15 Times WCW Was Better Than Literally EVERYTHING
13. Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio Dazzle
Eric Bischoff deserves a ton of praise for injecting some lucha flavour to WCW programming in the mid-90s. Inspired by some of the work he'd seen over in Mexico, Bisch knew that fans tuning into episodes of Nitro would appreciate seeing a wealth of international workhorses and high-flyers. Handily, that'd also rescue the Cruiserweight division and turn it into a real gleaming gem of the overall product.
Things arguably peaked at Halloween Havoc 1997 when Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero worked one of the best matches of all time over the Cruiser belt. Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hogan inside a cage and a rematch pitting Randy Savage vs. DDP might've been the biggest lures, but most people remember Havoc '97 for Rey and Eddie's tantalising midcard battle.
Their 'Title vs. Mask' match proved to be one of the tidiest and most complete Cruiserweight Title matches in history. Both had already wowed fans and become known for in-ring excellence, but perception of Guerrero and Rey-Rey heightened after this pay-per-view showdown. There's no doubt that it caused a snowball effect which eventually led to both becoming top tier players over in WWE years later.
Such heights perhaps couldn't have been reached without this sort of exhibition. It was a gallery of lucha-inspired genius, and you couldn't see anything close to it on federation midcards in 1997. WCW's Cruiserweight division was so ridiculously good that the McMahons tried to mimic it with the WWF's Light-Heavyweight prize later in the year.
That'd fail, but inspiration is inspiration. Aspiring to let talent put on matches as good as Guerrero vs. Mysterio should hardly be sniffed at.