn't compete with Ted Turner's million dollar contracts.

* DenserAndWackier: Wrestling/VinceRusso wasn't the only foot on WCW's throat in the end, what with the million-dollar contracts being given out like candy on Halloween. But lest we forget all the pole matches, fifteen title changes in 6 months (nearly thirty in 2000), trying to revive the [=nWo=] with Jeff Jarrett and ''Bret Hart'' of all people, the complete annihilation of {{kayfabe}}, the infamous three-way with Nash, Steiner, and Goldberg (see below), and [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Judy Bagwell on a forklift]]. Russo started behind the 8-ball sure, but he also pocketed it with a bit of English.

* DenserAndWackier: Wrestling/VinceRusso wasn't the only foot on WCW's throat in the end, what with the million-dollar contracts being given out like candy. But lest we forget all the pole matches, fifteen title changes in 6 months (nearly thirty in 2000), trying to revive the [=nWo=] with Jeff Jarrett and ''Bret Hart'' of all people, the complete annihilation of {{kayfabe}}, the infamous three-way with Nash, Steiner, and Goldberg (see below), and [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Judy Bagwell on a forklift]]. Russo started behind the 8-ball sure, but he also pocketed it with a bit of English.

* '''WCW United States Championship''' - Established in 1975; is currently being used in WWE.

* '''WCW World Heavyweight Championship''' - Established in 1991; it was defended on WWE programming until it was unified with the WWE Championship to become the Undisputed WWE Championship on December 9, 2001.

* '''WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship''' - After WWE's purchase of WCW, it was one of 2 titles to be abandoned and never mentioned again on WWE programming. Understandable, as the first champions were crowned ''eight days'' before the buyout.

* '''WCW World Heavyweight Championship''' - It was defended on WWE programming until it was unified with the WWE Championship to become the Undisputed WWE Championship.

* '''WCW United States Championship''' - It is currently being used in WWE.
* '''WCW World Tag Team Championship''' - Defended on WWE programming, then merged with the WWE (World) Tag Team Titles

** Dennis Rodman to Creator/MikeTyson, both being sportsmen and bonafide mainstream celebrities who participated in wrestling matches (albeit Tyson only did so as an outside enforcer). Both even associated themselves with the aforementioned alternate equivalents nWo and DX, respectively.

** Wrestling/{{Sting}} to Wrestling/TheUndertaker. Both became famous for goth-themed gimmicks while also having at one point a more grounded one ("Surfer" Sting and the "American Badass"/"Biker Taker"), both were mostly-silent, and both had such a large following (and were so faithful to their respective companies) that they were believed to embody the 'soul' of their promotions. Until Sting retired, a bout between the two was considered a [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny dream match]] for a long time.

** Vampiro has claimed that in 1998, he was in talks with the WWF but decided to go to WCW instead. As a result, the WWF created [[Wrestling/DavidHeath Gangrel]] as their own vampire character, along with the PowerStable known as The Brood (which consisted of the aforementioned Gangrel, Wrestling/{{Edge}}, and Wrestling/{{Christian}}). It didn't help matters that Vampiro only got a tryout match there at the WWF in 1998 before he properly started being used by WCW in 1999. The difference between the two of them however is that Gangrel was played far more straight as a vampire (even if the WWF didn't overly refer to him as a vampire, but rather as someone who "followed the gothic lifestyle") than Vampiro (whose gimmick was more of a punk rock star who liked vampires, even associating himself with Music/TheMisfits at one point).

