WWE.com Lists Top 20 WCW Matches of All-Time

[EmpireWF]

Only stipulation was the match had to have taken place after Turner bought the company in November '88, so Flair/Sting from the first Clash did not make it.

I dropped * for the matches that got 5 stars from Meltzer.

Could only post 10 videos...

http://www.wwe.com/classics/classic-lists/20-greatest-wcw-matches/

#20 - Sting vs. DDP - Nitro in April 1999

#19 - Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko - Uncensored 1997

 

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http://www.myspace.com/video/joe-th...1997-dean-malenko-vs-eddie-guerrero/101151178

#18 - Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack - Halloween Havoc 1993

#17 - 3 Count vs. Jung Dragons - New Blood Rising 2000

#16 - DDP vs. Randy Savage - Spring Stampede 1997

#15 - Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs. Nasty Boys - Spring Stampede 1994

 

#14 - Rey Mysterio vs. Dean Malenko - GAB 1996

 

#13 - Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan - Bash at the Beach 1994

#12 - Steiner Brothers vs. Sting & Lex Luger - SuperBrawl 1991

#11 - Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - Beach Blast 1992

#10 - Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Liger - SuperBrawl 1992

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

 

#8 - Sting's Squadron vs. Dangerous Alliance (WAR GAMES) - WrestleWar 1992*

#7 - Ric Flair vs. Big Van Vader - Starrcade 1993

 

#6 - Rey Mysterio vs. Ultimo Dragon - World War 3 1996

 

#5 - Sting vs. Ric Flair - Clash of the Champions 27

 

#4 - Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero - Halloween Havoc 1997

 

#3 - Goldberg vs. DDP - Halloween Havoc 1998

 

#2 - Sting vs. Ric Flair - GAB 1990

 

#1 - Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat - The 1989 Trilogy (Chi-Town Rumble, Clash 6, WrestleWar)***


No Flair/Funk I-Quit match?

 

[s@ppisgod]

To this day, I can't believe that Goldberg's best match at one of the hottest points in the promotion on a huge showand just an overall great main event, was cut-off so Hogan could get his win back from Ultimate Warrior.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

#11 - Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - Beach Blast 1992

I call bullshit.

For some reason, these guys always had shitty matches together. RE: Royal Rumble '88

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

#11 - Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude - Beach Blast 1992

I call bullshit.

For some reason, these guys always had shitty matches together. RE: Royal Rumble '88

I was going to be fair and watch this because I didn't remember it, but discovered it was an Iron Man Match.

blech. Now I know it wasn't good.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

#13 - Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan - Bash at the Beach 1994

Historical, yes, but not a great match. Hot crowd, watchable, but just OK as a stand alone match.

Also marked the beginning of the worst period of WCW, which was Bash at the Beach 1994 until the start of Nitro in September 1995.

 

[Bigpapa42]

If the Rude-Steamboat match is the one I'm thinking of, its pretty solid. Not 5* but quality.

 

[FedEx227]

I just watched their Royal Rumble match and I've seen this one before. This one was 1,000 times better.

 

[EmpireWF]

Best available video of the match

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Based on these recommendations, I will watch this later.

During this era, it seemed like Rude/Steamboat/D.Rhodes/Austin wrestled each other in some combination every night, and I was always underwhelmed.

 

[Loco]

That Goldberg vs DDP match was pretty weak in retrospect, the offense that DDP got in was disappointing and undersold, pretty crappy commentary and lousy ring work.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Best available video of the match

I enjoyed this.

Two things stood out.

-I usually hate hate hate Iron Man matches, but the psychology here was unique and they told a great story. 60:00 Iron Man matches are just stall fests (Hart/HBK WrestleMainia Zzzzzzzz), and 30:00 usually are rushed with too many quick falls. This one is 30:00 but it worked because Steamboat went right after Rude and worked his ribs/back, which became the theme of the match. Instant action, no stalling at the start.

