20 Must-See WCW Matches

For eight months in 1997, the rivalry between upper mid-card babyface, Diamond Dallas Page, and the hated (yet respected) heel, Randy Savage, was arguably the best thing on WCW programming.

Personal, heated and, most of all, new, the feud was refreshing and the elevation of DDP as a big time player made for great TV. Savage and Page owned WCW at the time; in large part due to the actions of the Macho Man.

At this point, the unpredictable Randy Savage was really pushing the envolope as a heel, having just joined the nWo in February that year. As a result of allegiance with the New World Order, Savage had become more volatile on TV; leading to physical altercation at Uncensored (also involving Page’s wife, Kimberley). The feud immediately went up a notch with DDP claiming Savage had now made it personal.

The personal nature of the rivalry led to their match match at Spring Stampede being made a “No DQ” bout, allowing the questionable tactics of Savage to continue into the PPV and bell-to-bell; with Savage man-handling ring announcers, beating up referees and generally tearing the rule book in half.

The match was wild - mirroring the feud at the time - and widely considered as the moment DDP took the final step from mid-card to main event talent. Meanwhile, the rivalry would go on to win “Feud of the Year” for 1997 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, leading to DDP also gaining the #4 ranking in the PWI 500 that year; with a big assist to Randy Savage on both counts.