Debunking the Myth of WCW holding down their Younger Wrestlers

Debunking the Myth of WCW holding down their Younger Wrestlers
September 24, 2017
By Ryan Porzl

WCW was known for many things both good and bad from great wrestling, the cruiserweights, and the nWo to laughable gaffes and occasional incompetence. One of the things that the company was supposed to be known for was the fact they supposedly held down their younger wrestlers in favor of older wrestlers. However, this wasn't the case as younger wrestlers were given opportunities and there are reasons as to why they may not have gotten farther that was not the fault of the company. Having heard this myth for nearly 20 years, I decided that it should be debunked because while WCW wasn't perfect, neither were their wrestlers.



Before I begin, I must point out some things that I have to say and make certain things clear. When I say "younger" wrestlers, there's been specific names that people put in that category like Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Raven, Chris Jericho, Billy Kidman, Perry Saturn, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Chavo Guerrero to name some. I will throw in other young guys to prove my point like Goldberg, Scott Steiner, The Giant (The Big Show), and Booker T. Meanwhile, an "older" wrestler is supposed to be someone 40 or older.

Another point I want to bring up is that many get the misconception that every wrestler can be a world champion and they think "being held back" means not being world champion or main eventers but that's not the case. Not all wrestlers are meant to be world champion and not all wrestlers are meant to be main eventers. In fact, there's plenty of great wrestling legends who never held a world title or main evented a national promotion but that didn't affect them. Not everyone in entertainment can be a lead actor/actress. Not everyone in music can be the lead singer. Not everyone in the NFL can be a quarterback. Not everyone in MLB can be a pitcher. Not everyone in wrestling can be a world champion.

First thing to point out is how well most of these guys who were "held back" did and for the most part, they did very well especially considering injuries, drug problems, not being there long, or not having a lot of experience which I'll get to in a bit. First is Chris Benoit who actually had a great run in WCW as during his four year run with them, he was given the WCW World Heavyweight Championship once, the WCW World Television Championship three times, the WCW United States Championship two times, and the WCW World Tag Team Championship two times which made him a grand slam champion (having held four titles) and only the sixth out of eight men to be a triple crown winner (world champion, tag team champion, and secondary champion). Along with titles, Benoit was almost immediately after coming into WCW made a member of the most elite stable in wrestling history: The Four Horsemen. He had memorable feuds and rivalries including his year long feud with Kevin Sullivan and his best of seven series with Booker T. He also frequently appeared on WCW PPVs, got title matches, and by 1999, appeared on every PPV of that year while main eventing Mayhem against Bret Hart for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship along with appearing in a few co-main events including Starrcade 1999. Dean Malenko was given a run with the WCW United States Championship once, the WCW World Tag Team Championship once, and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship four times. Malenko was also one of the top names in WCW's cruiserweight division for most of the first two years which featured matches and rivalries with Rey Mysterio Jr., The Ultimo Dragon, and a very memorable feud with Chris Jericho. Malenko was not only a member of The Four Horsemen but made history be becoming the final member inducted during their last few months. Oddly enough, it can be argued that Malenko had his biggest success in WCW and most fans probably remember him mostly for his WCW run then his previous runs in ECW, All Japan, and New Japan or his brief WWF run later with an example being him named #1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's PWI Top 500 for 1997. By the way, it's very ridiculous to put Malenko in with the "younger" wrestlers when he was born in 1960 which made him four months older than "old" wrestler Sid Vicious and a year younger than "old" wrestlers Sting and Kevin Nash. He also had more mileage having turned pro in 1979 while Sting turned pro in 1985, Sid Vicious in 1987, and Kevin Nash in 1990. Sure, you could argue he's younger in "TV years" but still.

Eddie Guerrero was also pushed very well during his first two years including one WCW United States Championship and two WCW Cruiserweight Championships while frequently appearing on PPVs, getting United States Title shots less than a year in WCW against legends like Konnan and Ric Flair, winning the title in a tournament at Starrcade 1996, and later having a good run as a top heel in the cruiserweight division including feuds and classic matches against Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio Jr. While Guerrero's last two years weren't as memorable, you can chalk that up to problems with Eric Bischoff, drug problems, and near fatal moments. Raven had one run with the WCW United States Championship and one with the WCW World Tag Team Championship. He continued his Raven's Nest (now Raven's Flock) stable from ECW and he had many memorable rivalries & matches with Chris Benoit, Diamond Dallas Page, and Perry Saturn. While Raven lost steam in late 1998 with a character acting depressed and on a losing streak, he did pick up steam in early 1999 with his team with Saturn with the two winning the titles and appeared to have a place in the new hardcore division but he then suffered a rotator cuff injury and never wrestled after that as he requested his release before returning to the ring.

