Every WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ranked From WORST To BEST
Vložit
- čas přidán 10. 06. 2024
- In total, just 22 men held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship between 1991 and 2001 when it became a part of WWE TV. From the good (hi Vader and Sting) to the bad (hi David Arquette and Vince Russo), we're here to rank Every WCW World Heavyweight Champion from WORST to BEST.
JOIN US and hit SUBSCRIBE!
cultaholic.com/
/ cultaholic
/ cultaholic
/ wearecultaholic
Support Cultaholic on Patreon: / cultaholic
Join the Cultaholic Discord: www.cultaholic.com/discord
Cultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown Live, WWE NXT and 205 Live), AEW, IMPACT Wrestling (formerly TNA), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more. - Sport
To Arquette's credit he donated his WCW earnings to the families of Brian Pillman, Darren Drozdov, and Owen Hart so he definitely earned respect for that.
Agreed. I just watched the documentary on him the other day. That whole run really did a number on him. He loves pro wrestling, and he took that hard.
Arquette is a real wrestler. Idk what else he has to do to earn that
@@Geojr815😂no he is not knock it off
@@TeezyHadaBaby I may have been drunk
@@Geojr815 may?😂
I think I held it once in 2000. I live in Britain and I was 13 so it’s plausible
@John Alderson then nash tore a quad.
@@BuuhBlocks He worked himself in a shoot, brother
I dropped it to Courtney cox-arquette
Rob Daniels I remember this! And I didn’t even watch Nitro back then...
I remember having to vacate the title in April 2000 because I had to study for my final exams
The love for Vader in this video is a breath of fresh air.
Big Van Vader for ever.
Vader was the first heel that I ever cheered for. It was so much fun watching the monster smash, crash and trash the good guys.
@@BalaamsAss you never cheered for Demolition before they split with Fuji?
Vader was a beast loved watching him.
He was great, but his push basically happened by accident - he was Lex's replacement (he even inherited Harley) and after Ron Simmons didn't go quite as mega as expected they put the belt back on him and spent the whole of 1993 at the drawing board.
Same thing in the WWF, Yokozuna was meant to just be a failed Wrestlemania challenger like Bundy but then he became a 2 minute champion to make Hogan happy then he became a proper interim champion because Hogan wouldn't lose to Bret, then he became a longer term champion when Luger's win was postponed and the company had to wait for months until a final decision was made to resurrect Bret.
I've never heard the words "Scott Steiner" and "Calming" used in the same sentence except "We've given him a full animal tranquilizer, but Scott Steiner still isn't calming down"
Lol.
It was an elephant tranq to boot.
A couple years ago I was assigned to helping him at a local Comic-Con. He couldn’t have been nicer and friendlier to me and everyone he met with. It was very positive.
Steiner's Reign is a Strange One is a huge understatement. I am still seeking out his first win of the belt and Benoit's Reign(of course if you can call it that,Sorry Adam) I completely forgot was a thing when he was going into WWE, I found it strange he was kept in the upper midcard and Tag team division with sometimes being in the Main Event
"He's an excitable boy"
-Mark Madden
I don’t consider Angle, Jericho, or Rock as actual WCW Champions. The last real WCW Champ was Booker T.
@gamelvr1 yeah, but technically Booker T has got a 12 inch schlong.
Why? WWE buying WCW doesn't make it less legitimate
@@j.d6009 Considering WWE owns the property? Yeah
Drained_Entity It was still the WCW championship tho so they have to atleast take it into consideration
Its tricky, though that match where Jericho beats Rock to win it is awesome
I like how you saved spoiling #1 by not including David Arquette on the thumbnail.
@Jaded Joker it had a "so bad it's good" quality about it, and midcard talent got used. The execution wasn't there, but it was at least entertaining.
The real travesty is that they turned Arquette heel.
Jaded Joker nah the modern era is bad but the Vince Russo era is horrible
@@sportsfaniguess154 Russo is a wrestling DEVIL,ask one wrestling fan who likes Vinne NotMcmoney
Isn’t David the ex husband of Courtney Cox
Massive props for Vader. He elevated that title as a legitimate "end boss" heel...
