With all due respect to AEW, TNA and others, the biggest competition WWE has had since it went national in the '80s was from WCW. The Ted Turner backed promotion sprung out of the old NWA in 1988 and within a decade, it was attracting some of Vince McMahon’s biggest stars and beating his flagship show, Monday Night Raw, in the ratings.
Thanks to Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and some terrible booking decisions from WCW, WWE eventually won the war. The half decade or so before McMahon finally bought out the competition, however, is still looked on by many wrestling fans as the greatest the sport has ever been.
So, let’s take a look back at some of those superstars who worked for both companies. Let’s celebrate some of those guys who had huge moments in both WWE and WCW. Just one small caveat. My original list here included like 50 guys. I’ve had to trim it down and remove people like Bam Bam Bigelow, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Paul Roma and Alundra Blayze/ Madusa. I’d love to celebrate all their careers and the joy they gave me, but for the purposes of this list, we’re only going to focus on people who made a big moment in both.
Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan was far and away the biggest star in professional wrestling during the 1980s, but by the early 1990s WWE's audiences were growing tired of his one-note take-your-vitamins character. So, in a move that was good for everyone, he fled to WCW and in '96, reinvented himself as Hollywood Hulk Hogan, a despicable villain fans loved to boo. His stable, the nWo, took off almost immediately and suddenly, the war was on.
Ric Flair
Ric Flair is remembered by many fans as one of the faces of WCW, but most wrestlers would commit multiple felonies to just have the career he did in WWE. He won the WWE Championship in what some consider to be the greatest Royal Rumble in '92, and he had some WrestleMania bangers, both during that early '90s run and much later. Don't sleep on those years of great work in WCW though. That's the Nature Boy's Prime. Woooooooooo!
Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash had a fantastic run in the mid '90s in WWE as Diesel, but his work under his own name alongside Scott Hall in WCW is what actually paved the way for the Monday Night Wars. He made Nitro feel dangerous and cool, and has to be on any short list of most important WCW performers during its absolute apex.
Scott Hall
You can't put Kevin Nash on any wrestling list and not put Scott Hall right beside him. As Razor Ramon, his battles over the Intercontinental Championship with Shawn Michaels were some of the best content WWE produced in the mid-'90s, and those early promos/ surveys during his time in WCW were integral to the nWo blowing up in popularity.
Chris Jericho
I don't know how WCW ever let Chris Jericho get away. It was obvious he was an all-time talent, even in his mid-20s, while coming up with WCW. He got himself and his security guard Ralphus over in a big way, but after head booker Eric Bischoff refused to elevate him above the mid-card (specifically into a program with Goldberg), he decided to leave. He eventually made his way to WWE and had a Hall of Fame career.
Lex Luger
A lot of WWE fans are still furious at Vince McMahon and company for not putting the WWE Championship on Luger when he was mega-hot ahead of the '93 Survivor Series. Fortunately, he got a chance to win the WCW Championship later when he got Hulk Hogan to tap out in one of the most famous moments in Nitro history.
Big Show/ The Giant
Paul Wight could have signed with WWE, but after an audition tape miscommunication, he went with WCW. He won all the major titles and fought in all the biggest PPVs first with and later against the nWo, but he left for WWE in 1999. There, he had a fantastic run that included winning The WWE Championship and having one of the most outrageous feuds ever with The Big Boss Man.
Bret Hart
We all know what Bret Hart accomplished in WWE, from his work with The Hart Foundation to his feuds with Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin and many more. It's that work that leads many to consider him one of the greatest ever, but he also had some big moments in WCW. He won huge PPV matches against the likes of Ric Flair and Goldberg, plus all the major belts, but curious booking decisions and an injury that forced an early retirement will always put his time there in the what-if category.
Booker T
Both as a member of the tag team Harlem Heat and as a singles wrestler, Booker T found incredible success in WCW. You won't find many guys who spent more time on WCW TV than him, but after McMahon acquired WCW, Booker T carved out a fantastic second career there, first as a main event guy and later as a commentator and beloved personality.
Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit isn't referenced in wrestling circles very often because of his crimes, but his work was a key part of both WCW and WWE. He won the WCW Heavyweight Championship, then left the company the next day, causing all kinds of chaos. His subsequent time in WWE featured a ton of huge moments including a wire-to-wire Royal Rumble win.
Ron Simmons
Simmons is definitely better remembered for his time in WWE, both for his work with tag team partner Bradshaw and for his time later as a comedic character, but prior to all that, he had a fantastic run in WCW that saw him become the first Black superstar ever to win the WCW Heavyweight Championship.
Eddie Guerrero
Another ultra-talented superstar that WCW never pushed hard enough, Eddie Guerrero very publicly feuded with management before leaving the promotion in 2000. He then proceeded to turn himself into one of the biggest stars in WWE, winning The WWE Championship and tons of other accolades before his shocking death at just 38.
Dusty Rhodes
The prime of Dusty Rhodes' career occured prior to The Monday Night Wars, but he's still a really important figure to the story. He was basically a beloved and very famous mid-carder in the late '80s and early 1990s in WWE before he went to WCW as the organization's booker. Creative differences with Ric Flair led to Flair going to WWE long enough to win the '92 Rumble. His run in WCW included some matches but mostly work on commentary and behind the scenes. He later returned to WWE and was a major force in the early days of NXT.
Goldberg
Apart from the nWo, Goldberg's streak is probably the WCW storyline still talked about the most often. If you weren't there, it's impossible to explain just how imposing and unbeatable he seemed at the time. He later went on to have multiple title-winning runs in WWE, but nothing came close to the magic he captured in the late '90s.
Randy Savage
Hulk Hogan may have been the face of WWE in the 1980s, but Randy Savage was a key part of the organization's popularity too. He main evented multiple WrestleManias and put on many of its best matches. Eventually, however, he ran out of momentum and moved to WCW, where he was a key part of the Monday Night Wars and won a ton of huge matches.
Scott Steiner
Scott Steiner had great runs in both WWE and WCW in a tag team alongside his brother Rick. In both spots, they won the organization's tag titles. His solo work as Big Poppa Pump is also very well remembered and earned him a WCW Heavyweight Championship. He also once brought a live tiger to the ring, which is my personal favorite moment.
Sting
With all due respect to Ric Flair, Sting is Mr. WCW. No one will ever be more associated with the company than he was. He held all the belts and wrestled in all the biggest matches (most prominently Starrcade '97), but he also had a late career run in WWE that saw him fight in a big spot at WrestleMania and more.
Sid
Sid bounced around a lot during his career, never staying in one place for too long, but despite that, he still found success almost everywhere he went. He main evented WrestleMania 8 with Hulk Hogan and won the WWE Championship. In WCW, he won the Heavyweight Championship and also, in less exciting news, suffered one of the most uncomfortable injuries in wrestling history when he fractured his leg.
Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett had some success in WWE at the top of the mid-card during the mid-'90s. He then hopped to WCW, back to WWE and back to WCW again just in time to be involved in one of the worst moments in WCW history. After a backstage fight over booking, Jarrett was told to quite literally lay down for Hulk Hogan at Bash Of The Beach 2000 in a moment many disillusioned fans saw as the last straw.
Vader
Vader was a monster for WCW in the early '90s. He main evented a ton of PPVs and was often a champion or leading contender. His run in WWE when he was hired in '96 should have been easy, but terrible booking decisions and a match that didn't go as planned in the main event of SummerSlam '96 against Shawn Michaels conspired to keep him away from The WWE Championship. Even so, he did some tremendous work for both companies.
Curt Hennig
Mr. Perfect is, in the eyes of many, one of WWE's greatest Intercontinental champions ever. His early '90s work with WWE lived up to the character's name. His time in WCW did not, but that was mostly the fault of him not being used properly because if you go back and watch some of those matches he put on, they were bangers.