Both Rey Mysterio Jr. and Kidman were among the most successful cruiserweights in the divisions history with Mysterio given five reigns with the Cruiserweight Championship while Kidman had three reigns, they held the WCW World Tag Team Championships together, and were the final WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions while likely being set up to be the top cruiserweight tag team before WCW closed. Meanwhile, both had World Tag Team Championship reigns with Konnan while Mysterio had a third tag team championship reign with Juventud Guerrera. Chris Jericho was given the World Television Championship once and the Cruiserweight Championship four times. He also was frequently on Pay-Per-View, got title shots, and from 1997-1998 was one of the top cruiserweights. He also engaged in many memorable feuds with Rey Mysterio Jr, Dean Malenko, Juventud Guerrera, and Perry Saturn. He dominated the cruiserweight championship throughout most of 1998 as he held the belt for most of the year and then made the transition to heavyweight by having a near four month run with the TV Championship. While it is true WCW rejected a storyline between him and Goldberg, you could argue it was too soon given Jericho just moved to heavyweight while spending most of his run as a cruiserweight. Perry Saturn was given a run with the World Television Championship and two World Tag Team Championships. His Television Championship run was almost immediately into his run and his first Tag Team Title reign probably could've meant more had Raven not suffer a torn rotator cuff. Saturn also was frequently on Pay-Per-View while getting TV Title shots against the likes of Booker T and Rick Steiner as well as a United States Title shot against Goldberg and several World Tag Team Title shots. He also had plenty of rivalries with Chris Benoit as part of Raven's Flock, Raven, Ernest Miller, Chris Jericho, and The Jersey Triad. Chavo Guerrero spent most of the 1990s paying his dues but by the end of WCW in 2000, he was getting a push as a top cruiserweight by getting two runs with the WCW Cruiserweight Championship and a very brief run with the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Had WCW not been bought out, it's possible Chavo would've been a top cruiserweight for years to come.

Then there's wrestlers who WCW clearly established as main eventers like Goldberg, The Giant, Booker T, and Scott Steiner. Goldberg went on an undefeated streak that lasted longer than a year during which time he won the WCW United States Championship & the WCW World Heavyweight Championship while main eventing Starrcade. By his second year in 1999, he was given the United States Title a second time, the WCW World Tag Team Championship which made him a triple crown champion and then main evented a second straight Starrcade. Goldberg also feuded with some of the biggest names in Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Bret Hart while being one of the most popular wrestlers in all of wrestling in the late 1990s. The Giant also saw an immediate push as he beat Hulk Hogan by disqualification to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in his debut match which probably is a first in wrestling to win a World Title in your debut match while winning a second World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair less than a year into his career. He was also given three WCW World Tag Team Championships and teamed with legends like Lex Luger, Sting, & Scott Hall while also winning the 1996 World War 3 Battle Royal. He was one of the biggest fan favorites in 1997 during WCW's feud with the nWo and had many matches & rivalries with legends from Hogan to Luger to "Macho Man" Randy Savage to Kevin Nash.

Booker T was part of one of WCW's most successful tag teams in Harlem Heat as he and brother Stevie Ray had a record ten reigns as WCW World Tag Team Champions between 1994 and 1999 while feuding with legendary teams like The Nasty Boys, The Steiner Brothers, Sting & Lex Luger, & The Outsiders. From 1997-1999, he also held the WCW World Television Championship six times while feuding and facing off against Rick Martel, Perry Saturn, Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Fit Finlay, & Scott Steiner while having his legendary best of seven series with Chris Benoit. After a brief lackluster period between late 1999-mid 2000, Booker became of the company's main eventers during their final year by having four reigns with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and a run with the WCW United States Championship making him a triple crown as well as grand slam winner. Booker was both World Heavyweight Champion and United States Champion when WCW was bought by WWF. Scott Steiner already enjoyed a hugely successful and legendary run as part of The Steiner Brothers for nearly a decade in WCW, NWA, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and WWF when he began his long awaited singles run in 1998. During WCW's final three years (1998-2001), Steiner enjoyed a run as WCW World Television Champion, two runs as the WCW United States Champion, and finally, a run as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Meanwhile, he briefly became a leader of nWo Hollywood in late 1998 and main evented the final Starrcade in 2000. He also feuded with and scored wins over the likes of Diamond Dallas Page, Goldberg, and Kevin Nash. In fact, by the end of 2000, WCW did so well with Steiner that he was easily one of the hottest names in American Wrestling that year and an argument could be made that he was the wrestler of the year.

