20 Mind-Blowing Facts About WCW
18. Hulk Hogan Held The WCW Title The Longest
In just 6 years as a WCW employee, Hulk Hogan captured the top title in the company on 6 different occasions, holding the belt for a combined 1,177 days, the longest combined reign in the promotion's history. For a lot of people, the signing of Hogan signified a change in WCW's mentality.
Steeped in NWA tradition, WCW was often regarded as the more wrestling-centric company, certainly when compared to the more "Sports Entertainment" nuances prevalent in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation, ironic given the name. Upon contracting the Hulk, that mindset seemed to change somewhat.
At the 1994 Spring Stampede event, Ric Flair met Ricky Steamboat in what was pretty much a pro wrestling clinic. Fast forward just a few short months, at the Bash At The Beach Pay-Per-View, and things were taking an altogether different turn - defeating Flair for WCW Title reign number one, Hogan brought with him WWF sensibilities, and WCW as a company rarely looked back.