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When WWE and WCW were battling for rating supremacy, we saw a number of wrestlers move between the two promotions to varying degrees of success. The excitement of a WCW wrestler making their WWE debut is something we haven't had since WWE bought their rivals in 2001.
Today, we pay tribute to the battle between WWE and WCW, and take a look at a number of Superstars who moved between the two promotions to take a look at which Superstars were bigger stars after moving, and some who were not.
#5 Not a bigger star after moving to WWE - Lance Storm
Lance Storm found quite a bit of success in WCW, especially as the leader of Team Canada.
He won the WCW United States Championship, WCW Hardcore Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship soon after his debut and held all three titles at once at one point. This makes Lance Storm the only person in WCW history to ever hold three titles at once.
After purchasing WCW in 2001, WWE brought in Storm but he never found the same success in the Fed.
Despite his obvious genius in the ring, WWE never really gave Storm a chance to shine. It is believed that those backstage thought that Storm didn’t have enough personality.
Despite finding some success in WWE, it never matched that early success in WCW. He left WWE in 2005 and started the Storm Wrestling Academy where he has helped train the likes of Tyler Breeze and Rachel Ellering.
#5 Bigger star after moving to WWE - Gregory Helms
Greogory Helms’ WCW contract was one of the 25 that were included in the deal that saw WWE purchase their former rivals.
Helms wrestled in the Cruiserweight division for most of his run in WCW and was a former Cruiserweight and Hardcore Champion. Helms also wrestled on the last ever episode of Monday Nitro where he retained the Cruiserweight Championship against Chavo Guerrero.
Helms made his WWE debut as part of the Invasion angle but soon adopted the persona that is still loved by fans today - The Hurricane.
Under The Hurricane’s mask, Helms became one of the most popular performers in the company at that point, and won a number of titles including an European Championship as well as tag-team gold.
The Hurricane’s last WWE appearance came at the 2018 Royal Rumble. Helms was working as a backstage producer in WWE until earlier this year.
#4 Not a bigger star after moving to WWE - Mike Awesome
Mike Awesome was one of the top guys in ECW when WCW managed to sign him in April 2000. He made a surprise appearance on Nitro, coming out and attacking Kevin Nash and aligning himself with the New Blood.
Despite Mike Awesome’s run in WCW not being all that it could have, with the man being saddled with a number of terrible gimmicks including ‘That 70s guy’.
However, he did have a number of PPV appearances and big matches during his time in the company which is nowhere close to what he achieved when he moved to WWE.
Despite debuting as part of The Invasion angle and winning the Hardcore Championship on his debut, that was as good as it got for Awesome in WWE. He ended up leaving WWE in 2002 after he was released and blamed backstage politics in a 2003 interview, revealing that he was “so happy when I was told I was gone”.
#4 Bigger star after moving to WWE - Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero was one of the wrestlers Eric Bischoff brought in WCW’s legendary cruiserweight division. Despite his obvious talent, Guerrero never really managed to break through the glass ceiling because of the backstage politics there and the bigger stars holding on to their spot on the top of the card.
This led to Eddie Guerrero and the rest of The Radicalz leaving WCW when their contracts ended and showing up on RAW together in the crowd.
Guerrero went on to become a fan favourite in WWE and has inspired countless current Superstars including Sasha Banks.
Guerrero won the Intercontinental Championship, the Tag-Team Championships as well as the WWE Championship. He was entered into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 after his untimely death.
#3 Not a bigger star after moving to WWE - Perry Saturn
Unlike his fellow Radicalz member Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn didn’t really get a chance to shine after moving to WWE. After The Radicalz went their separate ways, Saturn started to fall down the card.
Things got even worse after Saturn lost his cool during the middle of a match on WWE Jakked. Saturn’s opponent Mike Bell messed up a snapmare. This led to Saturn legitimately snapping and attacking Bell. Saturn almost ended up dropping Bell on his head but thankfully he escaped without serious injury.
Vince McMahon was livid and Saturn probably got the mop gimmick as a punishment because of the Mike Bell incident. Saturn injured his ACL soon after this and was released in November 2002.
#3 Bigger star after moving to WWE - Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio was another one of Eric Bischoff’s brilliant signings for WCW’s Cruiserweright division. WWE tried to copy its success with its own light heavyweight division but couldn’t match up to the talent WCW had in that department. WCW made the massive mistake of unmasking Mysterio later on in his run with the company.
Mysterio signed with WWE in mid-2002, making his debut in July. He was back under a mask for his WWE run and this was one of the best decisions WWE made.
Mysterio was a fan favourite in WWE and despite his size, got pushed to the main event level because of how good he was at what he did.
He won the 2006 Royal Rumble after close friend Eddie Guerrero’s untimely death and went on to win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
Mysterio has gone on to become a WWE legend, winning a whole host of titles. He recently wrestled at WWE Extreme Rules against Seth Rollins but is currently out of contract.
#2 Not a bigger star after moving to WWE - Billy Kidman
Billy Kidman was one of the few younger stars WCW tried to push. Kidman was a part of some big angles during the New Blood storyline and won the WCW Cruiserweight title as well as multiple tag-team titles during his run in the company. He wrestled some of WCW’s biggest names including Kevin Nash and even Hulk Hogan.
However, after WCW closed down and Kidman signed with WWE, he never got into any top storylines. He wrestled in the cruiserweight division early on and later formed a fairly successful tag-team with Paul London. Kidman was released from his WWE contract in 2005 and later returned to work as a producer.
#2 Bigger star after moving to WWE - Chris Jericho
Next up on our list is Chris Jericho. Jericho was always entertaining during his WCW run but he never got the chance to rise up the cards. Despite getting a decent amount of promo time, Jericho felt like there was a level he could never rise above which led him to sign with WWE in 2000.
Although Jericho’s WWE debut was one of the most memorable in the company’s history, the first part of his run in the company was a little rocky. Jericho finally got used to the way WWE did things and the rest is history. Jericho is one of the most successful Superstars in WWE history and is widely regarded as a wrestling genius.
Jericho is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling and is still at the top of his game aged 49.
#1 Not a bigger star after moving to WWE - Diamond Dallas Page
Despite starting to wrestle in his 30’s, Diamond Dallas Page cemented himself as one of WCW’s biggest homegrown stars during the Monday Night Wars. His battles with the NWO made him a fan favorite and he is a 3-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion as well as a former Tag-Team Champion and US Champion.
When WWE bought WCW, fans waited for DDP to arrive. DDP was one of the few big WCW stars who accepted a buyout of their WCW contracts to sign with WWE.
Making his debut in 2001, he was immediately launched into a feud with The Undertaker, debuting as The Deadman’s stalker. Despite what looked like a promising start, Page was pretty much buried soon after and was even pinned by Undertaker’s ex-wife Sara, with held from The Deadman.
DDP won one European Championship and a Tag-Team Championship during his short WWE run before retiring in 2002.
DDP has gone on to form DDP Yoga and has helped a number of ex-wrestlers including Scott Hall and Jake Roberts. He currently makes occasional appearances in AEW and is mostly busy with DDP Yoga.
#1 Bigger star after moving to WWE - The Undertaker
The Undertaker made his WCW debut way back in 1989 as Mean Mark Callous. However, when it was time to renegotiate his contract, he was told that no one would ever pay to watch him wrestle. This led him to leave WCW and sign with WWE in 1990.
He debuted as The Undertaker at Survivor Series that year and has gone on to cement a legacy as one of the greatest to have ever stepped foot in the squared circle. His streak at WrestleMania is the stuff of legends and he has racked up 7 world titles, a Royal Rumble win and a host of other titles during his WWE career.
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