There are reasons certain wrestlers didn't go farther than many think they should've that are overlooked. In the case of Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, both lacked the same things which is just about everything except wrestling skills. As wrestlers, few were technically better than Benoit and Malenko in the late 1990s and they could wrestle circles around most of their generation. However, as excellent as they were as wrestlers, they both struggled badly everywhere else namely mic skills, charisma, and look. As mean as it sounds, there's a reason why Kevin Nash referred to them as "Vanilla Midgets" cause they were. Both weren't that good on the mic and wouldn't make anyone stand up and take notice of them as they were bland. Sure, hardcore fans would dig them but how many casuals would watch just for them? Remember, this was 1998-2000 when "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock were on top and were these larger than life names oozing charisma, could cut a great promo, had great looks, and can put on great matches. How many people were honestly going to watch Benoit or Malenko over Austin and Rock? Not that many.

Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Raven were all very good and maybe could've made it to the main event but all struggled with horrible drug problems that they've since admitted to. Guerrero's problems were so bad that he nearly died on three occasions in 1999 as he fell asleep behind the wheel after taking pills and crashed his car after going 120 mph which put him out of action for the first half of 1999. Having already struggled with alcohol and GHB, Guerrero then suffered with a painkiller addiction which resulted in overdosing twice in two months. Another problem was Guerrero also got into an infamous argument with WCW head Eric Bischoff over his position and requested his release. Maybe Guerrero had a point that he should've been in the main event but getting into a fight with Bischoff probably didn't help him as he probably came off difficult and unreliable. Saturn and Raven weren't much better as Saturn has admitted to having such a bad drug problem that he was shooting nubain in his tongue to avoid track marks while also giving a story of him and Raven having a "game" where they took vicodin, percocet, soma, halcion, and valium, stick them all in a pill bottle, shake it, and shallow them at the same time to see what buzz they would get. Saturn claimed he and Raven were top two on everyone's dead pool. All three are great but can you blame WCW for not getting behind these guys? Sadly, all three should've been grateful for having employment.

Kidman had the same limitations Benoit and Malenko did as he also lacked charisma, mic skills, and a marketable look outside of being a pretty boy. Even worse was that Kidman could be a sloppy worker in the ring and botched his shooting star press a few times. Kidman was also very young and inexperienced during his WCW run as he was born in 1974 and turned pro in 1994 which meant he was only 24 with four years in the business by the time he started getting pushed in WCW in 1998. By the time WCW closed in 2001, Kidman was only 27 with seven years. Maybe if WCW lasted for years to come, he could've grown into someone that could move up but at the time, he was still very young and likely hadn't developed. Mysterio struggled due to his size more than others. Unlike the others who were at least 5'8 to 5'11, Mysterio is around 5'3 to 5'5 making him one of the smallest wrestlers that's not a mini (midget). While size isn't everything especially in the 21st Century with smaller combat sports fighters beating bigger opponents, there's only so much people can take. While Mysterio had his periods as a giant killer and beat guys like Kevin Nash & Scott Norton, it was going to be a difficult task for fans to believe the 5'3 to 5'5, 150 pound Mysterio could beat guys that were more than a foot taller and in Nash or Giant's case were nearly two feet taller or who had at least 200 more pounds on him. Plus it didn't help that Mysterio's lucha libre style was beginning to catch up with him in WCW as he missed the first half of 1998 due to reconstructive knee surgery and he had other injuries in late 1999. In fact, it's well documented that Mysterio has been repeatedly haunted by injuries. Chavo had the same problems Kidman had in that he was still very young during most of his WCW run as he was born in 1970 and had the same experience. When WCW ended, Chavo was 31 but only had seven years wrestling. Chavo also lacked charisma and mic skills and while he was good in the ring, he was never as amazing as Eddie was at his best or his legendary family.