* {{Corpsing}}:
** ''Halloween Havoc'' '97: Diamond Dallas Page vs. "Macho Man" Wrestling/RandySavage. DDP smashes Savage over the head with a glass plate, and Wrestling/DustyRhodes, doing color commentary, can't stop laughing.
** Aside from the botch itself, the Shockmaster segment is one of the best pieces of unintentional comedy ever created. Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith and [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sid Vicious]] have their backs to the hard camera while the others cut the promo (which consists of insane shouting), but they leave the mic on so you hear them ripping on Fred as soon as he falls. It's made hilarious due to the off-camera comments of Ric Flair ("I told you...oh God..."), Stevie Ray ("Who is this motherfucker?"), and best of all, Davey Boy Smith ("He fell on his arse! He fell flat on his fucking arse!"). Ole Anderson, who provided the voice of the Shockmaster, snickered into the mic before composing himself.
** When "The Cat" (Wrestling/ErnestMiller) fought The Dog (Al Green), even Tony Schiavone couldn't keep from laughing.
** The infamous clip of Wrestling/TorrieWilson getting slapped by the Macho Man for laughing during a backstage segment. Wilson didn't know Savage was going to smack her, so it wasn't planned. Eric Bischoff in particular got a lot of heat for it since it was at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and a lot of the Time Warner higher-ups were there to see it. Nowadays, it's mostly remembered for being a ''Website/{{Botchamania}}'' meme ("SEND FOR THE MAN!").

* '''WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship''' - After WWE's purchase of WCW, it was one of 2 titles to be abandoned and never mentioned again on WWE programming. Understandable as the first champions were crowned ''eight days'' before the buyout.

** Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} to Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. Both were bald, goateed [[OneManArmy one-man armies]] who wore simple black trunks as wrestling gear, yet became immensely over with crowds due to their take-no-BS personalities and going against a large {{Heel}} PowerStable (the nWo and Wrestling/TheCorporation). Bischoff was accused of hypocrisy after it was alleged he told Austin that men in basic black trunks could not get over with the crowd, only to push Goldberg for doing just that. The funny part is that Goldberg ''was'' intended to be a ripoff... of Wrestling/KenShamrock, hence all the MMA-like punching/kicking and the MMA-style gloves. Bischoff thought he could book a guy pretending to a UFC fighter better than Vince could book an actual UFC fighter[[note]]He was right[[/note]]. The fact that both Austin and Goldberg are bald white guys with a goatee was purely coincidence.

Historically based out of {{UsefulNotes/Atlanta}}, it began as a regional [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] territory, first as Georgia Championship Wrestling and later Jim Crockett Promotions. From its inception, JCP had big names like Wrestling/RicFlair, Wrestling/DustyRhodes, and Wrestling/RickySteamboat carrying the company, along with up-and-comers like {{Wrestling/Sting}} and Wrestling/LexLuger. They were trying to compete on a national level. Unfortunately, in spite of their TV deals and name recognition in the States, the company was very careless with money. In 1988, after a string of financial and creative mishaps, it was sold to cable TV pioneer UsefulNotes/TedTurner and re-named World Championship Wrestling.

''WCW Saturday Night'' was the mothership show before ''[[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro Nitro]]''. It was two hours long and had more than a few {{squash match}}es, just like every other show at the time. However, there were times where they'd let a young nobody get a shot at Flair and actually give him a run for his money. It also served as a springboard for wrestlers who would go on to achieve fame in later years, with [[Wrestling/{{Goldust}} Dustin Rhodes]], [[Wrestling/MickFoley Cactus Jack]], and The Hollywood Blonds ([[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin "Stunning" Steve Austin]] and Wrestling/BrianPillman) appearing for the first time on national television.

''Nitro'' was a long-shot idea by Bischoff to compete with ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Raw]]'' in their own timeslot. He had the perfect blueprint for a wrestling show: make sure there is variety, showcasing different styles of wrestling (often with interesting stipulations). Live TV in an age when viewers had their attention divided. Have a mega-angle going on with the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder. Pro wrestling was forever changed by the nWo in some ways, with each show ending on a {{cliffhanger}}. Think ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' hype, but weekly.

