6 current WWE Superstars you forgot were in WCW

The Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW in the '90s increased the popularity of pro wrestling drastically, making it one of the most-watched weekly shows at that time.

The rivalry between the two promotions pushed them to create exciting shows, watched in front of sold-out arenas and millions at home. The competition also helped in building and shaping future pro wrestling legends.

While WWE was building new stars, WCW depended on legends of the pro wrestling business, many of whom had left WWE for WCW. Some future WWE Superstars had brief stints in WCW, before it was bought by WCW in 2001.

Here, we take a look at 6 current WWE Superstars you forgot were in WCW:

#6 Charlotte Flair

Charlotte Flair has carved a legacy for herself in WWE as one of the most important Superstars in the women's evolution. The daughter of the legendary Ric Flair, Charlotte wasn't even interested in pro wrestling a decade ago. She only signed with WWE in 2012, but quickly got to grips with the wrestling business, debuting a year later.

Flair, though, had been in pro wrestling over a decade earlier, as part of a storyline featuring her father Ric Flair, in his feud with Vince Russo and her brother, David. Charlotte, who went by her real name Ashley when she was in WCW, was just 14 when she was first seen in the promotion.

She featured alongside her father and mother in various vignettes and was also ringside for her father's match against David Flair.

Although both her brothers, David and the late Reid, wrestled, with the former featuring prominently in WCW, Charlotte did not wrestle until signing for WWE. Now she is a multi-time women's champion, winning the RAW, SmackDown, NXT and Divas Championships in WWE.

#5 AJ Styles

AJ Styles is regarded as one of the best in the ring over the last two decades, starring in TNA and NJPW, before becoming an even bigger star with WWE. Styles wrestled in WCW at the start of his career, signing a deal with the company in 2001. He was in a tag team called Air Raid alongside Air Paris.

But, with WCW going under a few months later, his WCW career came to a halt.

Tony Schiavone, who was the commentator for WCW, had the following to say: (H/T Still Real To Us)

"I remember AJ because he was a great performer and a great kid and because he was from Gainesville, Georgia. And [WCW] had performed a lot in Gainesville, Georgia so I knew him and talked to him and knew he was gonna be a star"

He did have tryouts with WWE and was offered a contract by them in 2002, but he rejected the deal. Styles then went on to wrestle for Ring of Honor, TNA, and NJPW, before signing with WWE in 2016.

#4 Kane

Bruiser Mastino in WCW; he would later go by the name Kane in WWE

Kane, along with The Undertaker, is one of the longest-serving current Superstars in WWE. Although he may wrestle just a few matches each year, The Big Red Machine still appears from time to time on WWE TV, especially for the Saudi Arabian PPVs.

Not many fans would know that before debuting in WWE, Kane had one solitary match in WCW. This match came back in 1993, when he was still a young wrestler, and wrestled future WWE Hall of Famer, Sting. Kane debuted on WCW with under the ring name Bruiser Mastino and lost that match against the WCW icon.

Two years later, he signed with WWE, debuting as Unabomb, then adopting the Isaac Yankem gimmick, and later as fake Diesel. The Kane gimmick was debuted later in 1997, and he was involved in several fascinating feuds over the next two decades.

Kane has gone on to win numerous titles in WWE and is a Triple Crown and Grand Slam champion in the promotion.

#3 The Undertaker

The Undertaker will go down in history as one of the most important characters in pro wrestling, let alone WWE. The Phenom's gimmick has stood the test of time, and even after over 30 years in the business, he is still going strong.

Before he began his rise to the top in WWE, he was briefly a part of WCW, joining the promotion back in 1989. Wrestling under the ring name "Mean Mark" Callous, he debuted as a heel. He didn't last a long time with WCW though, as he was unhappy with contract talks with the company, where he was told that not many would want to watch him wrestle.

He had discussions with Vince McMahon and WWE and went on to sign with them in 1990. From then till now, The Undertaker has remained a loyal servant of the WWE, although he was close to re-joining his old promotion once. He stayed in the promotion despite most of the big names quitting WWE to join WCW and created an impressive legacy.

#2 Triple H

Triple H is a WWE icon, who played a key part in the Attitude Era, becoming one of the greatest heels in WWE history. In the latter part of his career, The Game has helped grow the WWE from his backstage role, helping NXT grow from a developmental territory to one of the most exciting pro wrestling shows.

But, before he became a part of D-Generation X and had his incredible feuds with the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Mick Foley, Triple H was a part of WWE's rival, WCW.

Between 1994 and 1995, Triple H wrestled in WCW as Terra Ryzing and later as Jean-Paul Lévesque. But just a year after signing with WCW, Triple H joined WWE after Vince McMahon was impressed with his work in the ring.

He spoke about why he wanted to leave WCW in a recent interview:

"Things were such a mess there. Even Nitro hadn’t started yet but you could see the mess coming. And everybody that had come there or gone to WCW from New York, from WWE, was like, if I was asking anybody, my contract’s coming up, anybody that had been up here, was like, ‘Dude, get out of here. Go up there, Vince will make you a star.’"

#1 Edge

WWE Hall of Famer Edge made his return to wrestling earlier this year at Royal Rumble 2020, after being out of the company for nine years due to neck injury. Edge, who won numerous titles in WWE becoming a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion, began his WWE career back in 1996. He had a few matches in WWE before being officially signed in 1997.

A few months before his first WWE match, Edge wrestled two matches in WCW, one of which was against Meng in 1996, as Damon Striker, and then Kevin Sullivan.

In an appearance on Chris Jericho's Talk is Jericho, Edge spoke about his WCW matches:

"That was the thing I so quickly learned [how crazy WCW was]. I walked in and I was like, oh, this locker room doesn’t feel good. You’d see the guys that you could go to, and I remember talking to Chris [Benoit]. He knew I was Canadian, he found out I was Canadian so he pulled me aside and he was like just be careful here. I was like oh, okay. It was about 95, 96. He said don’t trust anybody here. I was like okay, got it."