12 Misconceptions About WCW You Probably Believe
7. They Didn’t Create Homegrown Stars
This entry falls in line with WWE once crying that WCW was little more than a tribute to the WWF's past. After all, they had Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and a string of midcarders who had been cherished parts of Vince McMahon's product through the 1980s into the 90s. Those folks down in Atlanta were lazily rehashing everything fans had seen before on Wrestling Challenge, Superstars and Raw.
Obviously, WCW wanted some of the established Hulkamania magic when they signed Hogan in his red and yellow guise in 1994. That's without doubt. However, the idea that World Championship Wrestling never created any homegrown stars of its own is ridiculous. It always has been. What about Bill Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T and more?! Hell, even The Giant/Big Show was a WCW product years before he was chokeslamming fools over in the WWF/WWE.
Those are the big hitters. Look to the undercard and you'll see more examples like Disco Inferno, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and more. Did they all fulfil their potential in WCW? Nah, but the McMahons wouldn't have been interested in some of them had they not made waves on Nitro and WCW pay-per-view first.
Calling out your competitor for maximising value on established stars you'd built, then doing exactly the same thing without irony is sure something. WWE signed Goldberg, DDP, Booker, Jericho, Mysterio, Benoit, Guerrero and countless others because they had credibility born from doing well on the other channel.
They'd like you to forget that. Men In Black flashing memory wipes incoming.