5 Biggest WCW stars Vince McMahon signed before buying the company, and 5 he signed after

The WCW buyout in March 2001 is regarded as one of the most important events in the history of professional wrestling. The moment marked the end of the Monday Night Wars that we had been witnessing for almost the entirety of the second half of the 90s, between WCW Nitro and WWE RAW.

There was a period of time during the war when Nitro was trumping RAW in weekly ratings, and things weren't looking good for WWE. A string of stars jumped ship from WWE to WCW and vice versa, before the 2001 buyout. On the other hand, WWE brought in several big former WCW stars after the company went down. In this slideshow, we will take a look at 5 WCW stars Vince McMahon signed before WCW died, specifically during the Monday Night Wars, and 5 he signed after.

#5 Eddie Guerrero (before)

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Eddie Guerrero jumped ship to WWE in January 2000, along with Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko. The quartet dubbed themselves as The Radicalz and had a brief stint together on the main roster.

They soon separated and Eddie went on to become one of the most beloved WWE Superstars ever. He won the WWE title at No Way Out 2004 by defeating Brock Lesnar, and successfully defended it against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 20. Eddie tragically passed away in November 2005 at the age of 38, due to acute heart failure.

#5 Rey Mysterio (after)

WWE signed Rey Mysterio in the spring of 2002, and he defeated Chavo Guerrero in his debut match. Mysterio became an incredibly popular Superstar in WWE and went on to win the World title at WrestleMania 22.

He won several other mid-card titles as well, and is still currently working as an active competitor on WWE RAW. Mysterio's WWE and WCW accomplishments have secured a spot in the Hall of Fame for him somewhere down the line.

#4 X-Pac (before)

At WrestleMania 14, Shawn Michaels lost the WWE title to Stone Cold and took a long hiatus due to his injuries. This led to Triple H overtaking him as the leader of DX the next night on RAW. Known as Syxx in WCW, Sean Waltman made his WWE return as X-Pac and joined Triple H's faction to a huge pop from the audience.

DX had already become one of the biggest factions in the industry by that time, and the new and improved version of the stable only helped its case. Waltman remained a strong mid-card act for the remainder of his WWE run.

#4 Scott Steiner (after)

Around two years after WCW's death, Scott Steiner signed with WWE in late 2002, debuting at Survivor Series. He attacked Matt Hardy and Christopher Nowinski at the event and was soon pushed to the main event in a feud with Triple H.

The duo fought for Triple H's World title at Royal Rumble and No Way Out, with The Game managing to come out with the title still secure in his hand. The matches were heavily criticized and this was it for Scott Steiner in terms of a push on WWE RAW. He was relegated to the mid-card for the rest of his WWE run.

#3 Chris Benoit (before)

Chris Benoit left WCW and debuted in WWE in January 2000

Chris Benoit was another big name who left WCW and came to WWE as a part of The Radicalz. Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko didn't do much of note on the main roster, but Benoit and Eddie Guerrero went on to become World Champions.

WrestleMania 20 was centered around the 20-year struggle of Benoit and Eddie and ended with Benoit winning the World title from Triple H and hugging it out with his best friend in one of the most heartwarming moments in the history of professional wrestling.

#3 Ric Flair (after)

Ric Flair is a former WCW World Champion

After Vince's McMahon's WWE defeated The Alliance at Survivor Series 2001, Ric Flair made his return to WWE and revealed that he was now the co-owner of WWE along with Vince McMahon. This led to a Street Fight between the two at the Royal Rumble PPV, which Flair won. Flair later joined forces with Triple and the duo formed Evolution, one of the greatest factions of all time, consisting of Batista and Randy Orton as well.

Flair retired from WWE following his WrestleMania 24 match against Shawn Michaels. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before.

#2 Big Show (before)

Big Show parted ways with WCW in the late 90s

After an impressive stint in WCW, Big Show made an explosive debut at WWE St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House. He interfered in the Steel Cage match between Stone Cold and Vince McMahon, throwing Austin on one side of the cage, This led to the cage breaking and Austin falling to the floor, thus winning the match. Big Show cemented himself as a heel and was a major WWE attraction for the next several years.

Big Show is a 4-time World Champion in WWE and has had memorable rivalries with the likes of Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and The Undertaker. For the past four years or so, he has been making part-time appearances for the company.

#2 Hulk Hogan (after)

Hulk Hogan enjoyed success in both WWE and WCW

On the road to WrestleMania 18, Vince McMahon promised that he would kill his own creation, WWE, by injecting it with a dose of lethal poison. This turned out to be nWo, WCW's notorious faction. Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash made their WWE debut as nWo and Hogan went on to have a classic with The Rock at WrestleMania 18.

Hogan's popularity was still soaring high, which prompted WWE to give him another WWE title run. He won the title by defeating Triple H at Backlash 2002, and lost it soon after to The Undertaker, at Judgment Day.

#1 Chris Jericho (before)

Chris Jericho was a Cruiserweight in WCW

Former WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho's appearance on an episode of RAW in 1999 is widely regarded as one of the greatest debuts of all time. He introduced himself as a guy who had come to save WWE. Jericho had a verbal exchange with The Rock in one of the most memorable moments in RAW history.

He had a way bigger and successful career in WWE than he ever had in WCW, and won several World titles during his stint. Jericho is still going strong as a top star in AEW, more than two decades after his WWE debut.

#1 Goldberg (after)

Former WCW World Champion Goldberg made his WWE debut on the RAW after WrestleMania 19 and speared The Rock, the man he later defeated at Backlash 2003. He won the World title from Triple H months later and went on to defeat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 20 in his last match.

Goldberg returned to WWE in 2016 and squashed Lesnar at Survivor Series. He has won the Universal title on two occasions since and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.

Edited by Kaushik Das