10 Shocking WCW Plans That Almost Happened

6. The Nature Boy Is No More - Arise, Spartacus!

Team Canada WCW
WWE.com

What do you do when you've got a talent who many deem to be the greatest professional wrestler in the history of the business? Why, if you're former WCW EVP Jim Herd, you plan to completely disregard this legendary career and serve up a gimmick change based around the character of Spartacus.

Back in 1990, Herd had the absolute insane idea to scrap the entire Nature Boy act - which, let's face it, is very much real life rather than any sort of act - and have Ric Flair take on the Spartacus mantle.

From a 2019 edition of his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross explained:

"It was so ridiculous... when it’s coming from your boss who has this misguided notion that you need a makeover, a total makeover with a ring and being named Spartacus. It wasn’t a Spartacus look or Spartacus-like. No, no. The Nature Boy is going to be gone. Spartacus is going to be here. I was dreading the minuscule possibility that could have happened because I could not see nor hear myself calling Ric Flair anything but Ric Flair, the Nature Boy. Naitch and not Spartacus. It was an embarrassment.”

For Flair, this was enough to have him eyeing the WCW exit door, and it came as no real surprise to those involved that the Dirtiest Player in the Game made his way to the World Wrestling Federation in 1991.

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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 dayjob, 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, Jamie Hayer, 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.