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WCW was clearly the biggest threat that WWE had in its long and rich history. The period that the two promotions fought over television ratings was mouthwatering for all the wrestling fans and gave birth to some of the best things that ever happened to wrestling.Superstars jumping ships were one of the most interesting things about the Monday Night Wars. One day you could see someone in WWE and the next day the same person would be wrestling in WCW, it was that damn volatile.Over the years, WWE has snatched many WCW talents before and after the promotion’s death. Some went on to make it big while the other fell flat. Let’s forget about the latter category for the time being and look at some of the best WCW imports in WWE.
#1 Honourable mentions
William Regal and Goldust will most probably be the most under rated names in the WWE roster right now. Both are excellent in ring workers and have been truly professional about their work.
Goldust has recently attracted a lot of attention for his work with some even tagging him as the best wrestler in the world.
Ric Flair on the other hand has a different story. He got the entire spotlight that he deserved but most of that came during the Territory days and then in WCW. Flair’s WWE career was nothing compared to what he did in NWA and WCW, but Flair did leave some memorable marks in the WWE.
#2 Jim Ross
No, Ross is not one of those names that you’ll see in the WrestleMania match card, but JR has been a crucial part in WWE’s success during the Monday Night Wars.
Ross was part of WCW from the starting days of the promotion and played big role in recruiting some great talents to the promotion. However, his relationship with Eric Bischoff wasn’t a walk in the park and when Bischoff became the president of WCW, Ross demanded to be released.
He joined WWE in 1993 and was a prominent figure backstage apart from his commentator position. Not only did he become a legendary voice on the microphone, Ross also helped many young talents to make it in the WWE with his recruiting skills.
#3 Chris Jericho
Jericho might not seem like a big name for some but trust me, he is more than what he seems. He was one of those rare talents that wrestled across the globe before making his cut into one of the ‘big two’ companies.
He spent a lot of time in Japan and Mexico to learn new styles and ended up in Paul Heyman’s ECW before WCW snatched him. Jericho then became the backbone of WCW’s cruiser weight division with the most notable feud coming against Dean Malenko.
WCW’s unwillingness to let Jericho feud properly with Goldberg and the backstage politics drove Jericho away to WWE, where he became a much bigger star.
#4 Eddie Guerrero
WCW actually doesn’t deserve the credit for introducing Eddie Guerrero to the fans in United States as it was Paul Heyman who did the honor with his ECW. However, since we are talking about WCW imports, Eddie has to make the cut.
He had outstanding encounters with Malenko back in the original ECW and after just three months in the company, WCW signed him up in an attempt to look different from WWE.
Eddie made a name for himself in the WCW midcard and when he realized that Eric Bischoff had no plans of pushing him to the top, Eddie left to WWE with the hope of becoming a champion and a main eventer, a feat that he eventually achieved.
#5 Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit has a similar story like Eddie Guerrero with the only difference being in the nationalities as Eddie was a Mexican making it harder for him to crack into the United States scene.
Benoit started off in ECW, then jumped to WCW and joined WWE in hope of championship taste just like Eddie. Initially it was the midcard for Benoit but he soon started stealing the show with his unique style and charisma.
The WrestleMania XX main event where Benoit won the World Heavyweight championship defeating both Triple H and Shawn Michaels is one of the best moments in professional wrestling and it’s too sad to realize that we only recognize him for his crime.
#6 Rey Mysterio
Another one from the ECW alumni, Rey Mysterio’s WWE career has been nothing short of a fairy tale. He established himself as the ultimate underdog in Vince McMahon’s promotion but things weren’t always pretty in WCW for Rey.
He began his WCW career as part of the cruiserweight division and gave out some great matches with the lights of Psicosis, Eddie Guerrero and Juventud Guerrera.
The lack of balance in the administration soon made Rey frustrated as he was been booked as a jobber against names like Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and many other biggies. All these made Rey jump ships and it was the best decision he made.
#7 Edge
We all know Edge for his late career peaking and early career TLC matches. Before all that happened, Edge had a run in WCW under the name Damon Striker.
He only wrestled two televised matches for WCW while being part of many other live events. Bret Hart’s manager, Carl De Marco saw Edge wrestling in one of those live events and was instantly replaced. Marco suggested Edge to send an audition tape to WWE which he did.
Edge however got no reaction and had to wait till De Marco became WWE’s president. Marco arranged Bret Hart to train Edge and an impressed Hart recommended Edge to WWE which earned him a contract in 1997.
#8 Triple H
There wouldn’t be many superstars in wrestling history that would’ve achieved the things that Hunter achieved. His WWE career saw him win many championships and have many five star matches.
Before Hunter made it to WWE, he had a one year run at WCW. He debuted in the company in 1994 with the ring name Terra Ryzing, a modification of his previous name in WWE, Terror Risin.
After failing to make it big, WCW renamed hunter as Jean-Paul Lévesque which was a French version of Damien Sandow’s intellectual character. The last thing he did in WCW before jumping to WWE was forming a tag team with William Regal.
#9 The Undertaker
Many might not know the importance of gimmick in professional wrestling but Undertaker wouldn’t belong to that category. Taker had a lot of gimmicks during his initial days and when WCW signed him in 1989 he was Mean Mark Callous.
Mean Mark loved his pet snake and had an ear for Ozzy Osbourne. The run didn’t bear any fruit for Taker, even after he became a Paul Heyman guy before it was cool. WCW declined to renew his contract in 1990 and Taker joined WWE.
The creative people in WWE presented Taker with the Undertaker gimmick and after nearly three decades, he is still one of the biggest names in professional wrestling.
#10 Mick Foley
Before making a name for himself in the WWE and ECW, Mick Foley started off his career in WCW with his Cactus Jack gimmick back in 1991. Foley was bought into the company when there was a drought for heels in the main event scene.
His run in WCW thus started off right in the main event where he faced Sting. After that, Foley went onto have numerous feuds while the most notable one came against Vader which in turn cost him an ear.
Foley stayed in WCW till 1994 and then left for ECW which was a big turning point in his life. His promos in ECW soon helped him jump ships to WWE and we all know what happened there.
#11 Stone Cold Steve Austin
This was probably the worst decision that WCW made during the 90s. Steve Austin was a young and upcoming talent in the WCW roster but Eric Bischoff didn’t see any money in Austin and eventually fired him over phone while he was injured.
A furious Austin went to ECW and taped many segments against Bischoff and WCW and slowly built up his Stone Cold character.
The success of all these vignettes in ECW attracted attention from Vince McMahon and he wasted no time in signing up Austin into WWE. It was then Austin’s success in the Attitude Era that led to WCW’s death. Sweet revenge, right?
