Ranking Every Major Monday Night Wars Jump From WORST To BEST
4. The Radicalz
In which the WWF stripped WCW of its last semblance of identity.
WCW—and its antecedent, Jim Crockett Promotions—was always considered by its ardent fanbase the purer, grittier, technically advanced pro wrestling league. In one shocking rebellion-cum-coup, the WWF, in capturing the men that made up the Radicalz faction, formalised WCW’s descent into chaos and confusion: what even was WCW anymore? Following this defection, which lit up the WWF’s midcard, it was an even more inferior version of sports entertainment.
On the January 31, 2000 RAW, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko arrived at ringside to take in the New Age Outlaws Vs. Head Cheese—before establishing themselves as faces with a blitzkrieg of the aerial offence that defined them as hardcore darlings with the buzz of controversy.
Subsequent appearances were mixed—the Radicalz starred in superb individual showcases in a legendary RAW 10-man tag after a weird, very WWF failure of a mettle-test on the February 1 SmackDown—but the net result was a total kill-shot.