KB’s Top 26 WCW Matches

As is usual with me, I started off planning to have about 10 matches on this list and it got out of hand.  These are in NO order other than the top five which will be separated.  This is a mixture of favorites and best which is how my lists tend to go.  Let’s get to it.

1. Sting vs. Vader – Starrcade 1992

If I’m ever in the mood to have fun watching a wrestling match, this is the one I throw on. It’s the rematch from Great American Bash where Vader ripped out the heart of the WCW fans, crushed it in his hand and sprinkled it on a slice of Sting pizza. The rematch is Sting’s revenge and is one of the best fights you will ever see. If you want to see David vs. Goliath and some AMAZING displays of strength from

Sting, go watch this.

1. Sting’s Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance – WrestleWar 1992

It’s violent, it’s bloody, it’s everything WarGames is supposed to be. This was the BIG blowoff to the amazing Dangerous Alliance feud and there’s almost nothing wrong with it. If you want a GREAT fight with a ton of blood along with Sting, Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Arn Anderson and Ricky Steamboat in the same match, check this one out.

3. Sting vs. Cactus Jack – Beach Blast 1992

First of all, check this show out as it’s excellent. Just make sure that you watch it out of order and put this one last. Anyway, you have two of my top three favorite wrestlers ever in a WAR. This was the culmination of about a year of Cactus torturing Sting and finally Sting gets to fight back. It’s falls count anywhere and according to Foley himself, one of his best matches ever. I love this one.

4. Vader vs. Cactus Jack – Halloween Havoc 1993

Again, take two guys with some hatred for each other and let them beat each other up. This was another great match which I don’t think was for the title. It also led to WCW screwing up what could have been a huge push for Foley, but instead Hogan came in and WCW decided people wanted to see Paul Orndorff and Brutus Beefcake instead of guys like Cactus Jack.

5. Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan – Great American Bash 1996

Dang I’m in a violent mood tonight. If you’ve never seen this, go watch it. You will hardly ever see a more BRUTAL fight. These two hated each other in real life so you know they enjoyed a chance to beat the tar out of each other for a bit. They did this same match (at one point almost literally spot for spot) for the next year or so but this is by far the best. This is one of Benoit’s best matches ever and definitely his best fight.

As of this point, the rest are in no particular order.

6. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage – Spring Stampede 1997

This is the match that made DDP and there’s a great story to it as well. Savage is the grizzled veteran that refuses to take DDP seriously and Page is the guy that won’t give up no matter what he faces. This also showed off how cool the sets were in WCW as the set was a big wild west theme with wagons and bales of hay. You NEVER get that anymore outside of Wrestlemania.

7. Steiner Brothers vs. Lex Luger/Sting – SuperBrawl I

Take four faces, give them no story and let them have a great match. It’s the only thing on this show worth anything at all and it still holds up to this day. The Steiners were untouchable at this point so having two superstars against them was the only conceivable way they could lose. This is also one of the times where Scott got to show off what he could do in the main event.

7. Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude – Beach Blast 1992

Also from the great Beach Blast 92, this is fallout from WrestleWar 1992 with Steamboat wanting to get his hands on Rude and his US Title, but for some reason it wasn’t on the line here. This was a thirty minute iron man match and it has a story going throughout the entire thing. WCW was on fire in 1992 and this was a great match in that year.

9. Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Thunder Liger – SuperBrawl II

Speaking of WCW in 1992, this is the opening match from the first PPV of the year. Later in the big era for WCW they used this same formula: take two small guys and let them go insane for about ten minutes. The crowd had no idea what they were seeing here but they ate it up. It’s easily one of the best opening matches ever if not the best of all time and probably Pillman’s best match ever.

9. Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat – Bash at the Beach 1994

    Seriously, do you not expect these two to be awesome together? Austin was rapidly getting awesome and the best way to do that was through having Steamboat tear the house down with him. Steamboat would get injured before they could really end the feud, but the first match in it was awesome. I’m running out of things to say about these matches.

10. Ric Flair vs. Vader – Starrcade 1993

    So Sid kind of went nuts and stabbed Arn Anderson with a pair of scissors, earning himself a firing right before the biggest show of the year. When all else fails in WCW, get Ric Flair to main event Starrcade. The idea was that Vader was invincible and Flair couldn’t wrestle his usual cerebral style to beat him. Flair’s career was on the line to add some drama and the end result (in North Carolina of course) was a great match with Flair getting another world title.

11. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero – Halloween Havoc 1997

    Of all the great matches in 1997, this might have been the best in ring match of them all. You take two great wrestlers and let them go at it for almost fifteen minutes in a title vs. mask match. This is all about wowing the crowd and it’s probably both guys’ best match ever. Think about their careers and let that sink in for a bit.

12. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat – Chi-Town Rumble

    All three matches are great but I always liked the first one best. It’s a faster pace match than the other two and they keep things fast enough to never get boring. Also it helps that this is where Steamboat finally gets his world title after being the best in the world to never be champion. The rematches were great too but I’ve always liked this one better than the other two.

