In the 1990s, WWE is displayed WCW I’m going to fight. As the decade began, WCW seemed far behind WWE, and there was little concern about any kind of fight. However, the success of Nitro in the mid-1990s and Monday WCW resulted in Ted Turner and Vince McMahon in the heavyweight showdown. Monday Night War is one of the most iconic times in professional wrestling history.
The truth is that WCW and WWE helped each other succeed. Both companies pushed each other to do their best. Ultimately, WWE will win the entire war, but that didn’t mean that WCW wasn’t superior in some aspects of wrestling than WWE.
WCW defeated WWE in the cruiserweight division
WWE’s light heavyweight division couldn’t compete
- WCW’s cruiserweight division has changed the role of JR heavyweights in the US
- WWE failed to achieve success with a light heavyweight wrestler
- Both WCW and WWE have brought JR heavyweights from Japan and Mexico
Eric Bischoff brought in the talents of Mexico and Japan to build the WCW cruiserweight division. The cruiserweights were directly adored the fans and attracted attention through the television screen. Performers like Rey Mysterio JR, Ultimo Dragon, Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho made WCW’s junior heavyweight look like real superstars. Their high-energy match was a staple of both Monday’s Nitro and WCW Pay-per-view.
The WWE Light Heavyweight division didn’t keep up like its cruiser-class counterparts, but Vince McMahon brought in his own junior heavyweights, including Brian Christopher, Takano, Tsinghua Island and Aguilla. However, their 1997 tournament was quickly forgotten by WWE fans.
WCW is behind in making stars
WWE builds legendary stars
- WCW had contracts with Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Undertaker, which were not successful in the early 1990s.
- WWE took Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Triple H from the WCW midcard and was inducted into the Hall of Fame
- WCW did not take advantage of AJ Style being a member of the roster
With respect to Bill Goldberg, Booker T and Scott Steiner, WCW didn’t build his talent very well (insert Glacier/Kid Romeo/The Wall here). WCW had Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Average Mark (future Undertaker) all on the roster in the early 1990s, and none of them built anything on the star. WWE will turn all three into Hall of Fame.
WWE took Triple H, Steve Austin and Mick Foley from the WCW midcards and turned them into world champions and iconic figures in the industry. WWE trains lock and cart angles from beginners to main events at record times. On the dying day of WCW, they will have AJ Styles and Batistas at their power plant on their roster, but they didn’t know how to build the stars.
WCW defeated WWE by booking Hulk Hogan in the 1990s
Hulk Hogan has been turned into heels in WCW
- Hulk Hogan wasn’t the same in the early 1990s
- WCW became Hulk Hogan Heel in 1996
- The new world order has changed wrestling forever
Hulk Hogan’s run in WWE in the 1990s didn’t go well. In Wrestlemania 9, Hogan stole the WWE Championship from Yokosoneyama, who just defeated Brett “Hitman” Hart for the title. Hulkamania was not wild at the time. Hogan left the office in the summer of 1993.
Hogan pops up to WCW in 1994, and despite his excitement and infamy for the company, fans quickly became bored with the same “immortal” storyline. By 1996, WCW knew that they needed a Hogan Heel Turn. Professional wrestling changed forever when Hulk Hogan became the third man in the New World Order. Now, poor creative control clauses may have hurt WCW in the long run, but their first heels were world-changing.
WCW has a slow production value
Not as sharp as WWE
- Eric Bischoff believes WWE’s success depends in part on their amazing productions.
- WWE had a wrestling production crew
- WCW used Turner broadcast crews who are not very familiar with pro wrestling
WCW president Eric Bischoff praises WWE’s production for being sharper and more experienced than WCW. Bischoff believes their production was something that allowed WWE to explode on cable television. Bischoff felt like he was catching up at production level as soon as he took over WCW.
WWE had its own production crew dedicated to professional wrestling, but WCW used Turner Broadcast Production Crews that were unfamiliar with the product. Vince McMahon’s commitment to production helped separate WWE from WCW. Even if WCW was successful, it would not exceed WWE’s production levels.
WCW defeated WWE in Tag Team Wrestling
WWE never committed to tag teams
- The Road Warriors and Steiner Brothers looked more like WCW’s bigger stars than WWE
- Outsiders were always involved in the main event of WCW
- WWE did not offer the tag team a main event push
Many of the best tag teams of the 1990s compete in both WCW and WWE. Teams like Steiners, The Road Warriors and Harris Brothers competed for both promotions and achieved success. But WCW did a better job booking tag teams. At first glance, Vince McMahon didn’t care about tag team wrestling.
WCW does more with tag teams than WWE. WCW has put Steve Austin and Brian Pillman together as Hollywood blondes. WCW was home to one of the greatest tag teams of all time, Harlem Heat. WCW allowed outsiders to have a conversation in the main event. WCW did much more in the tag team department than WWE.
WCW is behind in the main event in-ring match
There are too many DQ finishes so there are no contests
- Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart made WWE’s in-ring performance better than WCW
- WCW dropped the ball in the match of the century
- WCW again dropped the ball in the ultimate rematch
WCW’s main event in-ring performance was far behind WWE. Have WWE stars like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels been better in the ring than aging WCW veterans? probably. Or maybe it was the issue of WCW not having an overall game plan for their matches.
Hulk Hogan vs Sting in the Main Event of Starrcade 1997 was billed as a match of the century. The characters were legendary and the storyline was intriguing, but the action in the ring was mediocre at best. In Halloween Havoc 1998, Hogan was to fight the warriors in the ultimate rematch, but the products in the ring were a disaster.
WCW defeated WWE with the amount of female stars
Nitro Girls was a must-see TV
- The role of announcer in Missy Hyatt stood out on WCW TV
- WCW will be the first home for multiple future WWE “Divas”
- WCW’s Nitro Girls has been added to the entire product
WCW always looked more like an equal opportunity employer for women than WWE did in the 1990s. The WCW roster was always full of female performers. In the early 1990s, WCW had Missy Hyatt as the announcer, which was different from that of WWE TV. WCW introduces nitro girl dance groups to the world.
WCW is home to future WWE Hall of Fame inductees from the infamous “diva” era, including Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson and Molly Holly. WCW has found interesting places for major guns, gorgeous George, Duffney and many other female wrestlers. WWE didn’t introduce so many female talents to its roster.
Jim Ross is the iconic voice of Monday Night War
- Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are the best broadcast teams of all time
- Tony Ciaborne was solid when he worked.
- Bobby Heenan was a legendary, resourceful announcer
In fairness to Tony Ciaborne, Jesse Ventura, Bobby Heenan and all WCW commentators, Jim Ross was the premiere announcer in the 1990s. WCW started in 2010 with Jimross, but allowed JR to go to WWE. Ross was a good mix of Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. However, when McMahon deleted himself from the commentary desk, Ross’ passion made him the greatest commentator of all time.
There is no denying that Tony Ciaborne was a great commentator when he worked at WCW. Bobby Heenan was a legendary, resourceful commentator. Mike Tenay was a very intelligent announcer. Dusty Rhodes, Jesse Ventura and Mark Madden had hot take and one-liners. However, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler became the faces of wrestling commentators in the late 1990s (and early 2000s).