-The commentary was superb. My god, you forget how bad commentary truly is these days until you listen to guys like Ross & Ventura call a match. No pushing twitter, no low brow "humor", no Lawler on repeat saying "what's he gonna do!" and "uh oh, here it comes!" over & over. Ross gets over what the guys are doing perfectly, and Ventura is in peak form with his slightly biased breakdowns. That's what made Ventura great. Despite being a heel, he remained credible because if you listen to him, he's really calling it straight most of the time. So when he says something ridiculous in support of the heel, it works much better because it stands out. They call it like a sporting event, which makes it much easier to suspend your disbelief. Modern commentary is WINK WINK THIS IS FAKE, ok, I know that, but why not just let me enjoy it for a couple of hours? Does Tom Cruise constantly remind the audience he's acting in Mission Impossible, for fucks sake?

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

This is a pretty poor list of great WCW matches.

WCW from 88 to mid-way through 93 had some great ring work. They forced too much from a really bad main event scene from the Monday Night Wars Era of WCW.

I could throw a dart in 89 or 92 and find better matches than DDP/Goldberg, DDP/Sting from Nitro.

Some of my favorite matches from that era...not listed here...

Sting v. Vader - Starrcade '92
Jushin Liger v. Ultimo Dragon - WCW-Japan Supershow for the IWGP Junior Title in '93
Jushin Liger v. Brian Pillman - from East Rutherford, NJ in '91
Steamboat/Dustin Rhodes v. Arn and Zbyszko from Clash XVII
Sting v. The Great Muta - Great American Bash '90
Ricky Steamboat v. Terry Funk - Clash VII
Flair v. Funk - 'I Quit' Match - Clash IX...they also had a good match at the Bash in the same year.
Luger and Pillman had perhaps some of Luger's best work at Clash IX and Halloween Havoc in '89.
Doom's matches versus the Horsemen at the end of '90 were good.
Steamboat and Shane Douglas had a bunch of good matches versus a ton of combinations...Windham/Rhodes...Windham/Pillman...the Blondes.

Oh boy...now I'm just rambling.

The booking sucked in this era...but I dug a lot of the matches back then.

 

[BigBiss]

Best available video of the match

thats the kinda match that makes you love wrestling

 

[FedEx227]

This is a pretty poor list of great WCW matches.

WCW from 88 to mid-way through 93 had some great ring work. They forced too much from a really bad main event scene from the Monday Night Wars Era of WCW.

I could throw a dart in 89 or 92 and find better matches than DDP/Goldberg, DDP/Sting from Nitro.

Some of my favorite matches from that era...not listed here...

Sting v. Vader - Starrcade '92
Jushin Liger v. Ultimo Dragon - WCW-Japan Supershow for the IWGP Junior Title in '93
Jushin Liger v. Brian Pillman - from East Rutherford, NJ in '91
Steamboat/Dustin Rhodes v. Arn and Zbyszko from Clash XVII
Sting v. The Great Muta - Great American Bash '90
Ricky Steamboat v. Terry Funk - Clash VII
Flair v. Funk - 'I Quit' Match - Clash IX...they also had a good match at the Bash in the same year.
Luger and Pillman had perhaps some of Luger's best work at Clash IX and Halloween Havoc in '89.
Doom's matches versus the Horsemen at the end of '90 were good.
Steamboat and Shane Douglas had a bunch of good matches versus a ton of combinations...Windham/Rhodes...Windham/Pillman...the Blondes.

Oh boy...now I'm just rambling.

The booking sucked in this era...but I dug a lot of the matches back then.

It was a weird era, in that, yeah, the gimmicks and booking were fucking dreadful. You had Ding Dongs, Shockmasters, etc. all over the place but the roster depth and in-ring work was top notch. I also love just about every match Ross commentated on during this time. He was so money at this time. Sold everything like a million bucks, made everything seem like a big deal, got guys over, talked about their past, had you buy into the characters and the people behind those characters.

Now I'm rambling. I love you old school Jim Ross.

 

[Cornelius]

Does Tom Cruise constantly remind the audience he's acting in Mission Impossible, for fucks sake?

He may have in MI2, that movie sucked so bad that I fell asleep halfway through.

Oh, and I hated DDP and Dean Malenko.