World Championship Wrestling would be a viable option for sports performers during the 1990s. During the height of the New World Order, WCW would be the premier promotion in all of professional wrestling. During his supremacy, his roster would fill up (overstock) with artists. WCW was the place to be. WCW storylines featuring the nWo and the rise of Bill Goldberg would be hugely successful, attracting more viewers than sports entertainment would ever see.
However, WCW would also feature some pretty heinous storylines. Many WCW characters had absolutely disastrous careers in the company. Notable characters like Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, and Dustin Rhodes as Seven are highly memorable for being horrendous. Those stars brought huge name recognition to the company and yet were never able to get their characters or stories headed in the right direction. However, many professional wrestlers would go on to have very forgettable disastrous careers with the company. Many wrestlers who would go on to have solid careers in WWE and ECW, couldn’t find an opportunity on WCW’s bloated roster.
10 Military Chief
The Warlord would join The Barbarian and find much success under Jim Crocket Promotions (forerunner to WCW) in the late 1980s as Powers of Pain. The dominant duo would even team with Ivan Kolvoff and become NWA World Six Man Tag Team Champions. The Powers of Pain would move to WWE and find success as a heels tag team.
In 1995, Warlord would team up with Barbarian again in WCW. However, instead of being the powers of pain, they wore masks and competed as the super assassins. Although they managed to compete in the world war 3 pay per view and earn on WCW Worldwide a syndicated tv show his run was horrible. Warlord found little success in WCW, before leaving in early 1996.
9 Hercules
Hercules was a household name in WWE’s Golden Age. Herc would participate in WrestleManias and Saturday Night Main Events. Hercules would compete in the main events and challenge for the WWE titles. While Herc would never find WWE gold, he was a very successful WWE wrestler.
Like Warlord, Hercules would debut in WCW under a mask. Hercules would be the Super Invader on WCW television in 1992. His highest exposure in WCW would be a match at Clash Of The Champions 20. In late 1992, Hercules, as a Super Invader, ended his disastrous WCW run.
8 moon vachon
Luna Vachon would go on to have two memorable WWE runs during the 1990s. First, as the main squeeze for Bam Bam Bigelow and competing against Alundra Blayze (Madusa) in 1993-1994. Then in 1997, she would return to WWE as Goldust’s manager and wrestle Sable.
In between those two memorable runs, Luna appeared on WCW television. He debuted in WCW, helping Akira Hokuto defeat his old rival Madusa. So Luna would have a handful of matches against Madusa. The highlight of his time in WCW was a pay-per-view loss to Madusa at SuperBrawl that lasted 5 minutes.
7 greg valentine
Greg The Hammer Valentine would be a main stay in WWE during the Golden Era. Valentine would become a WWE Hall of Famer based on his accomplishments during that time. Valentine even had a WWE run in 1994, where he lasted 20 minutes at the Royal Rumble.
Greg Valentine would compete for WCW from 1996 to 1998 in a very forgettable role. His first appearance on Monday Nitro in July 1996 caused commentators to ask if Valentine could be a member of the nWo due to his success in WWE. However, that would be the high point of a streak that ended in 1998 with a win over Pat Tanaka. His win/loss record in WCW was favorable, but his career meant nothing.
6 Mikey Whipwreck
Mikey Whipwreck was a successful sports entertainer for Extreme Championship Wrestling. Whipwreck is a Triple Crown Champion in the ECW archives. When Whipwreck joined WCW in 1999, many felt that he was destined for success. However, after four pay per view losses, Whipwreck realized that WCW was not the promotion for him. Whipwreck was relegated to cruiserweight and hardcore matches during his brief and disastrous career in WCW.
Whipwreck’s last WCW pay-per-view match would be a Junkyard Invitational atBeach party 1999. Whipwreck would fight Chase Tatum on Nitro in his last match in WCW. The match would end in a draw.
5 Chase Tatum
Speaking of Chase Tatum, the man had the looks of a WCW megastar. At 6’4 and 260 pounds, Tatum won the Mr. Georgia bodybuilding competition at age 19. Tatum would join WCW in 1998 and initially become an enhancement talent. His debut was a loss to Scott Norton on WCW Saturday Night.
Tatum would be promoted on the card as a member of the No Limit Soldiers led by Master P. Tatum would lose matches to Curt Hennig and Rick Steiner. The highlight of him in WCW would be the aforementioned tie with Mikey Whipwreck.
4 sick boy
Sick Boy would have a prominent role on WCW television as a member of the Raven’s Flock. However, his career was very unproductive. Sick Boy debuted as Lance Ringo in a loss to Diamond Dallas Page. Sick Boy would go on to lose matches as a member of Raven’s grunge faction.
When the Flock received their freedom, Sick Boy would dye his hair and give up his grunge gimmick. The slight change in character did nothing for Sick Boy’s win-loss record. Sick Boy lost his last WCW match in the summer of 1999 to Rick Steiner.
3 barry darsow
Barry Darsow would be a huge superstar in WWE’s Golden Era as Smash in Demolition. Darsow would win 3 World Tag Team Championships with Demolition. After Demolition was phased out of WWE, Darsow would go on to portray the Repo Man to moderate success.
Darsow would join WCW from 1997 to 1999. During his disastrous career with the company he would compete in various gimmicks. One of note, Stewart Pain being an evil golfer. While the gimmick was a scam on top golfer Payne Stewart, WCW would change the gimmick after the real-life golfer was killed in a plane crash.
2 Mike Awesome
Mike Awesome would join WCW while remaining the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. Awesome was a star in ECW, but he wouldn’t find that success in WCW. Mike Awesome had the looks and in-ring ability to rise to the top of the WCW roster. However, WCW got the talented big man into disastrous gimmicks.
First, Awesome would be called ‘Fat Chick Thriller’ and would develop an interest in heavyset women. Once WCW pulled the plug on that offensive gimmick, Awesome became That 70’s Guy and dressed as a disco singer, drove a Partridge Family-esque van, and hosted a Lava Lamp Lounge talk show.
1 ahmed johnson
Ahmed Johnson had a meteoric rise in WWE during its Next Generation Era. Pearl River Powerhouse would win the Intercontinental title before injuries sidelined his career. However, Johnson’s charisma always connected him with WWE fans, even if his work was less than adequate.
In 1999, WCW decided to try to capitalize on Johnson’s success in WWE. Johnson was signed as Big T and combined with Stevie Ray to form Harlem Heat 2000. Unfortunately, Johnson had gained a lot of weight and his performance in the ring was worse than in WWE. Johnson’s disastrous career included competing with Booker T for the initial T.