5 matches that took place in both WWE and WCW

It has been almost two decades since WCW went out of business and was bought off by Vince McMahon. The end of WCW also marked the end of possibly the greatest era in the history of professional wrestling. The Attitude Era saw WWE and WCW battle in a weekly rating war, with WCW once managing to defeat WWE for 83 straight weeks.

One thing that was a constant at the time was WWE Superstars jumping ship to WCW to revive their careers or start from scratch, and vice versa. This resulted in several instances where we got to witness a certain battle on both brands.

In this article, we will take a look at five matches from the past that took place in WWE as well as in WCW.

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#5 Booker T vs Finlay

Booker T vs Finlay

Finlay competed in WCW for the entirety of the latter half of the 90s. In 1998, he was given a push, resulting in him winning the WCW World TV title by pinning Booker T on an episode of Nitro. Soon after, Finlay lost the title to Booker at Bash at the Beach, following which the rivalry died down.

Years later, Booker T won the King of the Ring tournament in WWE and began calling himself 'King Booker'. Finlay, along with William Regal, became Booker's loyal subject. He was knighted by Booker and used the moniker of Sir Finlay for a short while. Finlay soon set his eyes on Booker's World title. He went on to defeat the champion in a non-title match on an episode of SmackDown. At No Mercy, Finlay failed to capture the World title from Booker in a Fatal Four-Way Match, that also featured Batista and Bobby Lashley.

#4 Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio

Eddie and Mysterio

WCW's Cruiserweight division was a major highlight of its weekly shows during the Monday Night Wars. The division featured stars such as Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Jericho, who would go on to become champions in WWE. In 1997, Mysterio got into a feud with real-life friend Eddie Guerrero, who was the Cruiserweight Champion at the time. Mysterio won the title at Halloween Havoc but lost it back to Guerrero on an episode of Nitro. The duo fought at World War 3, where Rey lost again.

In 2005, Mysterio and Guerrero were Tag Team Champions on SmackDown. The two champions went on to have a match at WrestleMania 21, which Mysterio won. Eddie soon turned heel and the two Superstars had a months-long feud which culminated at SummerSlam 2005, where Mysterio defeated Guerrero to win the custody of his son Dominick.

#3 Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior

Hogan vs Warrior

WrestleMania 6 saw possibly the biggest match in the history of this business headlining the event. Hulk Hogan met The Ultimate Warrior in a Champion vs Champion match, in front of a sold-out Skydome. Hogan lost and the match was billed as a "Passing of the torch" moment. Warrior's backstage issues with Vince McMahon prevented him from becoming the face of WWE for long, and he left the company soon after.

Years later, Hogan had turned heel in WCW, in what many still dub as the biggest heel turn of all time. He had formed the nWo alongside Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. In 1998, The Ultimate Warrior arrived in WCW to face Hogan again. The two Superstars had a match at Halloween Havoc, which Hogan ended up winning, after his nephew, Horace Hogan hit Warrior with a steel chair.

#2 Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Brian Pillman

Austin and Pillman went at each other in both promotions during the 90s

Before becoming a megastar in WWE, Stone Cold was a glorified mid-carder in WCW. Soon after he debuted in WCW, Steve Austin joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance. He later formed a tag team with Brian Pillman and the duo won the Unified NWA and WCW Tag Team titles by defeating Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas. Pillman was soon betrayed by Austin and the two went on to battle at Clash of the Champions XXV, which Austin won. The Rattlesnake was fired by Eric Bischoff a while later, as he didn't find Austin 'marketable'.

Years later in WWE, the two stars got into another heated rivalry, resulting in the infamous "Pillman's got a gun" segment, which was one of the key moments in WWE's move towards more mature programming.

#1 Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair

Ric Flair came to WWE in 1991 and it seemed like the fans would get the dream match between Flair and Hogan at the next WrestleMania. This didn't happen though, and the match remained a pipe dream. The two went on to compete in WCW years later, with Hogan defeating him to win the World title at Bash at the Beach 1994.

Fast forward to 2002. Hogan had come back to WWE and his popularity resulted in WWE giving him another run with the WWE title, albeit for a very short period. On an episode of Monday Night Raw, Hogan defended his WWE title against Ric Flair. Stone Cold Steve Austin interfered in the match during the closing moments, which resulted in Hogan bagging a pin to retain the title.