World Championship Wrestling: Great Moments Remembered

“Hey yo.”

Is there a pro wrestling fan on the planet who doesn’t know where that little catchphrase came from?

Scott Hall provided some of the coolest moments in WCW, proving that there is indeed life after WWE. His career was in its prime when he jumped ship and came down south to work for Ted Turner, and in doing so, he helped start a revolution.

Those were good times.

It was a great time to be a fan, with both companies pulling out all the stops to entertain, to shock, to do anything in their respective power to gain ratings. Fans didn’t have to complain, to long for something better, more innovative, from the business. It was handed to us each and every week. Every time we thought we had seen it all, WCW hit us with something completely different.

“You can call this the new world order of wrestling, brother.”

When Hulk Hogan came down the aisle at WCW’s Bash at the Beach on that fateful night in 1996, I sat silently, not expecting what I was about to see. As he motioned the ref out of the way, and then dropped the leg on Randy Savage, it was as if the world stopped turning and the act was happening in slow motion.

My mouth half open, and eyebrows arched, I looked around the room at the rest of the guys, all of whom were wearing the same expressions: complete and utter disbelief.

Hulk Hogan, the man portrayed for years in WWE as the ultimate superhero, the epitome of what it meant to be good and honest, turned his back on the fans that grew up watching him. He betrayed everyone who ever believed in him, and he did it with a smile on his face.

Yes, Hogan had begun his career as a heel, but for fans who truly did respect and admire him, that did not matter. That was the old, long forgotten Hogan. Now, that dark side had returned, and he embraced it for all it was worth.

It was pure genius. Brilliant booking, the likes of which had never been seen before on that level, and some would argue, has not been seen since. With Hogan at the helm, the nWo ruled WCW with an iron fist and a wicked laugh. But there would be opposition.

“The only thing for sure about Sting is, nothing’s for sure.”

When Sting painted his face black and white and took to the rafters, it marked the beginning of perhaps the single most exciting gimmick in the history of WCW.

Sting was the loyal WCW employee, the man who always did the right thing, and now his company was being taken away from him by a group of thugs. When Sting’s own allegiance to WCW was questioned, something within him snapped, and the smiling carefree neon baby face disappeared forever.

In his place was the dark, brooding, shell of a man who stopped speaking, and let his actions and his bat do all the talking for him. Swinging down from the rafters nearly every week, Sting’s constant attacks on the nWo made for some great television, but he was not the only established star to fight the invasion.

“Could it be that the group that Eric Bischoff said is dead, is alive and well?”

When Ric Flair returned to the fold and The Four Horsemen reformed, it was a memorable moment for fans of my generation who grew up watching the Nature Boy. It served as a reminder that no matter how many ex-WWE wrestlers came in, pro wrestling in the southeast belonged to Ric Flair. That’s the way it had always been, and that’s the way it remains today. But while The Horsemen saddled up once again, another cowboy rode into town looking for a fight.

“You’re next!”

Goldberg was the biggest phenomenon the business has ever seen. He came from nowhere, a powerhouse monster of a man with stunning athletic ability and a penchant for ferocity that was unequaled in the ring.

When he pinned Hogan for the WCW title in his hometown of Atlanta, the birthplace of the company, Goldberg became the top guy in the business. Next to Sting and Flair, he was the biggest star that Vince McMahon did not create, and he kept fans coming back each and every week.

So many groundbreaking moments. So many great matches. There’s a hundred reasons why WCW folded, all of which have been covered in great detail already. But, this column isn’t about that.

This is merely a walk down memory lane, a fond remembrance of some of the best days in pro wrestling history. We will never forget them.

Good times, good times.