10 Wrestlers WCW Wasted During The Monday Night War

May 2024 ยท 5 minute read

The Monday Night Wars was arguably the best time to ever be a wrestling fan. The legends in that era were too many to count, as WCW featured the likes of Hulk Hogan and the NWO. Meanwhile, the WWE featured names such as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in their prime of the Attitude Era.

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In the end, WWE won out, partially due to WCW's horrendous booking of their top talent. They famously chose to stick to the aforementioned Hulkster and other stars far past their best days. These ten names might've made a difference in the Monday Night Wars but weren't used well.

10 Edge

Edge wasn't necessarily wasted by WCW, but it's safe to say that he's a business decision that they regret. In 1996, the young Canadian was brought into the company for a few squash matches on WCW Pro. However, they didn't view Edge, who was going by Damon Striker, very highly.

Instead, he would be formally signed to the WWE later that year as an enhancement talent. They gave him more training and experience and later signed his friend Christian as well. It's safe to say that it worked out well for Edge, but not for WCW.

9 Sabu

If one doesn't remember Sabu's time in WCW it's because it was quite brief. He debuted for the company in late 1995 as a member of their cruiserweight division. While talented, it was clear that these two weren't a good fit.

Sabu left WCW after 1995, due to a variety of reasons. However, one has to imagine that they regret not keeping the hardcore legend around.

8 Raven

Raven had his fair share of big moments in WCW. He signed with the company in 1997 and helped lead The Flock and The Dead Pool. Along the way, he won a few mid-card titles, including the Tag Team and the United States Championships.

However, Raven, much like the rest of the WCW roster, began being booked poorly in 1998. The following year, he requested his release in a backstage meeting with Eric Bischoff and others, and quickly returned to ECW.

7 William Regal

In the Monday Night Wars, technical wrestling wasn't exactly drawing in crazy audiences. That's likely why William Regal never seemed to get the respect and praise that he deserved during his WCW stints from 1992 to 1998, and 2000.

Regal had some big matches, against the likes of Goldberg and others. However, he never was able to go beyond the mid-card, and only ever won the WCW television title during his lengthy time in the company.

6 AJ Styles

Fear not Edge, AJ Styles also knows what it's like to be a young talent that wasn't used by WCW. Although the future TNA star was at least signed by the company to a lengthy contract, he wouldn't get to do much.

That's partially due to WCW shutting down in 2001, the year Styles signed. However, he wasn't exactly doing much in the months that he was there either. The only memorable thing Styles did on-screen was pair with Air Paris in their short-lived cruiserweight tag team division.

5 Rey Mysterio

In case it's not incredibly clear by now, if you weren't a certain size, WCW wasn't going to use you well. That could also be seen in the case of Rey Mysterio, who debuted in the cruiserweight division in 1996.

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On a weekly basis, Mysterio was putting on bangers in the cruiserweight division. However, he never rose beyond the mid-card, and just had insultingly bad booking for the legend. In 1999, they even had him lose his mask, which was horrendous.

4 Juventud Guerrera

To Rey Mysterio's credit, he was able to rise out of the cruiserweight division at times and have some massive matches. Sadly, the same cannot be said for fellow Mexican wrestler and high-flyer Juventud Guerrera.

All in all, Guerrera was almost entirely relegated to the cruiserweight division, and his talent never got the praise it deserved. While he was later released due to legal and substance abuse issues, that wasn't exactly holding anyone back in WCW. Seemingly every major star was on something back then.

3 Perry Saturn

Perry Saturn wasn't booked as poorly in WCW as he would later be in the WWE, but he still deserved better. A member of Raven's Flock not long after his 1997 signing, things would quickly go badly for him from there.

By 1999, Saturn's gimmick was that of a Marilyn Manson fan who was trans. If that doesn't sound like a winning recipe, you'd be correct. He later requested his release in 2000, after Kevin Sullivan opined that he could never get over with fans.

2 Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Guerrero famously headed over to WWE in 2000 alongside Perry Saturn and others. While he didn't have any embarrassing gimmicks or anything like that, he was never given a chance to shine in the main event picture.

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Even after Guerrero started the Latino World Order, and helped get over other talents, they still declined to push him. That led to his WWE signing, where the Mexican legend was finally appreciated and given a world title run.

1 Chris Jericho

Speaking of legends who WCW refused to put into the title picture, Chris Jericho is probably the worst. For years, he was one of their best talents in the ring, but they refused to push him beyond the mid-card. Even whenever he got over, and called out names such as Goldberg, it wasn't enough.

Jericho was instead forced into 'Loser Must Wear A Dress' matches with Perry Saturn. He left in mid 1999, and that turned out to be the best decision of his career.

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