There's also how long they were even in WCW. Benoit, Malenko, Kidman, and Guerrero were in WCW for four years which is around the same time Benoit and Guerrero were in the WWE before becoming world champions. Benoit was moving up to the World Title at the time he left and actually won it while Guerrero didn't but Guerrero did have a drug problem while having three near death experiences in 1999. Jericho and Saturn were in WCW for two and a half years. Raven was in for only two. Only Chavo and Mysterio made it to the five year mark. In other words, it's wishful thinking to expect a national company like WCW to give main event pushes to guys who weren't that well known when they came in by the casual fans and with most only lasting two to four years. It's very rare for someone to get a meteoric push immediately after turning pro or just coming into a promotion unless they were a huge star. Sure Goldberg and The Giant got quick pushes but they were the exception, not the norm. Compare it to Booker T and Scott Steiner. Booker T debuted in 1993 and took seven years before making it to the main event in 2000. Steiner first wrestled for WCW when it was still the NWA in 1989 until 1992 when it was WCW and then came back in 1996. Combined, Steiner spent seven years as well before winning the World Title. Even someone like Diamond Dallas Page who people can mock and say what they want but he came in back in 1991 and didn't win the World Title until eight years later in 1999. For younger wrestlers to complain about not being in the main event after only being in a national promotion for two to four years is ridiculous especially when some weren't even in their 30s while they and others didn't even have a decade of experience in wrestling.

Finally, we'll look at their WWE runs after the WCW runs. Did they do a lot better in WWE? The answer is, with the exception of a select few, no. Not only that but some were largely in the same positions they were in when they were in WCW. Benoit and Guerrero did make it to World Championships in WWE and had a big moment closing out Wrestlemania XX but they each only had one moment and that was it as they spent the majority of their WWE runs in the upper midcard as singles and tag team wrestlers. While it is true both were supposed to win World Titles at the time of their deaths, Benoit was set to win the ECW Championship which was the C level championship. Not to mention that with Guerrero being 38 at the time of his death in 2005 and Benoit being 40 at the time of his death in 2007 along with the rise of the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista as well as future names like CM Punk, The Miz, and Edge along with the usual names like Undertaker and Triple H, it's highly unlikely Guerrero and Benoit were really going to have long main event runs in WWE. Maybe if they had lived longer, they could've had more main event moments but it's likely, especially with Benoit, that their 2004 run was their 15 minutes. Also, to be fair to WCW, Guerrero was sober and had conquered his demons for most of his WWE run so he was in a far better state of mind than during the second half of his WCW run. Malenko got two runs with the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship and got a European Championship title shot but didn't do much else. Despite holding the Light Heavyweight Championship for nearly a year during his second reign, he only defended it once on Pay-Per-View (against Scotty Too Hotty at Backlash 2000) and spent most of his short run as a James Bond like guy who pursued Lita. Eventually, Malenko retired by the end of 2001, less than two years into his WWE run to become a road agent/producer which is a role he still has. Perry Saturn started well having two short runs with the WWF Hardcore Championship during it's 24/7 rule run and a run with the WWF European Championship while appearing at Wrestlemania 2000, two Royal Rumbles, and was one of the survivors of his match at the 2000 Survivor Series. Unfortunately, Saturn's WWF run fell apart after getting massive heat for roughing up prelim wrestler Mike Bell after Bell botched some moves. This resulted in Saturn getting buried for most of 2001 where he became a comedy character who became stupid and childlike after too many shots to the head and fell in love with a mop which he admitted he hated. While his career seemed to bounce back in 2002, he quickly suffered an injury right before the brand split and was quietly released.