Steve Austin
Austin is always going to be remembered for his time as Stone Cold in WWE. The company went public on the back of his success, and decades later, he main evented WrestleMania again in a glorified retirement match that over-delivered and was beloved by fans. But he was a very solid performer in WCW too. He made the most of US Championship runs and tag team partnerships, most prominently with Brian Pillman as Hollywood Blonds.
Rey Mysterio
WCW's cruiserweight division was fantastic. If it wasn't for those matches, I'm not sure smaller guys would have ever been seen as legitimate title contenders in WWE. Much of that success is owed to Rey Mysterio, whose fast-paced, high-flying maneuvers got over with fans. Unfortunately, he still ran into a ceiling in WCW and was even forced to compete without his trademark mask. He later made his way to WWE and was a beloved babyface who had runs as a main eventer.
Rick Rude
Rude is definitely best remembered for his incredible work in the late '80s and early '90s in WWE. He beat The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V and did some great work with the Intercontinental Championship. He spent most of the early '90s in WCW and had a good US Championship run before later returning to WWE and leaving alongside Bret Hart after the Montreal Screwjob.
Mick Foley
Foley is, of course, beloved for his run as Mankind in WWE during the Attitude Era, but his work in early '90s WCW is also must-see. His matches against Vader were so vicious and featured so much real violence that WCW had to stop booking them together for fear they'd have issues with parents.
Haku/ Meng
No wrestler was tougher in real life than Haku. So many wrestlers have stories have their own stories about seeing him fight someone. Inside the ring, he had solid runs with both companies. He partnered with Andre The Giant in the late '80s to win the tag team titles off Demolition and was a key part of Dungeon Of Doom, Faces Of Fear and the hardcore scene in WCW.
Ricky Steamboat
Steamboat is most famous in WWE for his spectacular match with Randy Savage at WrestleMania III, but he was used more consistently in high profile moments in WCW. His matches with Ric Flair are still raved about today, and he had a few good runs with various titles.
X-Pac
There aren't many wrestlers who have had more success while also changing characters as often as Sean Waltman. He was a solid mid-carder in WWE as 1-2-3 Kid. Then he went to WCW and became one of the first members of the nWo as Syxx. Then he went back to WWE and had the best run of his career in DX as X-Pac.
Lance Storm
Lance Storm was such a huge part of WCW programming during its last few years that he was actually the first wrestler to technically appear in WWE during the Invasion angle. He had a great half decade or so run after the companies merged before stepping away to focus on behind the scenes work and training new wrestlers.
Raven
Raven's Flock is one of my favorite WCW storylines. It's hard to tell the history of Nitro without including Raven, and while it's not quite as famous, he did some good work in WWE too. He first played manager Johnny Polo and later returned as the Raven character, making a name for himself in the hardcore division and appearing in a key match on maybe the most beloved wrestling PPV of all-time: WrestleMania X-Seven.
William Regal/ Steven Regal
Regal bounced back and forth between WWE and WCW during the '90s and early '00s, and in both places, he found big midcard success as a heel you loved to hate. A good worker who could lean into his character well, he never quite rose to the top of the industry, but he was usually a key part of the show wherever he went.
The Ultimate Warrior
Some people may not even remember The Ultimate Warrior in WCW. His work in the late '80s and early '90s in WWE, including his championship run, is far and away his most positively received run, but Warrior was in line for a big push in 1998 when he unexpectedly signed with WCW. It did not go well. Highlights included a 27-minute live TV promo and a terrible PPV match with Hulk Hogan.
The Road Warriors / Legion Of Doom
Very few tag teams were hotter in the 1980s than The Road Warriors. They found a ton of success in WCW before heading to WWE after some disagreements over booking. They won a ton of matches in WWE and had a run with the titles, but eventually left after being forced to add a ventriloquist dummy to their gimmick.