The Big Gold Belt has always been my favorite Championship Belt Of All Time
Lake Locke same. Loved it in WCW and loved it on smackdown. Whenever id play SVR 2007 and 2008 I was always on the blue brand for story mode and GM mode to chase that big gold bastard belt.
@@thehorrorhound6575 idk why but the big gold belt never looked the same in WWE. Then I hated when they added the red rubies to it. But when you see that belt you have no doubt, this guy is the champ. Same with the IWGP belt and now the AEW belt. Those belts look like world titles. The IWGP being my favorite belt of all time. The WWE belts look like toys. I like the NXT belts, and the new IC belt, but the IC belt just looks like it belongs in NXT cause it doesn't match the theme of all the other toy belts in WWE, I was hoping when Bray got his new belt it was gonna be a whole redesign but no. Vince just wants everything with a big WWE on it like we wouldn't know what it was. A big elt with tons of gold on it will tell anyone who doesn't even watch wrestling that this is a champion. But with the things they have now, you have no idea if he the champion unless you ask if your not a fan cause too much color. Gold is all you need.
The square late 70's, early 80's NWA Heavyweight belt for me ...
It’s beautiful man
Most elegant yet grandiose design
I literally just clicked this to talk about how badass the WCW belt looked.
Greatest looking belt in all of pro wrestling in my opinion.
Nathaniel Clark the old gold got remodel to this belt after Flair and Martel (NWA vs AWA) did just matches and the AWA gold put the smaller NWA belt to shame. It actually looks a little like the AWA belt
This video was longer than 50% of championship reings from wcw
jake willard 1999 and 2000 my god
@@rogregg29445 People seem to think WCW was bad. It was only bad when Russo was there.
madg27ny for real like Wcw from 88 to about 98 was really good
@@rogregg29445 WCW lives on in the new AEW on TNT Wednesdays
@@madgtv1 It was bad before and after Russo try again. He has very little to do with the declining direction. TNA was proof with their highest ratings under him
Cultaholic: We don't have time for intros for WTF Moments
Also cultaholic: 11:12
I needed this
I absolutely LOVE when Pacitti does that for Randal Keith in the other list videos. It's essentially my "safe place and ultimate slice of happiness" lol no, it's just so so funny
Ron Simmons was under booked as champion as a longtime WCW fan I can assure you that we were behind him he could have at least got another championship run
Absolutely, not only was he a gigantic man, he was a legitimate badass. He had the look and once he was in the nation of domination we got to see how good he could be on the stick. But WCW never gave him that chance to shine, but he really could have been a great champion if they let him run with he badass persona like a black stone cold. That would have been ahead of it's time by years and would have been fucking awesome.
Ron Simmons was a fighting champion. You saw him on TV every week either defending the title or in a tag match leading up to a title defense. He did more in five months than Hogan did in two years.
Then the WWF treated him like shit. Ron should’ve at least got a title shot
@@lsvtecb18c1 For this WwF GIVEN him a chance, he did not even win the IC Title. fuckin racist comapny
@@kjo2130 He did, on pay-per-view. King of the Ring 1997 against The Undertaker. It was not good.
When Luger Beat Hollywood we were screaming in delight. We thought for sure the NWO intervention would be as usual for Hollywoods favour. But Lex held them all off and when he put Hogan in the Rack, we went crazy. Good memories
I remember this too, live. Hogan getting whooped by Lex and screaming as he lost the title. Both are legends.
I wish Rude had held the belt. His WCW run with the Dangerous Alliance is a real highpoint of WCW.
@@noahgrey3815 wake me when they do a list of best international titles....he should have been world Champion.
If it was then it be on this countdown man stuck in basement.
He did 3 times
David Johnson yes it was dumbo. He was even called the world champion on tv during that time
In my opinion... Rude was WCW Champion.
1) he was signed to WCW
2) he represented the WCW organization during that point in his career
3) there's photos of him wearing their [WCW] Belt (yep, the Big Gold Belt that Flair made famous for WCW) regardless of what anyone wants to call the "title/championship"
Rude should be on the list. When Flair counts his victories, I believe that he counts those "international" reigns.