Raven had a record 28 runs as Hardcore Champion but the title lost what little prestige it had by that point due to the 24/7 rule. After only a year and a half back, Raven was reduced to a color commentator on Sunday Night Heat which he didn't care for and eventually spent the remainder of his run as a jobber before requesting his release in January 2003. Kidman was in the same exact position in WWE that he was in WCW which is Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion. Kidman got four reigns with the Cruiserweight Championship and one reign with the Tag Team Championship with Paul London. Aside from that, Kidman didn't do much else as he was never a contender for the any upper mid card belt like the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship while never coming close to either the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship. Chavo also spent most of his WWE run in the same position which is Cruiserweight Champion and Tag Team Champion. While Chavo was given opportunities to move up with feuds with Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Chris Benoit along with getting title shots at the Intercontinental and United States Titles, he wasn't able to take it to the next level. While he did get a run with the ECW Championship, that was the C level World Title and he lost the title to Kane at Wrestlemania XXIV in only eleven seconds. He then spent the last few years either in an embarrassing comedy feud to mini wrestler Hornswoggle and then appeared as Jack Swagger's mascot: The Swagger Soaring Eagle before eventually requesting his release.

Rey Mysterio did actually enjoy more success by having three World Titles and the Intercontinental Title twice but this didn't come until after Eddie Guerrero's passing. It can be argued that he probably would never have made it to the main event had Guerrero lived as prior to that, he too spent his time in the Cruiserweight division and Tag Team division. While Mysterio did go on to win three world titles, his reigns were booked terribly as he lost more than he won while looking weak during his two reigns as World Heavyweight Champion while his WWE Championship reign literally lasted one hour as he won the vacant title on a episode of RAW and then dropped it to John Cena later. To be fair, Mysterio's WWE run was constantly plagued with injuries to the point where it became a parody. Scott Steiner's WWE return was one of the most disastrous runs of any wrestler in any company. After coming in as a hot free agent, he was thrust into the main event against Triple H despite the fact he hadn't worked full time in nearly two years and still had some health problems including drop foot syndrome. The end result saw Steiner's weaknesses exposed at Royal Rumble 2003 which resulted in the crowd turning on him and the match being a disaster. Following a rematch at No Way Out 2003, Steiner's WWE run never recovered as he was sent to the midcard for the remainder of his run, was not used at either Wrestlemania XIX & Summerslam, and was released a year later while out with an injury he suffered at Royal Rumble 2004 while competing in the Royal Rumble match.

Chris Jericho & The Giant (as The Big Show) both have had successful WWE runs but the runs are apples and oranges as Jericho spent two and a half years in WCW while Giant spent three and a half years in WCW while both have worked on and off for the WWE for eighteen years. Even then, neither guy ever achieved their true potential in the WWE though in the case of Show, that can be attributed to his weight as he suffered with weight issues for most of his WWE run. Jericho enjoyed a lot of success in WWE including six World Title reigns and a record nine Intercontinental as well as main eventing Wrestlemania X-8 but Jericho also felt held back in the WWE with his last three World Title reigns coming years after his peak while his two WCW Title reigns were forgettable and his WWE Undisputed Title reign being one of the worst booked World Title reigns in wrestling history as he played second banana to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon while looking weak and pathetic in his feuds to HHH and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He also was kept out of the main event for much of his prime.

Booker T enjoyed a successful WWE run as he won the World Heavyweight Championship once, a fifth WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and multiple other titles. However, he too felt held back early in his run. While he won a fifth WCW World Heavyweight Championship and main evented Summerslam 2001, his feuds with The Rock & Steve Austin were one sided against him. Meanwhile, his team with Goldust was largely not pushed other than a brief World Tag Team Championship reign despite being one of the most popular acts in the WWE at the time and he was not given the win and World Title over Triple H at Wrestlemania XIX despite Booker being the most popular guy on the RAW brand and WWE doing a racial storyline with Triple H belittling him because he was black. While Booker did get a World Heavyweight Championship run, that was in 2006 when he was 41 and passed his peak in the ring and in popularity. Again, 40 is supposed to be around the time when a wrestler gets "old".

All in all, it's fair to say that given all this that WCW didn't "hold back" their younger wrestlers as people would like to believe. Given all this information, it's more complicated then it looks given certain wrestlers didn't do much better in WWE or had personal problems that damaged their WCW run or were very young & inexperienced or lacked too many things or weren't in the company that long. Meanwhile, we've seen examples of younger wrestlers doing just fine and making it to the top in WCW. To say WCW held back these younger wrestlers isn't correct especially given that they did achieve success and some had issues whether it be limitations or self destructive life styles that prevented them from going further which shouldn't be WCW fault.