5 WCW rejects who became megastars in WWE
The March 26th, 2001 edition of Monday Night RAW was a moment that has been etched in the minds of professional wrestling fans. The special edition of the red brand was presented as a RAW and Nitro simulcast, with Vince McMahon announcing that he had finally won the Monday Night Wars.
Taking over the competition hadn't come easy for Vince, as he had to endure years of trauma and fear of losing to WCW. There was a time during the Attitude Era when WWE was registering poor ratings on a regular basis, while WCW was knocking it out of the park.
Thankfully, a string of decisions resulted in McMahon being able to fend off the rival and win the Monday Night Wars. Perhaps the most significant decision of them all was to push a bunch of Superstars who were nothing more than jobbers to the stars in WCW. The practice didn't stop after WCW folded, and Vince went on to create popular Superstars out of WCW rejects.
Let's take a look at five Superstars who failed in WCW, but went on to become pro-wrestling legends in WWE.
Also read: 5 dream matches and why WWE canceled them
#5 Mick Foley
In WCW, Mick Foley once lost sensation in his left foot after a match against Vader. His absence was explained by an angle which stated that he had gone crazy and was institutionalized. Foley was hoping for a serious angle and was upset with what had transpired. In his book Have A Nice Day, he went on to bash WCW executives for poorly handling his character.
In an infamous match against Vader in Germany, Foley lost his ear and wanted WCW to build an angle around it, which they refused. Foley never got past the mid-card in WCW and won the Tag Team Title on one occasion. Post-departure, Foley had a brief stint in ECW and went on to become WWE Champion in Vince McMahon's promotion.
You can call it coincidence or karma, but it was Foley's WWE championship win against the Rock on RAW which tilted the television ratings in WWE's favor. WCW made the blunder of announcing the result of Foley's pretaped encounter with the Rock on air. This prompted fans around the world to switch channels to witness Foley making history.
WCW never quite recovered, eventually surrendering the advantage to WWE.