I always thought this was the most beautiful title belt. Solid gold and looked like whoever held it deserved it with much prestige. Current belts these days especially on the WWE end look like kids marketing toys.
Actually solid Sterling Silver, plated in 22k gold.
Second only to the winged eagle
Because they absolutely ARE childrens toys. And that's how they're treated
Me: Wrestlers are too easily distracted in their matches
Russo: hold my beer
12 seconds later... Russo, WCW champion
Actually he said hold my baseball bat bro!
“Hold my beer” is the new “X-Pac was there” in terms of annoying internet catch phrases that people who aren’t funny say all the fucking time.
That Randal Sav video was just amazing.
Here is how good Vader was as WCW champion: To 8-year-old me, the way he put Simmons over instantly made Simmons a credible champion and erased any concerns about the No. 1 contender raffle.
The Title change happened in a studio though. Real low rent compared to what the WWF was doing at the time.
@@quentinkaasa47 WCW was professional wrestling, not sports entertainment
Arquette, rodman,the yeti,finger poke of Doom.....yeah they sure weren't sports entertainment
@@alexandermacdougall7873WWF had just as many terrible gimmicks if not more. Like Terry Taylor's Red Roster gimmick. Just flat out killed the guy's career.
@@ottodunn3118The truly bad gimmicks in the wcw were far more numerous than they were in the wwe. Wcw didn't have a clue what they were doing with most of its roster. WCW had more terrible gimmicks in their last three years than WWE has had in its last 30.
Finally a list doesn't include triple h
I thought he was going to make the list somehow!
When he got over you knew the wwe was gonna suck for a while and it did.
PEDIGREE 👉1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣🤣
He was injured during that time.
In the early 90s try finding a list without Flair. Triple H is just a modern Flair
We need the same kinda list for IWGP Heavyweight Champion
You got what you wanted
What’s that?
How the hell could you forget the greatest champion of all? VACANT!!!!
My old ring name was vacant... when I was 13 I held the WCW title a few times in 2000 before the company closed. Great memories.
Noooo you capping 🤣
This is the most beautiful championship belt in the world
Me and my uncle Greg prefer the winged eagle belt. my stink isn't natural. Every bathroom im ever in i stink it up. I literally make people gag and throw up. Heck, sometimes I make myself gag and throw up. My body stink isn't natural either. I've never showered regularly and always have rashes and yeast infection underneath my arms and in-between my thighs. I got fired from dollar general because of poor hygiene. They said customers and fellow employees were complaining about me. My butt hole is always itching due to me not wiping right. I live with my uncle greg. He says I don't have to get a job as long as I make my stink isn't natural. Every bathroom im ever in i stink it up. I literally make people gag and throw up. Heck, sometimes I make myself gag and throw up. My body stink isn't natural either. I've never showered regularly and always have rashes and yeast infection underneath my arms and in-between my thighs. I got fired from dollar general because of poor hygiene. They said customers and fellow employees were complaining about me. My butt hole is always itching due to me not wiping right. I live with my uncle greg. He says I don't have to get a job as long as I make sandwiches for lunch. He draws disability. ❤
And universal champion
"Young up & coming Ric Flair..." 💀💀💀💀💀💀
That cracked me up too!
Jarrett,Steiner are 2 examples of Heel Champions who needed longer runs
You guys replaced the Randal Keith segment??
*SEND FOR THE MAN*
16 bit rendition of Beat It plays in the background.
Sting won the title for the first time at Great American Bash in 1990 and it was a huge moment. His feuds with Flair, Vader, and Sid were solid feuds. Should probably be #2 on the list. His early 90’s surfer run was pretty epic.
Vader was great but I don’t know about #3. Maybe 4 or 5. Awesome monster heel.
I heard per DDP that Arquette agreed with you that he should never have been Champion however it was shoved on him. He donated his money from that payday to Brian Pillman’s wife...good guy put in a terrible spot.
K he was an actor and not a part of wcw, there is no situation in which he could have been forced to become champion. Personally I think the whole angle was gold, but it's silly to think he was forced into the situation, he wasn't a part of the company, he was unforceable. That excuse you made can only apply to people under the employ of the company.
WCW’s Goldie is my all-time favorite championship belt.