''Nitro'' was seen as the superior product for years, until it hit a creative wall. Bischoff's problem was that he measured everything by the ratings. So when ''Raw'' rebounded--and everyone knew it would eventually--he had no plan or faith in his own product. While RingOldies were given most of the screentime, up-and-comers like Wrestling/ChrisJericho, Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage, Wrestling/{{Raven}}, and Wrestling/BookerT either [-1)-] didn't get elevated like they should have, or [-2)-] it was handled poorly and came about too late. The Cruiserweight Division went from being "the future of wrestling" (as Bischoff touted them as on his show) to being "vanilla midgets" who "couldn't draw", because he was listening to the wrong people; the over-reliance on one storyline, with most of the [[{{Face}} babyfaces]] forming [[AntiHeroSubstitute an nWo offshoot]]; and, most notorious of all, Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} vs. Wrestling/HulkHogan being relegated to an episode of ''Nitro'', rather than pay-per-view, because they wanted to win the Wrestling/MondayNightWars so badly. Those were just some of the decisions that led to huge losses in ratings and revenue, which resulted in the WWF purchasing WCW's assets on March 26, 2001.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wcw_7085.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Where the Big Boys Played.]]

''Nitro'' was the superior product for years, until it hit a creative wall. Bischoff's problem was that he measured everything by the ratings. So when ''Raw'' rebounded--and everyone knew it would eventually--he had no plan or faith in his own product. While RingOldies were given most of the screentime, up-and-comers like Wrestling/ChrisJericho, Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage, Wrestling/{{Raven}}, and Wrestling/BookerT either [-1)-] didn't get elevated like they should have, or [-2)-] it was handled poorly and came about too late. The Cruiserweight Division went from being "the future of wrestling" (as Bischoff touted them as on his show) to being "vanilla midgets" who "couldn't draw", because he was listening to the wrong people; the over-reliance on one storyline, with most of the [[{{Face}} babyfaces]] forming [[AntiHeroSubstitute an nWo offshoot]]; and, most notorious of all, Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} vs. Wrestling/HulkHogan being relegated to an episode of ''Nitro'', rather than pay-per-view, because they wanted to win the Wrestling/MondayNightWars so badly. Those were just some of the decisions that led to huge losses in ratings and revenue, which resulted in the WWF purchasing WCW's assets on March 26, 2001.

** Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} to Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. Both were bald, goateed [[OneManArmy one-man armies]] who wore simple black trunks as wrestling gear, yet became immensely over with crowds due to their take-no-BS personalities and going against a large {{Heel}} PowerStable (the nWo and Wrestling/TheCorporation). Bischoff was accused of hypocrisy after it was alleged he told Austin that men in basic black trunks could not get over with the crowd, only to push Goldberg for doing just that. The funny part is that Goldberg ''was'' intended to be a ripoff... of Wrestling/KenShamrock, hence all the MMA-like punching/kicking and the MMA-style gloves. Bischoff thought he could book a guy pretending to a UFC fighter better than Vince could book an actual UFC fighter. The fact that both Austin and Goldberg are bald white guys with a goatee was purely coincidence.

** Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} to Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. Both were bald, goateed [[OneManArmy one-man armies]] who wore simple black trunks as wrestling gear, yet became immensely over with crowds due to their take-no-BS personalities and going against a large {{Heel}} PowerStable (the nWo and Wrestling/TheCorporation). Bischoff was accused of hypocrisy after it was alleged he told Austin that men in basic black trunks could not get over with the crowd, only to push Goldberg for doing just that.

* '''WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship''' - After WWE's purchase of WCW, it was one of 2 titles to be abandoned and never mentioned again on WWE programming.

''Nitro'' was a long-shot idea by Bischoff to compete with ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Raw]]'' in their own timeslot. He had the perfect blueprint for a three-hour show: make sure there is variety, showcasing different styles of wrestling (often with interesting stipulations). Live TV in an age when viewers had their attention divided. Have a mega-angle going on with the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder. Pro wrestling was forever changed by the nWo in some ways, with each show ending on a {{cliffhanger}}. Think ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' hype, but weekly.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: We're talking about a promotion who, at their height, had over 240 wrestlers on their payroll. The upside is, the matches and segments were short enough to make full use of their huge roster, and the Cruiserweight and Hardcore divisions are well-remembered.