5 Forgotten Debuts Of WCW Superstars

At it's peak in 1998, the amount of employees on WCW payroll was staggering. Crazier still, a number of the wrestlers on contract weren't even appearing on TV at the time and people like Lanny Poffo were being paid simply because the office didn't realise.

With so much wasted money being spent frivolously in the late 1990s, it's incredible to hear that some of the best talents on their roster had been left to slip through their fingers just years before. In fact, some of WCW’s biggest and best stars actually made their debuts in Atlanta several years prior without being signed to long-term contracts.

While main event players like Kevin Nash and Scott Hall both had less than spectacular spells in WCW prior to their huge run as the New World Order years later, the infamy of their booking during the early 90s has been well-documented. However, they weren’t the only ones to get a momentary shot at the big time before eventually making it to the spotlight.

So fire up the WWE Network and get settled in as we look back at the forgotten WCW debuts of some of the WCW's most prolific stars.

Dean Malenko’s stint as Cruiserweight kingpin in WCW was without doubt a career highlight for “The Shooter”; however, it wasn’t the stone-faced technician’s first foray into Turner territory. Tagging with brother, Joe Malenko, in the first round of the NWA World Tag Team Title tournament, Dean made his first appearance for WCW in 1992 at Clash of the Champions XIX.

That night, the siblings would face off against the main event pairing of Nikita Koloff and Ricky Steamboat in the opening contest of show. Billed as representing Europe (based on father Boris Malenko’s kayfabe upbringing), Dean Malenko appeared noticeably different to how he would in his prime; sporting full leg tights and kickpads and looking more like Lance Storm than "The Man of a Thousand Holds".

Despite a strong showing by the newcomers, this would be a one and done for the Malenkos as a tag team in WCW. They would instead travel the world as a team - including a brief stint tagging in ECW where they would notably face off against Sabu and The Tazmaniac in late ‘94 - before Joe would take a step back from in-ring competition in ‘96.

Dean wouldn’t appear in WCW again until August of 1995, squaring off against long-time ECW rival and close friend, Eddie Guerrero, on WCW Saturday Night. Meanwhile, Joe would return to WCW just once more in a segment with Chris Jericho during the great Jericho/Malenko feud of 1998.