This is a great list. Vader holding that belt looked so right, notice how the side plates looked similar to the WWF Winged Eagle (both had the same designer). Gives some insight on what a Vader WWF Champion run would’ve looked like in 96. Ron Simmons was also a champion’s champion and was a great mentor on top of it. I wish that Vince Russo didn’t mess up WCW in 00 but I think 99.69% of us share in that sentiment.
Not gonna lie... I kind of want to write that Vince Russo show now
This list for those who may not want to watch the full video lol
1 Ric Flair
2 Big Van Vader
3 Sting
4 Hulk Hogan
5 Booker T
6 Goldberg
7 Ron Simmons
8 The Rock
9 Lex Luger
10 The Giant
11 Chris Jericho
12 Diamond Dallas Page
13 Scott Steiner
14 Randy Savage
15 Jeff Jarrett
16 Kurt Angle
17 Sid Vicious
18 Bret Hart
19 Kevin Nash
20 Chris Benoit
21 David Arquette
22 Vince Russo
Well done. You tackled this exceptionally well.
I'm ready for more title rankings. It's gonna be YUUUUUGE
I was a kid when Sting was Surfer Sting, there was not a bigger star in my eyes, Luger was super popular with kids too at the time. I hated Flair until i was about 30..lol
So Booker T
The 5 time champ
Is 5th 😂
Which is funny because his reigns were absolutely terrible, nowhere near that high.
@@No16229A He overcame piss poor writing, that's what made his reigns work.
Think I would’ve put Sting at Number 2, for what he meant to WCW in general. Of course, Sting is my favorite wrestler of all time, so I’m a bit biased.
Nah man your right an sting was my favorite as well.... warrior in wwf an sting in wcw... i actually hated the crow sting
Sting is my favorite wrestler as well. I'm biased too, he should be number 1.
when I started this video I correctly called the top five. but my prediction had sting at 2 and vader at 3, so I get you. but I ain't mad at Vader being above sting.
Sting was and still is my favorite all time. If he'd have had better writing and booking for his title reigns, he could have been #1 on this list. As it stands he should be #2, no offense to Vader.
I had a dream match back then that I wish WCW had done, it's a triple threat though. Sting, Flair, and Muta for the title. That match could have been amazing.
Thank you for making a ranking video . I was very bored but you made me happy.
Is this a funny video?
@@goonerman6370 Is this a sexy video?
@@goonerman6370
No, it was hilarious
WWE needs to bring back the big gold belt!
The WHC is one of my favorite belts ever, and is so much better than the strawberry jam belt known as the Universal Title.
the WCW version of the belt is a bit shit imo wwe's version is so much better
I wish they did
@@alonzopowell9544 Even the black one is BS, i´ve said it for years now, we where better with the spinning Belt, the actual design is good, they just needed to made some changues (no spinning, les rap) and donde, fantastic, instead now we have a prop toy.
Put the winged eagle belt on Raw and the big gold belt on smackdown or vice versa and I would be a happy camper
That Randy Savage animation is just GOLD!
The "San Francisco 49ers match" sounds like something you'd make up when taking the piss out of wrestling. I wish that attacking people with a framed picture of Scott Hall became a meme though.
The Big Gold Belt will forever be the best championship design in history for me.
Vacant was best WCW champion.
Wrestling with Wregret ?
1.Vacant
Vacant is the greatest legend in all of wrestling.
@CultaholicWrestling I noticed in this solo video alone,Adam says "Oh Boy, Here We Go!" When it comes to the more "Problematic Champions ", that should be your signature.
The editing of this video is absolutely brilliant
How can this get any worse...?
WCW: here give me back all of those belts
No wonder they were millions in deficit 😂
I don’t even know the origin of the Randal sav/keith song but I love it
You're right about that Pacitti. My Great Step Uncle Quince Camusso loves WCW in 2000.
RANDALL SAV
RANDALL RANDALL SAV
Sting was the greatest WCW wrestler
Agreed
The Sting - Flair matches in the early years were the best.
@@patrickfennell6372 Absolutely, without question!
