Unsung WCW Heroes

 

Vice TV's Who Killed WCW series recently concluded a few weeks back. I was a little behind on the series and finally caught up on the last episode, the series had several fingers going on around on who actually was responsible for the demise of WCW. Honestly from my perspective, it didn't fall on one person but several parties all with egos. I thoroughly enjoyed WCW most of the time, and I personally feel that April 2000-July 2000 run of the Russo/Bischoff regime was not as bad as many try to portray it to be. But it definitely went off the rails around August of 2000 never to recover. 

While there's plenty of blame to go around on WCW's downfall, I wanted to take this opportunity to cover some unsung heroes of WCW during that time between 1997 until the company's end in 2001. I'll admit crafting this list was hard, and I left out some very talented individuals. I felt the five below really came in during clutch times for WCW despite all the issues the company had.

5. Lance Storm

Lance Storm joined WCW in June of 2000, and after making a few surprise run-ins, he worked to cement his place on the card. He quickly obtained three championships in a matter of weeks honestly, winning the WCW United States Championship, the cruiserweight championship, and the hardcore championship. In a nod to his gimmick of a proud Canadian, he renamed all three championships to reflect his heritage. Naming the U.S. championship the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, the cruiserweight championship the 100 kg and under championship, and the hardcore championship the Saskatchewan Hardcore International title (S.H.I.T.). Of course that last one was of Vince Russo's doing.

He's never been a big talker, but he was comfortable enough on the microphone. And eventually led his own Team Canada faction. As only Lance Storm could do, he consistently put on good matches, in fact I don't think he had one bad match in WCW. Which says a lot about his talent, considering how much the roster was in shambles at that time. He sadly never got an opportunity to make a run for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, but he proved his worth during his time in the organization.  

4. The Announce Team

It's a running joke according to Tony Schiavone every edition of Monday Nitro was the greatest episode of Nitro ever. While at times it could get annoying, the A-list trio of Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay really helped sell the WCW product. Especially during the reign of the nWo, with their utter disgust with anything involving that organization. 

Schiavone directed commentary traffic, Bobby Heenan was the legend that he was with his sharp wit. While Mike Tenay was very knowledgeable about wrestling moves, the luchadores, and other random facts during matches. They couldn't salvage all of the messes WCW produced, but they did a damn good job making it serviceable. 

3. Diamond Dallas Page

DDP is without a doubt a legend in the wrestling industry, especially since he has helped preserve the careers of many modern talents and helped former stars recover through his DDPYoga program. Despite his accolades and championships, I still think he is underrated when it comes to this era of WCW.

He wasn't the savior of the organization like Sting, or the larger than life creations like The Giant or Goldberg. He was the blue collar workhorse for the company that fans could relate to. He wasn't dubbed The people's champion for nothing. During WCW's heyday run, he had memorable feuds with Randy Savage and Raven (still one of my favorite feuds of all time.) He was responsible for Karl Malone, Jay Leno and David Arquette being serviceable wrestlers.

During the summer of '99 when WCW wheels really started coming off, he led one of the bright spots in the org with the Jersey Triad faction alongside Kanyon and Bam Bam Bigelow. Whatever came his way he made work and was a reliable veteran on the roster. He carried the banner of WCW when everyone was focused on nWo Hollywood and Wolfpac. 

Truth be told he was WCW.

2. Booker T.

Some may see this entry and think what? Booker T. is a legend, hear me out it took a long time and he was consistently putting in work before reaching that status. When Harlem Heat debuted in WCW in 1993, many fans viewed Booker T. as the more talented brother of the two. Booker T. and Stevie Ray went on to dominate the tag team division winning the WCW tag team championship 10 times. In late 1997 Stevie Ray went down with an injury and WCW decided to make Booker a solo wrestler, they ended up making a superstar. Booker T. defeated Disco Inferno for the WCW Television Championship on the December 29th, 1997 edition of Nitro.

From there he started putting on wrestling clinics in the ring, battling the likes of Perry Saturn, Rick Martel, and Fit Finlay for the title becoming a fighting champion. Yet, it was his feud and subsequent best of seven series against Chris Benoit for the TV championship that really raised his stock. He bounced back and forth between a singles and tag wrestler teaming again with his brother. In 2000 he won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Bash At The Beach.

Winning the title four additional times in WCW, along with the WCW United States Championship. He came into his own during that time, and became a reliable star for the organization. Leading to his status as an legend.

1. Cruiserweight Division

The cruiserweight division of WCW were the true workhorse, unsung heroes of the WCW roster. They were responsible for exciting the crowd and keeping them engaged with death defying aerial move sets, while they waited for the next big moment in programming. Especially during '97-'98 while fans clamored for what the nWo and Sting would do next. Rey Mysterio, Ultimo Dragon, Juventud Guerrera, Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, Kidman, Chris Jericho, Psychosis, La Parka, Super Calo the list went on of exciting wrestlers in that division.

Not everyone is a fan of that style of wrestling, but they made every card they were on exciting. And the cruiserweight championship meant something, because the wrestlers after it made it seemed like it mattered.  They kept the pace of the show flowing along and cemented legacies during this time period. Separating WCW from WWF which just didn't and still doesn't know how to book lighter more acrobatic wrestlers. 

I devoted an article on just how much they meant to WCW during the mid 90's to 2001 run.