10 Greatest WCW Champions Ever

Southern Comfort.

Hulk Hogan
WWE

As he was wont to do at the time, Triple H had a right old laugh burying the WCW World Heavyweight Title as a means to cutting Booker T's legs off during their horrendous 2003 feud - just in case they weren't already reduced to bloody stumps by his racist rhetoric.

The gag was as laboured as one of 'The Game's WrestleMania main events. "5 Time WCW Champion?! DAVID ARQUETTE PMSL, amirite 'Naitch?!" was the usual formula. It was more latent hypocrisy from the man with the exact same 'Big Gold Belt' slung over his shoulder as he aimed to mirror the career of the genuinely iconic figure he kept glued to his heel.

The tired joke was just part of the equally knackered company directive to heap dirt on all things Atlanta despite gobbling up the assets and winning the 'war' years earlier. Taking potshots at the company's final full-year in business was an easier win than usual for Triple H - there was plenty to mock about WCW's soul-destroying final state even if it neglected a glittering legacy of excellence before the collapse.

A caveat - in an effort to steer away from the confusing lineages dating back through the NWA era and during the messy early-1990s split, this list extends to anybody entrusted with any variant of WCW's top prize from Turner's 1988 purchase of Jim Crockett Promotions through to its confirmed demise in 2001.

10. Ricky Steamboat

Hulk Hogan
WWE

Until last year, Ricky Steamboat's 1989 World Heavyweight Title trilogy with Ric Flair was considered the greatest in the history of the industry. Only Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada's instantly iconic series has even came close to it.

Harnessing their consummate babyface/heel dynamic, 'The Nature Boy' and 'The Dragon's opposites attracted like few other pairings; The working class hero and the obnoxious braggart. The technical master and the shortcut maestro. The family man and the 'the styling, profiling, limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, WOOOO wheeling dealing son-of-a-gun'.

Steamboat's grace made him a perfect pitch for a title switch as World Championship Wrestling tried to forge an identity away from the era of the National Wrestling Alliance so heavily defined by Flair. Always destined to drop the title back to 'Slick Ric' at the conclusion of the series, Steamboat's selfless and evocative selling ultimately drew sympathy for his foe as they arrived at their final battle at May's WrestleWar, triggering a Flair babyface turn for his next feud with Terry Funk. Few could have handled the delicate nuances of the booking quite so well.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett