10 Brilliant Things From Late WCW

5. Young Talent Finally Given A Chance

One of the biggest criticisms against WCW at their peak was that they weren’t moving enough new talent into key positions. It’s arguable they could still be around in some form had they simply moved Booker T, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr. and Chris Jericho into featured roles all before they left the company.

For all of Vince Russo’s faults for when he took over WCW (of which there were many), he at least tried to push new talent. It wasn’t always the right talent (it often wasn’t), but dammit, he tried!

In those last couple years, longtime veterans like Hugh Morrus and Billy Kidman were made more relevant in the company than they had ever been to that point. They were featured in storylines, they had opportunities to talk on the mic and they were pushed up the card.

We also saw a lot of new faces at the time, which at least helped from the show feeling stale. It may have often been a big mess, but it wasn’t boring. Shane Helms, Elix Skipper, Stacy Keibler, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O’Haire, A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, Nick Dinsmore, Jimmy Wang Yang and Jamie Noble were all introduced to a national audience towards the end of WCW.

So really, the company did contribute a bit to the next few years of professional wrestling even after they folded-up shop. Perhaps we should cut them a little slack.