10 Greatest Things About WCW’s Final Year

10. Two Great Rivals Get One More Match

Was it Sting vs. Flair from Clash of the Champions '88 or StarrCade '89? No, for both men were very different performers at very different stages in their careers when they tangled for the last time, but that doesn't stop Sting and Flair's battle on the final ever episode of WCW Nitro being a fantastic moment in pro wrestling history.

Flair had been pivotal in getting Sting to that next level and to becoming a true main event talent back at the tail end of the 1980s, and in 2001 we saw the Stinger return the favour by giving Flair what was at the time described as one last hurrah.

Of course, Flair would end up wrestling until 2008 with WWE and then until 2011 with TNA, but that 2001 bout was genuinely special - even more-so due to these long-time rivals having not had a one-on-one match for five years by that point.

Doing the honours, Flair would tap out to Sting's patented Scorpion Deathlock on that final Nitro, and the pair would have an emotional post-match embrace that was the absolute perfect bookend to World Championship Wrestling's run.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 6th Oct 2020

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