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Over 20 years ago, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Nitro went head-to-head with WWE RAW on a weekly basis, spawning the Monday Night Wars. Although WWE eventually won the war, WCW had its fair share of stars that kept the fans invested in the product.
Wrestlers such as Goldberg and Sting were at the top of the company until its closure in 2001. While WCW had big names on its roster, it also had some trouble with creative direction. In order to tell a compelling story in the ring, wrestlers need to play their roles convincingly.
Finding a fitting gimmick and using it properly is a difficult task for many pro wrestlers, but it gets fans invested in the character and the person portraying it. When wrestlers feel that they're no longer getting the desired reaction from the crowd, they often take the next step by altering their gimmicks, which usually includes a face or heel turn as well.
The ending result is often successful, as new stars are created or their popularity increases by a huge margin. It's very important for wrestlers to transform themselves so that they can keep up with the time and remain relevant.
Here are the five greatest transformations in WCW history.
#5 WCW: Scott Steiner to Big Poppa Pump
Scott Steiner was very successful in his early career along with his brother and tag team partner Rick Steiner during their run as the Steiner Brothers. Together, they held Tag Team Championships in different promotions such as WCW, NJPW and WWE.
The Steiner Brothers made their televised WWE debut in 1992, made an appearance on the pilot episode of Monday Night RAW and their first PPV appearance was at the Royal Rumble the following year when they defeated The Beverly Brothers.
They also had a stint in ECW in 1995 after leaving WWE but they returned to WCW in 1996. They defeated Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) for the WCW World Tag Team Championship after their return. From late 1997 to early 1998, Scott started going through some physical changes.
As the New World Order's popularity began to soar, Scott Steiner saw an opportunity beyond competing as a tag team wrestler. During their championship defense against The Outsiders at WCW SuperBrawl VIII, Scott betrayed his brother Rick and joined the villainous nWo.
He then changed his appearance by dyeing his black hair blonde, sporting sunglasses and a chain mail headgear which he wore during his entrance. He started referring to himself as Big Poppa Pump and his muscle mass was increased furthermore.
After his tremendous transformation, Steiner feuded with major stars such as Bill Goldberg, Booker T, DDP and Rey Mysterio. He went on to capture the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, World Television Championship and World Heavyweight Championship.
He returned to WWE in 2002 after WCW folded and had an infamous feud with Triple H for the World title. Scott Steiner is a controversial figure in pro wrestling, but despite his declining years, he is still an active wrestler. His freakish muscles and body shape are still a sight to behold especially for his age.
#4 WCW: Macho Man to Mr. Madness
WWE Hall of Famer Randy Savage is regarded by many fans, wrestlers, and critics as one of the greatest pro wrestlers who ever lived, and it's not hard to fathom why. Former WCW star Chris Jericho revealed that Randy Savage was a true influence and inspiration to him and that Macho Man taught him some very important lessons in and out of the ring.
As the "Macho Man," Savage was extremely over with the fans due to his flamboyant attire, intensity, his voice and his popular catchphrase, "Oooh yeah!" He achieved a lot of success during his time with WWE, where he held the WWE Championship twice and the Intercontinental Championship once.
He also main evented WWE's flagship pay-per-view, WrestleMania, several times. Savage feuded and teamed up with Hulk Hogan, who was also a big draw with WWE's fanbase. At WrestleMania VII, Macho Man lost a retirement match against The Ultimate Warrior, forcing the former to step away from in-ring competition in WWE.
Savage went on to sign with WCW and a few years later, in 1999, he dropped his Macho Man gimmick and debuted a new persona. He had a new look, new theme song and he changed his colorful attire to black and white. He started sporting a slicked-back ponytail, earrings, and he had a heelish attitude. This was the birth of his new WCW character, "Mr. Madness."
He formed an alliance with his two valets in WCW and they became known as Team Madness. Randy Savage's new character and team didn't last long in WCW though, as they dissolved later that year. It was still refreshing to see him doing something different after a long time. It was great for his WCW run, but his Macho Man persona is still the greatest he's ever played.
#3 WCW: Eddie Guerrero to LWO Leader Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero was a very influential WWE and WCW wrestler inside and outside the ring. He received praise for his charisma and matches and many wrestlers such as Sasha Banks consider Guerrero as their inspirations to become pro wrestlers.
Eddie Guerrero competed in ECW before joining WCW. He captured the ECW World Television Championship in his first match with the promotion and delivered a number of interesting bouts before leaving the promotion. He joined WCW in 1995 together with Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit.
Eddie went on to become a popular star in WCW, but his frustrations with Eric Bischoff for not pushing him encouraged Guerrero to undergo a change in his persona. He formed a group known as the Latino World Order (LWO), a knock-off of the nWo.
In 1999, Eddie Guerrero was a part of another faction known as The Filthy Animals with Rey Mysterio and Konnan. The following year, however, Guerrero joined WWE along with other members of The Radicalz. In WWE, Eddie Guerrero became a Grand Slam Champion and was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
#2 WCW: 'Surfer' Sting to 'The Vigilante' Sting
Sting, the face of WCW, made his long-awaited WWE debut at Survivor Series in 2014 where he cost Team Authority the match against Team Cena. His first match in the company was against The Game, Triple H, at WrestleMania 31, which Sting lost.
During his early WCW tenure, The Icon had a surfer gimmick, wore colorful face paint and was the top babyface. In early 1996, however, things started to change. WCW started to change. Even Sting started to change.
The New World Order was formed and they vowed to take over the entire promotion. While many people wanted to join the villainous group, Sting was a one-man army ready to take them down.
Sting went through a massive character change, sporting longer black hair, white face paint with black markings and a long black trench coat. He started emerging from out of the shadows and in the rafters and carried around a baseball bat.
After WCW went defunct, Sting continued portraying the popular character in TNA (IMPACT Wrestling) and in WWE. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.
#1 WCW: Hulk Hogan to 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan was a huge star in WCW and the franchise player during WWE's Golden Era. He competed in the main event of the first WrestleMania and appeared on nine straight WrestleMania PPVs.
Hogan was a huge babyface, so when he told Vince McMahon that he wanted to turn heel at WrestleMania VI and call himself Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Vince was against it.
Hogan stated:
“When we did the WrestleMania thing, we did the build-up pretty good. Then it gets time to go over the finish, and whether I’m going over or not, I have the same two questions: Why are we doing this, and what happens next? When I was told to put the Warrior over, I asked those questions and Vince said, ‘I think the red and yellow is over, we have gotten everything we can out of it.’ And I was like, ‘Damn, Vince what if after the finish I point to God, give him the belts and leave, but I do that slow Three Stooges turn, I go back and gaff his ass and call myself Triple H, Hollywood Hulk Hogan? He said, ‘that would never work and you can’t be a heel.’ So, he squashed that.”
When Hogan left WWE for WCW, Eric Bischoff saw money in a heel Hulk Hogan. Hogan eventually turned heel in WCW, allied himself with The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) and the New World Order was formed in WCW.
Hogan reinvented himself in WCW and his heel turn was a huge success for the company. His Hollywood gimmick will always go down as one of the most iconic in wrestling history.