Thanks for the great memories of past wrestlin matches. Love watchin them all. I'm 64 and been watchin wrestlin for as long as I can remember. Even though it's changed over the years, I still watch it and probebly till my eyes shut for thier last time. Thanks
Dude I love the ranked championship videos can’t wait til the next one
13:30 When you said that Scott Steiner (#13) had "eleven" people better than him on the list, I thought that one of the remaining *twelve* spots would be Vacant.
If memory serves, Jimmy Hart cut a promo saying that he managed to slip in a waiver for the DQ stipulation while he was still Hogan's manager. Granted, it was still a pretty ridiculous title change, but at least there was some kayfabe logic to it, which puts that angle one up on 90% of WCW in 2000.
I like how this list was worked. Very convincing
great work. love the 90s throw backs great era for wrestling
11:13
Definitely heard the original in a liquor store last night and instantly thought of you guys 😂
I love how you used KC and the Sunshine Band for Randy Savage. This should have been some wrestlers theme music.
Loving this one thanks for sharing very important information giving thanks blessed love to all knowledge is power hopefully everyone pays attention keep up the good work 🙏🙏🙏🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲💪💪💪
Lads, who put in the “bruh” at 23:23
I want to thank them
shoulda been a matt riddle "broooooooooooooooooooooh"
Poippppppoo
One of my favorite clips of Nash is him saying "I just tried to have it all make sense" or something akin to that during his time as a booker in WCW.
*insert "Sure, Jan" gif here*
I think he really did tho
David Arquette doesn’t deserve the hate for winning the WCW Championship.
2nd undefeated man to win the heavyweight championship 😂
Just a head's up about the Chris Benoit WCW title win over Sid. Sid was told to slip his leg under the rope, as WCW management knew Benoit was possibly leaving for the WWF/E.
They gave the belt to Benoit to hopefully keep him in the company, but when he departed they used the backup of Arn Anderson missing the leg and thus nullified the finish of the match.
I'm sick, bored at hime, and this video and some of the quotes are killing me.
Well done :)
I was waiting for this list
Thank you for giving Big Van Vader the Recognition and Respect he Absolutely Deserves!
WOOOO! Over 30 min video. Thanks for rendering this for 4 hours.
Ric Flair is officially recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion (eight-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and two-time WWF Champion), although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 to 25. He has claimed to be a 21-time champion Plus Dusty Rhodes won it 4 times. But WWE won't say anything about those days.
Flair is only a 19-time World Champion at most(10 NWA, 7 WCW, 2 WWE). Flair's 8th NWA title reign is basically the same thing as his nominal 1st WCW reign. Thankfully WWE only recognizes this as a NWA title reign which it was.
The DDT 24/7 title is given more respect than WCW gave the Big Gold Belt in 2000.
as a small child I adored wcw
Robocop is Sting’s only real friend. Robocop NEVER betrayed Sting.
Your spot on for about all of this video. Putting Vader 2 is a HUGE wtf moment. You've lost your mind.
I still don’t know how they managed to mess up Bret Hart so much.
Vader was one of the best ever and screw Vince for trying so hard to ruin him, I am glad you put him in the top 3.
It’s crazy to think wrestlers will NEVER be as big or legendary as wrestlers once were during the 90s-000s. Those years just hit different.
Little late to the party but...
I can't believe everyone but Flair in that last shot is dead...
Y2J belongs on any list of greatest champions if he held that title. He's without question one of the 10 true goats in my wrestlin pantheon.
Batista was a bigger star in WWE than Jericho ever was.
Favorites: Ric Flair, Sting, Goldberg, and Booker T
imo
Really good vid on a wild range of champions.
Your top three totally deserve those positions.
As do your bottom two.
imo
Flairs best title matches was with Ricky steamboat which aren't even mentioned.
Nice list. I agree that the chaos of the NWO didn't make sense alot of the time, but ultimately that is what made it so great. You were on the edge of your seat Hoping your favorite would take them down, or at least not defect to their side.
Please, we all know who the real MVP of this group is: Vacant.
The only person to hold all of WCW's titles, all at once for less than a week.
Vacant to headline Hall of Fame 2020
@@HoV326 Stop referring back to Wrestling With Wregret. We get it the belt was vacant many times in 2000.
