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)

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.