10 of WCW's dirtiest scandals.
It's been nearly two decades since the once-popular promotion was bought by WWE, but the scandals live on.
From its first growing pains on Superstation WTBS to its death throes on TNT, the WCW promotion seemed to flirt with controversy. The now-defunct promotion exists only on reruns available on the WWE network. Despite the fact that WCW went the way of the wild goose nearly twenty years ago, people still like to talk about it.
Given that there's a new, upstart wrestling promotion on the horizon -- All Elite Wrestling -- WCW has re-entered the sphere of conversation surrounding sports entertainment. There were many things that stood out about WCW during its heyday. For one, it was the source of the NWO gimmick, which is perhaps one of the most successful, if overused, wrestling stables in history. Another thing that set WCW apart was its strong tag team division and the cruiserweights, two things that current promotions seem to have difficulty marketing well.
And of course, you can't have a successful business without a scandal or two. Or three. Or, in the case of this list, ten. Here are ten of the dirtiest scandals that have plagued WCW over its years of operation.
Scandal #1: Huge star Ric Flair fired by novice promoter, shows up on WWE television WITH the WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt.
Our first scandal erupted almost from the get-go in WCW. When Ted Turner bought out JC Productions--which owned most of the NWA territories and the contracts of the wrestlers--he made a number of controversial decisions. Protective padding was removed from ringside to give it a more 'old school' feel, and moves from the top rope were forbidden.
While those two rules were real head-scratchers, the worst decision of all was firing the biggest star in the company. At the time, Nature Boy Ric Flair had multiple NWA world heavyweight champion reigns and was indisputably the most recognizable figure the newly christened WCW had under contract. But Ted Turner appointee Jim Herd was, for whatever reason, unable to come to terms with Ric Flair. He fired the nature boy and demanded that he return the WCW title belt.
However, what Jim Herd didn't realize was that the belt was, in fact, Ric Flair's property. He had purchased the belt years earlier so the NWA could use it, feeling that the original NWA title lacked 'flair.' It was customary for the champion to pay a ten thousand dollar deposit on the belt, and Flair demanded Herd pay up before the belt would be returned. Jim Herd refused, and shortly after the WCW title belt wound up on WWE television. Ric Flair called it 'the REAL world's championship' and even though the NWA or WCW were never directly referenced, fans knew what was up. Having your world title wind up on the rival's programming? Definitely scandalous.
Even though the WCW were equally guilty of doing the same with a certain Alundra Blayze or Medusa, she was popularly known as, Flair did it at a time when when it almost equated to being a crine.
The Nature boy can be seen in the video below explaining the course of his action: