The Top 10 WCW Moments of the Monday Night War

The Monday Night War was arguably the most exciting time in the history of professional wrestling.  Two rival companies going head to head for ratings supremacy, and pulling out all the stops along the way.

Many shots were fired by WWE and WCW during those days, and while it got very personal, and very nasty at times, it was the fans who truly came out on top.

Competition makes the product better, and this has never been more evident in the business than the era of the Monday Night War.

World Championship Wrestling accomplished what no other promotion had ever been able to do until that time or since: They knocked Vince McMahon back on his heels and put WWE in real jeopardy.

WCW was the dominant company during much of the war, and they owed their success to some great talent, some controversial figures and some memorable moments that will never be forgotten.

Here are 10 of them.

10) Sting Attacks the NWo

Much of WCW's success during the Monday Night War was due to the man who was the face of the company for so many years.

Sting was a top draw, a guy who was featured in the company and who the fans loved to see.  When he changed his gimmick, it only made him more popular.

The last 10 minutes of every Monday Nitro was must-watch television for any fan, even WWE fans who perhaps didn't like the WCW product.  Why?

Because that was when Sting was likely going to appear and wreak havoc among the nWo.

There were many such encounters, but this particular one marked the first time that we truly saw what side Sting was on.

His allegiance to either WCW or the nWo had been teased for months, and no one knew which organization he would choose.

But after this night, all questions were laid to rest.  Sting took on the nWo, all of them, at once.  It was huge.

If you want to hear a pop, and I mean a real pop, look no further than the 2:12 mark of this video.  It will give you cold chills.

9) Hall and Nash Attack Eric Bischoff

When Eric Bischoff took a jackknife powerbomb from Kevin Nash off the stage, the fans popped like crazy.

And the guy wasn't even a heel yet.

It showed just how over Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were, and the immense potential of the nWo angle becoming the biggest thing that the business had ever seen.

It was a big moment for WCW, and it did for them what Stone Cold Steve Austin stunning Vince McMahon did for WWE.

It set the tone for this new anything-goes era, and it legitimized Hall and Nash as serious threats to the very authority assigned to oversee the program.

This was the nWo's birth, and it was only going to get bigger from there.

8) Sting Descends from the Rafters for the First Time

Part of Sting's new Crow gimmick was the mystery that surrounded him.  

In order for that to work, he had to appear as a maverick, a loner who had isolated himself from the rest of the WCW locker room.  

No one knew what was going on in his head, because he wasn't talking to anyone.  He was never around the rest of the guys, and as time went on, the mystery became even deeper.

When he began swinging down from the rafters, fans' excitement and anticipation of seeing him reached an all-time high.

This was the first night that happened, and it was a very memorable moment.

7) Ric Flair Shoots on Eric Bischoff

This was the night that Ric Flair said what all of us were thinking.

Yes, it was, in a sense, a worked shoot.  But the heat between Flair and Eric Bischoff was very real, and on this night it all came out for the whole world to see.

Ric has always been very passionate about the business, and there was no better man to remind fans of what respect and tradition meant to wrestling than the Nature Boy.

Bischoff was the ultimate heel who cared only about ratings and money, and he was put in his place by the greatest of all time.

Flair cut some great promos in his time, but for me, this is definitely in the top five.

The video is double screened, but stick with it until the 2:14 mark.  Trust me, it's well worth it.

6) Sting Debuts in the Black and White Face Paint

Sting was a blond-haired, neon-painted baby face whose smile lit up the arena, and whose enthusiasm for the business he loved came out every time he beat his chest and screamed to the crowd.

But when his allegiance came into question, and fans began to wonder what side he would fall on in the nWo-WCW war, something changed in him.

Sting's demeanor transformed, and so too did his appearance.  He became darker, mysterious, more reserved.  The smile disappeared, replaced by cold indifference.  The scream changed to silence.

Sting began to distance himself from the wrestlers who used to trust him and from the fans who at one time would never think to question where his heart was.

Sting became a different man, and this was the night it happened.

5) Eric Bischoff Joins the nWo

Fans knew what type of promoter, and indeed what type of person, Eric Bischoff was.  So, when the time came to put someone at the head of the nWo, why not go with the guy that fans already hated?

Eric played the part perfectly. His arrogant smile and cocky attitude were on display every week, drawing a lot of heat to a group of heels who were being cheered instead of hated.

Bischoff was seen as the leader of WCW, the man who was supposed to tow the company line and maintain the history that had been built by some of the best in the business.

But instead, he chose the easy road and thumbed his nose at the fans.  He went his own way and supported the new World order, the faction bent on the destruction of World Championship Wrestling.

He was the evil mastermind, and the man who helped shift the balance of power the second he turned heel.

4) Scott Hall's 1st Appearance on Nitro

"You want a war?  You're going to get it."

With those words, Scott Hall planted the seeds of the nWo in the minds of the fans who watched in stunned silence as the former WWE Superstar appeared on Nitro.

He truly did look like an Outsider, a man who was obviously very comfortable on the mic and very sure of who he was as a character.  

He was not the over-the-top talent that wore the gaudy chains and colorful vests in WWE.

He was now rougher, edgier and had something to prove.  He was right at home in the spotlight, and when he first crossed the guardrail to step into Ted Turner's ring, there was no doubt that WCW, and the wrestling world, would never be the same.

3) Lex Luger Debuts on Monday Nitro

This one was a real surprise.

When Lex Luger worked a WWE house show on the night before, fans had no reason to expect that the man who Vince McMahon was pushing as a top Superstar would suddenly leave the company.

But that's just what he did.

The following night, on the first broadcast of Monday Nitro, Lex showed up, the ink still wet from his new WCW contract.  He had jumped ship and would not be the last performer to do so.

Luger set the tone for the entire Monday Night War, and despite how many workers followed his lead and signed with WCW, no one would ever forget his defection on this night.  It was a very big deal.

2) Goldberg Wins the WCW Championship

On July 6, 1998, over 41,000 fans in the Georgia Dome watched their hometown hero, Bill Goldberg, defeat Hollywood Hogan for the WCW Championship.

This was a huge night for the company, and it was quite possibly the most important night in WCW's history.  

Goldberg, who had been pushed as an unstoppable monster enjoying a massive undefeated streak, brought the title home, and back to the fans who loved him.

This was more proof of how over the company was and just how much fans cared about their product. Another night that we will never forget.

And if you don't know about the impact that Goldberg and WCW had on the fans, then pay close attention to the pop at 2:16—it will prove the point.

1) Hulk Hogan Turns Heel

This was it, people, the heel turn that poured gasoline on the fire that was already raging between WWE and WCW.

When Hulk Hogan dropped the leg on Randy Savage, the business changed forever.  WCW became the company to follow, and Monday Nitro became the show to watch.

Faces had turned before, but never at the level of the most popular worker in pro wrestling history. Hogan's new heel run was shocking, and it put wrestling fans all over the world on notice.

WCW was for real.  And they were open for business.

They not only changed Hogan's attitude and persona, they changed the entire direction of the company, as on this night, the nWo was born.

There have been many important moments in WWE's history, moments too numerous perhaps to even list.  But for World Championship Wrestling, this is the moment that fans are still talking about, and the moment they will likely always talk about for years to come.