WCW is--and should--be remembered for helping create/fuel the Attitude Era, which was the most popular era of wrestling. Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash rose to power as the New World Order; Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit put on some amazing cruiserweight matches; and Sting was an icon who constantly reinvented himself.
However, not everything to come out of the '90s at WCW was gold. There were a lot of really weird moments buried within the archives of the company, from the supernatural to bad celebrity cameos to the just plain stupid. Here are our 10 favorite weird WCW moments we completely forgot about.
The Shockmaster Aftermath
There is no way you've forgotten about Shockmaster. It's unforgettable. We've all seen the video of his debut. If you haven't, welcome to wrestling fandom, and I hope you're enjoying your first week as a fan. What many people don't realize is that WCW kept wrestler Fred Ottman as the Shockmaster character even after his failed debut on Flair For The Gold. He was revamped to be a working-class man of the people who also happened to be really clumsy. The new gimmick didn't translate as well to the ring as Ottman played more of a dominating beast during his short, post-Flair for the Gold fall.
There's No Hulkamaniacs Here!
The Dungeon of Doom was a heel wrestling stabled formed by Kevin Sullivan in 1995. The ultimate goal of the group was to destroy Hulkamania and Hulk Hogan as well. With Sullivan leading, the DoD consisted of The Shark, Kamala, The Zodiac, Meng, Vader, and The Giant. They were the wrestling equivalent of The Island of Misfit Toys: repackaged wrestlers fans had lost interest in. The real magic happened when Hulk Hogan was transported to the Dungeon of Doom's dungeon.
What followed was one of my personal favorite strings of dialogue for a promo, delivered "eloquently" by Hulk Hogan: "Where am I? There's no Hulkamaniacs here. I've never been here before! Ahh! It's not hot! What is this place?"
I implore you to watch it for yourself.
Sting Befriends A Fictional Robotic Police Officer
At Capital Combat, in 1990, the WCW PPV had a special guest appearance from none other than Robocop, the cybernetic policeman from the film franchise of the same name. During the event, Sting was locked inside a cage at ringside by the Four Horsemen. Robocop showed up, scared the Horsemen off, and then pulled the door off of the cage, freeing Sting. It is one of the dumbest moments in the history of WCW, as the slow-moving Robocop doesn't seem like a real threat at all.
The Kiss Demon
The Kiss Demon is the perfect example of bad contracts playing out on television. In 1998, Eric Bischoff, who was the head of the company at the time, made a deal with Kiss, the rock band, to have a wrestler based on Gene Simmons's stage persona, The Demon. While the wrestling gimmick was originally played by Brian Adams, Dale Torborg assumed the role after Adams revealed he didn't feel comfortable playing it, before he even wrestled his first match. The contract stated that The Demon would wrestle a main event match, but Bishoff was relieved of his position during the middle of this, and in order to fulfill the obligation, The Demon wrestled a main event match at Superbrawl; however, said match was during the middle of the PPV.
Later, The Demon lost plenty of matches and many called the character "dead on arrival." Then he was placed in a stable with Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse, before disappearing completely when WWE bought WCW.
Vampiro Joins ICP, Hangs Out With The Misfits, Rejoins ICP
1999-2000 was a weird time for Vampiro. In 1999, he formed a stable with Raven and Insane Clown Posse called "The Dead Pool." Believe it or not, this actually went over pretty well. However, later in the year, Vampiro brought the punk band The Misfits to WCW. He, his allies, and their devilocked hair took on Oklahoma and Steve Williams in a short-lived feud. Then, Vampiro formed another stable with ICP and The Kiss Demon called "The Dark Carnival." WCW was struggling against WWE at the time and bringing in celebrities and sadly, Vampiro was bounced around by booking as the company tried to regain its footing.
Dustin Runnels' Weirdest Gimmick Yet
Dustin Runnels left his Goldust gimmick when he parted ways with WWE in 1999. Soon after, over at WCW, vignettes of a man all in black and white facepaint started playing on Nitro. While this character, named Seven, was supposed to be based on "The Strangers" from the movie Dark City, he much more resembled a child abductor. Broadcaster Turner felt the same way and found a way out: Runnels debuted as Seven and did a shoot promo saying he's done with gimmicks.
Vader And Sting Go To White Castle
Before NWO took over, the WCW did some unique--and sometimes cringeworthy--things. Backed by Ted Turner, the wrestling promotion would occasionally make mini-movies that seemed like they had a large budget as far as wrestling segments go. One of the most memorable came from an episode of WCW Saturday Night in January 1993. It's called "Vader's White Castle of Fear," and it was supposed to be building up the main event for SuperBrawl 1993. In the segment, which looks and feels like a commercial for a '90s board game, Sting is invited to Vader's castle for a party. Sting arrives by helicopter and he and Vader get into a tug-o-war match. It is one of the most bizarre segments to appear on WCW during the early '90s.
Rick Steiner Cuts A Promo On A Doll
On occasion, wrestlers can get into feuds with celebrities (again, Robocop), but the most bizarre celebrity feud was Rick Steiner and Chucky, the murderous doll from the Child's Play movies. On an episode of WCW Nitro, Rick Steiner was interviewed about his brother Scott Steiner and their current rivalry. This segment was interrupted by horror icon Chucky. The horror villain cut a promo saying he'd beat up Rick Steiner, but he was really there to promote his new movie Bride of Chucky. Rick was warned not to mess with Scott because Chucky was going to direct a movie starring Big Poppa Pump.
Chamber of Horrors Match: Where The Loser Dies
In 1991, at the Halloween Havoc PPV, WCW debuted the Chamber of Horrors match, an eight-man tag team match taking place inside what we would now call a "Hell in a Cell." The goal of the match wasn't to pin your opponent, make them submit, or even knock them out. Participants waited for a smaller cage to drop, which contained an electric chair. Your team lost the match if one of your allies was put in the chair and electrocuted. We're not kidding, and to prove it, here's video of Abdullah The Butcher kayfabe dying.
Warrior/Hogan II: A Feud 8 Years Too Late
Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior had quite the feud in WWE back in 1990, with it all leading to their match at Wrestlemania VI. However, eight years later, WCW tried to reignite the excitement, and it was a flop. Hogan debuted in WCW in 1994, and Ultimate Warrior followed four years later. Now, with both men in the promotion, WCW decided to build a rivalry between the two for 1998's Halloween Havoc. During one segment, Eric Bischoff and Hogan were in a dressing room, and Warrior appeared in the mirror. Bischoff couldn't see it, so Hogan thought he was going crazy. The segment didn't really go anywhere, and it was pretty confusing. What was the point? At the actual Halloween Havoc match, the two wrestled a pretty bland match as neither one of them was that great in the ring at this point in their careers. WCW was starting to run out of fresh ideas, and a supernatural reinvention of the 1990 WWE rivalry felt like too little, too late.
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