5 other WCW concepts WWE should bring back

#5 The Chamber of Horrors

For our readers who were born after this match took place (1991) and upon hearing its description, you would be forgiven for thinking I was making this up. I wish I was. But, it did happen. In fact, it was the opening match of Halloween Havoc that year.

So, here’s how it worked. That year, Sting’s team (consisting of The Steiner Brothers and El Gigante) took on Cactus Jack’s team (featuring Abdullah the Butcher, Big Van Vader, and The Diamond Studd - aka Scott Hall). Both teams fought inside a steel cage that was fairly similar to the current Hell In A Cell cage - namely, it expanded past the ring. After a bunch of other stupid Halloween stuff happened, an electric chair would be lowered to the middle of the ring.

No. Seriously. The first team to get an opponent onto the electric chair and throw the switch won. And, before you ask, yes - this was when Jim Herd was in charge.

Jokes aside, if you were a little kid and a WCW fan in 1991, this sounded like a fun match idea. I can see WWE taking this match idea and going tongue-in-cheek with it, maybe incorporating some mid-card feuds into it, Imagine, say, Dolph Ziggler being thrown into the chair, the switch thrown and… nothing happens and Ziggler just sits there all confused.

Just when you thought there were no more “unthinkable” moments that could happen in WWE, they find a couple of them and make you feel silly.

Twice in one month, WWE has taken two concepts originally created in the old NWA/WCW (which they totally own the rights to, by the way) and are using them now. The first is a little innocuous - taking the name of WCW’s answer to WrestleMania, Starrcade, and slapping the name on a live event in South Carolina in November. Of course, since that’s a non-televised event, the increases the possibility of all sorts of craziness bound to happen.

I mean, it’s highly unlikely to happen, but not impossible.

Secondly, it was announced that for the next NXT Takeover event - and for the very first time since WWE bought all of WCW’s intellectual properties - we’re going to once again see a War Games match.

The night before Survivor Series - Saturday, November 18th - sees NXT Takeover: War Games. The War Games bout itself will see NXT Tag Team Champions SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dane) face both The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly) and The Authors of Pain (Grrr and Arrrgh) & Roderick Strong.

Trust us - the WarGames is as convoluted as it is awesome.

Since WWE is apparently on such a WCW kick, we thought we’d take a look at some of their other ingenious ideas that WCW created.

#4 Battlebowl/The Lethal Lottery

Nothing piques the interest of a wrestling fan like randomness and unpredictability. That’s why the Royal Rumble is such a success every year, even though afterwards everybody complains about the match. But, at least, it’s one match and, even if it’s not great, at least it’s not boring.

The Lethal Lottery and Battlebowl, on the other hand? Oy vey.

So, imagine this. All of WCW’s wrestlers - from the stars to the schmucks - have their names placed in a tumbler and random tag teams are created. So, you could have Michael P.S. Hayes and Sgt.Buddy Lee Parker take on Jimmy “Jam” Garvin and, I dunno, someone horrible. The pairing wasn't picked at random - it just seemed like they were. The winners of each match would then be placed in a battle royale at the end and the winner would receive something insignificant

Once again, it’s not a terrible concept - unless early 90’s WCW is involved. But current day WCW could have some fun with this and even give the Battlebowl winner something legit - such as a Money In The Bank style title shot.

#3 World War III

World War III was sort of mid-90s WCW’s answer to the Royal Rumble if it was designed by someone who was supposed to look at the Royal Rumble and come up with something similar and totally miss the point. Thanks to 1990s WCW’s obsession with shoving as many rings together as possible, World War III was a 60-man battle royale that saw three - count ‘em - three rings put together. The winner would get a WCW World Championship match at… some point?

While battle royales are fun, the real point behind them is to get as many guys on the roster onto a card at once. The Royal Rumble method built tension because the anticipation of who was coming out next was a big part of the match. A regular battle royale is only so interesting up to a point, no matter how many rings or participants you have.

That being said, this sounds like something that could be a fun-as-hell live event attraction. Especially a live event where the WWE wants to have a title change. It would be a great way to get an underdog character - like, say, Sami Zayn, to win a major title, then talk about it on TV shortly after. Then, once people are invested, you can show everything on the Network and draw in more subscribers.

#2 King of the Road match

In 1995, before Dustin Rhodes became Goldust, WCW pitted him at their “Uncensored” PPV against the Blacktop Bully (aka Demolition’s Smash” in a “King of the Road” match. Essentially, both men were put at the end of a tractor-trailer - sorry, a tractor-trailer on a moving semi truck - and fought each other to be the first to ring a bell at the front of the trailer. Blacktop Bully won the match, but the joke was on both of them. They were both fired from WCW shortly afterwards for blading during the match, which was highly verboten in WCW at the time.

As much as I’d be tickled pink to see this match recreated, I can’t think of anyone I’d want to see subjected to it. Maybe as a joke? Tell two wrestlers that they’re going to have to resolve their differences in a “KING OF THE ROAD MATCH!” and then after everybody calms down, announce “Just kidding. We’re not COMPLETE monsters.”

#1 Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal

OK, look. I know this sounds like Raw Roulette. And I also know that WCW messed up in this match between Sting and Jake “The Snake” Roberts by not gimmicking the wheel. But, the build-up to that Sting/Roberts match was as intense as anything I remember as a kid and I am sure that it can work again.

In order for this match to work today, other factors need to be involved. Make it a “loser retires” match, as well. Have all the options on the wheel work against the face. How about a John Cena/Randy Orton retirement match (just thinking out loud here) with the stipulation picked by the wheel. Also, we can have Jake Roberts show up to spin it.

What are your favourite unconventional WCW matches that can be turned into a legit WWE moment? I’d love to hear them.