@@ricardonb6375 were serious vacant has holded like every single in wrestling
These lists are great keep them up
Loved the video! Any way you guys could rank every WCW Television Champion Best to Worst?
2:13 He just did what Vince Mcmahon and Shane even did as well a year earlier in 1999. Vince did the same with the WWE title. You're pissed about Russo vacating it but Shane actually wrestled and beat wrestlers and he still vacated it.
Before I watch I’m putting Hollywood hogan, sting, DDP and ric flair at the top.
Edit: I’m surprised DDP wasn’t higher on this list.
I've been rewatching Nitro in chronological order, I just watched the 4/12/99 episode and its been better than I remember
That's because it is actually a lot better than WWE's revisionist history has made it out to be.
Very entertaining and funny.... Well done.
Love how much of this is just bashing Year 2000 WCW, haha
It was a weird time. I remember thinking it was bad, but damn at least it was watchable compared to today's wwe product
it was fuckin great and entertaining time, otherwise there would be no videos about that so repeatedly. And btw since WcW fall wwe produced so much unwatchable & trashy stuff, that no one can even remember.
The turning point of the monday night wars.
I once got into an argument with some guy who said that Russo had awesome mic work and was great at getting heat. He also said 200 WCW is better than modern wrestling and that young workers should learn from him 😂 theres a reason that year is a talking point and its not a good one
11:10 YES YES YES that's all I needed
2:40 Arquette also donated all his earnings to the families of dead and injured wrestlers. The guy made the best of a bad situation.
You are a wonderful person for this incredible video and I assume channel. I am so happy I stumbled upon your video. I viewed, liked, sub’Ed and made you only the 2nd channel that I get notifications from. Thank you 🙏 ✌️✊❤️🇺🇸🌍☮️
Randal Sav. 🤣
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na!
Petition for Jericho's new stable to be called jeri-crew
I think you mean J Crew.
He shouldve made a wrestling moved called the Jeri-curl
" Young up and comer, Rick Flair. Thermo-nuclear blast of the highest the highest order in my book, the best, the funniest line of the year . Well played sir. Vert well played indeed . Must hit SUBSCRIBE. Would not want to miss another gen like that. No sir !
Per Flairs book he made mention of how David donated his championship check/s to assorted charities. Commenting how he feel about David....that he had more class and respect than some others whom have held the belt.
booker t wrestling the actual movie character beetle juice would’ve been soooo much better.😂😂😂☠️☠️☠️😂😂😂
BabaBooey
*"How could we place Vince Russo anywhere other than the bottom?"*
Well, you could make an argument for David Arquette and Vince Russo switching places on this list. Russo and Arquette absolutely deserve the bottom two spots. It's just that which one gets the actual bottom spot mostly comes down to nit-picks.
Benoit was objectively a worse Champion than Arquette. It's not even debatable.
Quentin Kaasa I mean yeah he left a day after winning the damn thing
Vince was involved with writing both scenarios, both incredibly stupid, but one was merely a promotional money grab. Whereas the other was a ridiculous egomaniacal attempt at auto fellatio, with an unwitting audience. Truly seemed like he knew the end was near and decided why not make myself champ before it's over.
glad you made this
I feel that Rick Rude should have been on this list. I understand the WCW international title may have been a bit confusing, but Rude beat Flair for the title at Fall Brawl, but because the WCW split from the NWA, the title Flair had won at Beach Blast was now rebranded as the International Title, I don’t think that should take away from Rude’s 3 reigns as World Champ. Also Rude was clearly regarded as the number one in the company with The Big Gold Belt.
Wow sid is the only guy in wcw who was stripped of his title both times, so he was never beaten for the belt
I know you've said "both", but Benoit
@@SteRDLK benoit didnt take the belt from sid , he got a vacant belt in a match against sid
@@ssnadera6498 Benoit was never beaten for the title.
@SteRDLK
but Bensnot didn't get stripped,
he gave it up. It's only kayabe that Anderson said the win was a mistake.
What really happened is Bensnot wanted to leave, they gave him the title in the hopes he would stay (idiots they are), but they had a back up plan of Sids foot under the ropes, and then Bensnot quit the company.