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For a few intense years in the late 1990s, WWE was in serious danger of going out of business due to the rise of WCW. World Championship Wrestling became the company's direct competition, and thus, the 'Monday Night Wars' became a thing. A very popular thing.
The two companies went head-to-head on primetime every Monday night, with RAW and Nitro airing simultaneously. While WCW's flagship show took an 83-week lead over its WWE (then WWF) equivalent, it was Monday Night RAW that won out in the end.
This was thanks to a creatively fulfilling period, which saw WWE create a barrage of new stars. WCW, on the other hand, focused on veteran names. WWE bought out its competition in 2001, emerging from the battle as the confirmed victor.
However, despite that being said, WCW did have a lot of young talents. Some of them were so young that they are still a part of regular WWE programming today - be it RAW, SmackDown, or elsewhere.
Here are seven current and (semi) active WWE stars who have appeared in WCW.
#7 Rey Mysterio of WWE SmackDown
Out of all the WWE Superstars on WWE's current main roster, Rey Mysterio is the most obvious name on this list. He was in WCW for five years, following a short but successful stint in ECW under Paul Heyman. Mysterio made a name for himself in WCW's cruiserweight division.
In fact, his very first match over there was for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. Mysterio's most notable outing in the company came at Halloween Havoc 1997. He defeated Eddie Guerrero in a Title vs. Mask match to win the Cruiserweight title, having a star-making performance in the process.
While he had the reputation of being a 'giant killer' - defeating Kevin Nash and Bam Bam Bigelow's likes - WCW booked Mysterio to unmask himself. As a result, The Master of the 619 lost a lot of what made him special. This was a mistake WWE never made, following his signing in 2002.
Rey Mysterio has gone on to legendary heights under Vince McMahon, winning multiple Championships and becoming a major star. He is a guaranteed WWE Hall of Famer, thanks to the impact he has had on today's generation of stars. Mysterio is also now grooming his son, Dominik Mysterio, who is at the start of his WWE career.
#6 Charlotte Flair of WWE RAW
She may have carved her own legacy in WWE as a main-event megastar, but Charlotte Flair has appeared on WCW programming in the past. She was featured in a couple of vignettes during her father, Ric Flair's feud with Vince Russo, and her brother, David Flair.
Charlotte Flair, known as her real name Ashley in WCW, was 14 at the time. The future multi-time WWE Women's Champion was ringside for Ric Flair's career-threatening match with David Flair at The Great American Bash 2000. Charlotte Flair and her late brother, Reid Flair, prevented Vince Russo from interfering in the match and handcuffed him.
This was quite the moment for The Queen, who has gone on to have a legendary career of her own in the business. She is guaranteed to headline the WWE Hall of Fame upon retirement, possibly becoming the first female to do so.
#5 Meiko Satomura of NXT UK
Having recently signed for WWE and debuted on NXT UK, Meiko Satomura has had quite a career. She made her wrestling debut in 1995 for Gaea Japan, staying there until its closure in 2005. The all-female promotion had a working relationship with WCW, enabling Satomura to appear on Nitro.
She lost a tournament first-round match for WCW in 1997 and wrestled there until the business relationship ended. Satomura found some tournament redemption two decades later. She nearly went to WWE Evolution by reaching the 2018 Mae Young Classic final, losing to Toni Storm in the semi-final.
Meiko Satomura is the only female to wrestle in both WCW and any version of NXT.
#4 WWE referee Charles Robinson
While not explicitly a WWE Superstar, Charles Robinson has had quite a career in wrestling. He was initially a normal referee for WCW in 1997 before turning heel two years later. Robinson became The Four Horsemen's heel referee and aligned himself with his childhood hero, Ric Flair.
He was dubbed as Little Naitch and adopted Flair's mannerisms for the two matches he wrestled in WCW. Robinson ended up becoming an unbiased referee once again and officiated the last WCW match ever, as Sting defeated Flair by submission.
Little Naitch has gone on to become the senior-most official referee in WWE.
#3 Triple H
Triple H was a major part of WWE's Attitude Era, which eventually led to WCW's demise. However, before he became a member of D-Generation X or even Connecticut Blueblood, The Game was a part of WCW. He was there for about a year, from 1994 to early 1995.
Triple H wrestled in WCW as Terra Ryzing and later as Jean-Paul Levesque. Vince McMahon brought him to WWE a year into his WCW stint after being mightily impressed by his in-ring work. The rest, as they say, is history. Triple H is now one of the biggest WWE Superstars of all-time.
Aside from entering the Hall of Fame (with DX), Triple H's legacy with WWE is as strong as ever. He is the executive producer of the company's third brand, NXT.
#2 AJ Styles of WWE RAW
Another current full-time WWE Superstar who was a part of WCW programming, AJ Styles emerged onto the scene during the company's final days. He wrestled a handful of times in WCW in early 2001, alongside Air Paris. The two of them were in a tag team known as Air Raid.
Styles and his tag team partner primarily wrestled on Thunder but did have a solitary match on Nitro. Air Raid competed in a tournament for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship in March 2001, a few weeks before WCW was bought out.
Following WCW's closure, The Phenomenal One wrestled a few dark matches for WWE. His most notable outing came on a January 2002 episode of Jakked, where he faced The Hurricane. Styles was offered a developmental contract but rejected it, as the move would interfere with his wife's dream of becoming a teacher.
After a successful career in places like TNA (IMPACT), Ring of Honor, and New Japan Pro Wrestling, AJ Styles finally made his way to WWE in 2016. He is one of the biggest stars in the company. Styles is a two-time WWE Champion and main-evented Night One of WrestleMania 36, opposite The Undertaker.
#1 WWE Hall of Famer Edge
This may sound like a surprising fact, but WWE Hall of Famer Edge has indeed wrestled for WCW. Before becoming a multi-time World Champion and having a comeback for the ages in recent times, The Rated-R Superstar wrestled a few enhancement matches for both WWE and WCW.
Edge officially signed a developmental deal with WWE in 1997, having worked for them without an official contract for a while. A few months before his first WWE match, Edge wrestled a couple of matches in WCW, as Damon Striker. He faced Meng on an episode of WCW Pro, which was part of the WCW Disney tapings.
Despite only appearing in WCW a couple of times, Edge did win one of its Championships. He was the final WCW United States Champion before the belt was unified with the Intercontinental Championship at the end of the Invasion angle. Since then, Edge has barely looked back.
The 11-time World Champion was gone from the ring for nine years and following his miraculous return to WWE in last year's Royal Rumble, he went on to win the match this year. Edge is set to main event WrestleMania 37, most likely against Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