13. Ric Flair vs. Sting – Clash of the Champions #1

    Why WWE.com put the unification match on the list and not this one is likely due to the NWA thing but screw that jazz. If the WWE can say that the World Heavyweight Championship is related to the WCW World Title then I can say this counts. This is the definition of putting someone over with Flair making Sting a huge star in one night. The match runs 45 minutes but feels like about half of that. This is the first of many matches they have and it might actually be the best.

14. Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard – Starrcade 1985

    So we have a redneck who wears jeans and the wrestler’s wrestler in a blood feud in an I Quit match. Now this is the story of Bret vs. Shawn but they copied it from this match in the first place. This was another huge feud where the only way to end it was to lock two guys in a box and the first man to quit loses. The ending is legendary with Magnum taking a piece of a wooden chair and driving it into Blanchard’s eye to finally quit, only to hate himself for what he did to win the title.

15. Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson – Fall Brawl 1995

    They were partners for years but they FINALLY had a match here, in North Carolina of course. This was all part of the rebirth of the Horsemen but it took a few months to get there. They knew each other so well that at the end of the day, you knew they were going to have a great match against each other. The fans had no idea who to cheer for which made it even better. To the surprise of a lot of people, Anderson won in I think their only match ever.

16. Brian Pillman vs. Johnny B. Badd – Fall Brawl 1995

    I don’t think anyone remembers this match but it opens the same show as the previous match. Both guys were on an absolute roll at this point and they were fighting for a title shot. This match runs half an hour and it never once gets boring with the ending being perfect as well. You won’t see this on many lists but it’s an awesome fast paced match that works very well.

17. Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit – Nitro

    For the Bret Hart fans, this is a must. It’s the Owen Hart Tribute match in the building where he died and it’s by far and away Bret’s best match ever in WCW. It’s also the only match where he was clearly trying for the whole match and there was no stupid story holding him back. This was about two guys putting on a wrestling display and it works to this day. Great match.

18. Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (pick one)

    Seriously, pick one. These two had so many great matches that you can’t just pick a single one. Windham could have been HUGE if he had kept trying but by 1991 or so he was done. His matches with Flair though were amazing and produced some of the best TV matches you’ll ever see. Barry would eventually join the Horsemen in a spot he was perfect for.

19. Flair vs. Funk – Great American Bash 1989

    The idea here is simple: Funk had injured Flair’s neck and this was about revenge. The problem is that even though Funk was old and mostly retired, you couldn’t quite write him off as a contender to Flair’s title. This is considered the best show WCW ever put on and while I think the show is overrated, the main event is excellent. I’m in the minority that likes it better than the I Quit match but it’s really that good.

20. Sting vs. Rick Rude – Clash of the Champions #17

    We have one of the best heels ever against one of the best faces ever. This is all backstory from earlier in the show as Sting was injured by I believe Luger earlier in the night and was at the hospital. He was told that if he missed the match he would lose the title and the race was on to get back. Rude was sure he was going to be champion but Sting walked through the curtain at the last minute and the place EXPLODED. This is all atmosphere but it was great atmosphere.

21. Dustin Rhodes/Ricky Steamboat vs. The Enforcers – Clash of the Champions #17

    From the same show as the previous match, this is all about the entrance but then the match is awesome on top of it. The Enforcers (Anderson and Zbyszko) had broken Dustin’s partner Barry Windham’s hand at Halloween Havoc so Dustin had a new mystery partner. A guy in a dragon costume came out before revealing himself to be Ricky Steamboat, making his return to the company. Anderson FREAKING and shouting “HE’S JUST A MAN” at Larry to try to convince himself not to panic is great stuff. Oh and the match is great too.

22. Southern Boys vs. Midnight Express – Great American Bash 1990

    Jim Cornette has called this one of the greatest Midnight Express match ever which should sum things up for you. This was another one of those “take two teams, let them go nuts” matches from right before the Express left WCW to form SMW. The Pistols weren’t a great team but when they clicked they could have an excellent match and that’s what they did here.

24. Four Horsemen vs. Sting’s Team – WrestleWar 1991

    WarGames is that one match that you can almost never screw up and this is the second great one. It’s also the only one the Horsemen managed to win I think, which makes their nickname of the Masters of WarGames kind of odd. Anyway, this is a GREAT brawl with everyone beating on everyone and a horrible looking ending with Pillman nearly dying (literally) to end the match. Again, it’s Sting (noticing a theme here) against Flair and it works perfectly.

25. Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair – WrestleWar 1990

    Here’s another great one from these two with Luger substituting for his injured best friend Sting who had been injured at the Horsemen’s hands (not really). The idea is that while it was pretty clear Sting would get to dethrone Flair, Luger gets to beat the tar out of him first. The ending is a mini screwjob but for once it makes perfect sense and is the absolute right finish that hurts no one. This is a great beating and another solid Luger vs. Flair match.

26. Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair – Starrcade 1988

If you ever want to see the Flair Formula worked to perfection, this is the match for you. It’s about 35 minutes long with three separate stages: Flair getting killed, Luger getting beaten up and the finish. These two had one of the hottest feuds of the 80s and this is probably the best match they had in the whole series. Luger should have won the title here and he was branded as a choker because he never got there.

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