10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About WCW

Wrestlers jumping ship between WCW and WWE was a Monday Night Wars hallmark and part of what made the era so exciting. From the moment Lex Luger stepped out on Nitro's inaugural episode mere days after his WWE contract had expired, the floodgates were opened, with the likes of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash switching allegiances having demonstrably transformative impacts on both companies' fortunes.

Particularly in their skewed Monday Night War documentary series, WWE talking heads are quick to paint themselves as victims of WCW talent raids here and indeed, Hall, Nash, and Hulk Hogan were game-changers. Regardless, Vince McMahon has no grounds to complain about another promotion "stealing" his wrestlers away.

This has been the WWE Chairman's modus operandi for decades.

WWE's biggest golden era star, Hulk Hogan, was making a name in the AWA before going supernova in Stamford, and much of the company's success in its other boom period, the Attitude Era, was built on the back of an ex-WCW star in Steve Austin. In the '80s, poaching wrestlers from other territories by first putting them on his television, then signing them up, was a big part of McMahon's expansion strategy. In the 2010s, he was so rattled by ITV's World of Sport revival that he created NXT UK and signed every British indie wrestler of note, proving that even in his 70s, this side of Vince may never fade.