10 WCW Heel Turns That Divided Fans

WCW utilized the storytelling device of a heel turn on quite a few occasions throughout their run. Certain heel turns were viewed as universally successful scenarios like when Hulk Hogan formed the New World Order. However, some of the other turns led to the reaction split both at the time and in the long-term future today.

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Few wrestling companies are discussed as much as WCW with all the podcasts and online content about wrestling history. Fans have more of a voice these days when it comes to breaking down the ups and downs from WCW. The WCW fan base was split down the middle when the following wrestlers tried to turn heel.

10 Goldberg

WCW took a big risk by turning Goldberg heel when he returned from an injury in the summer of 2000. The New Blood storyline saw most of the younger wrestlers banding together as a heel act to feud with the Millionaire’s Club of older names.

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Goldberg costing Kevin Nash the WCW Championship led to him being heel for the first time in his career. Most fans hated this since it took away a great return everyone was excited about. However, there was some optimism that Goldberg could excel in a new role, but that ended up not happening.

9 The Giant

The New World Order instantly became the hottest story in wrestling when Hulk Hogan turned heel to start the hostile takeover with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. This felt like the right combination for the act to work, but WCW made a controversial move shortly after.

A shocking heel turn saw The Giant turning on his former Dungeon of Doom teammates to become the fourth nWo member. The thought to add more members after the original three started to lose some fans, but others were fascinated to see a dominant big man joining them.

8 Miss Elizabeth

WCW signing Miss Elizabeth was a surprising move since she had not appeared for WWE in years and was no longer married to Randy Savage. However, that played a little into the angle bringing her into WCW. Fans first assumed Elizabeth would continue managing Savage since few knew about the divorce.

Savage having Elizabeth in his corner led to a heel turn helping Ric Flair defeat him. The positive of this was that it played into their old WWE story, but many fans felt Elizabeth didn’t make sense as a heel that barely talked.

7 David Arquette

David Arquette becoming the WCW Champion will always be criticized as an all-time bad idea. However, WCW did try to make some changes with Arquette by the end of that run. A triple cage match between Arquette, Jeff Jarrett and Diamond Dallas Page played into the Ready to Rumble movie since that stipulation was used there.

WCW used this to turn Arquette heel by helping Jarrett win the WCW Championship and stabbing Page in the back. The silly payoff could be argued as the best -case scenario since it was easier to boo Arquette. However, many people felt it further harmed the reputation of WCW moving forward.

6 Scott Steiner

The decision to end a legendary tag team will be polarizing by nature given all the variables involved. WCW did this when Scott Steiner betrayed his brother Rick Steiner to join the New World Order after over a year of feuding with them.

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There were many upset fans that the Steiner Brothers were ending after having arguably the best tag team run in WCW history. Scott changing his look up to enhance his singles career did lead to more success down the line to make it all worth it.

5 Bret Hart

WCW was in complete desperation mode by the end of 1999 heading into 2000 significantly behind WWE in the Monday Night Wars. Bret Hart turning heel was a huge move that was meant to set up bigger thing for WCW starting the new millennium.

The New World Order reformed with the nWo 2000 version of Bret leading Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner. There was some excitement since WCW needed something new, but others turned away from the start with the weak swerves starting it poorly.

4 Jimmy Hart

The legendary managing career of Jimmy Hart is often associated most with Hulk Hogan. WWE pairing them together allowed Hart to manage the biggest star and add a new dynamic to the act. Hogan made sure that Hart was signed by WCW when Hulk jumped ship with a lot of influence.

WCW kept Hart as Hogan’s manager for a few months before a shocking heel turn. Hart helping The Giant win the WCW Championship via DQ saw him adding a clause in Hogan’s contract. WCW had a mixed reaction of fans not like the sloppy booking vs those that enjoyed a wild swerve to change things up.

3 Lex Luger

The Wolfpac version of the New World Order created a face act that fans were able to cheer. Sting and Lex Luger joining the Wolfpac under Kevin Nash’s leadership made them mega-faces since two of WCW’s most beloved stars joined the act.

However, it was a bigger shock when Luger stayed with the group when the nWo Elite merged the Wolfpac and Hollywood as heels. Lex turning heel saw him adding a new dynamic when helping them attack Goldberg. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mistake as Luger was never relevant as he was as a face again.

2 Curt Hennig

WCW made Curt Hennig a pivotal part of the show when instantly joining the Four Horsemen vs New World Order feud. Arn Anderson naming Hennig as his replacement in the Horsemen was a feel-good moment that made the group feel more important than it had in years.

This was a swerve when Hennig turned on the Horsemen to join the nWo in a War Games match. Many fans enjoyed the ruthless nature of Hennig slamming a cage door on Ric Flair’s head to turn heel. However, most viewed it as a disappointing turn that ruined the Horsemen and made him just another member of the nWo.

1 Sting

The reputation of Sting saw him thriving most as the face of WCW. Fans loved Sting since it felt like his journey breaking out as a top star helped build the foundation of WCW in an organic way. WCW took the big risk of turning Sting heel for the first time in 1999.

The stalled product required some risks like Sting cheating Hulk Hogan out of the WCW Championship to turn heel. Most fans still cheered, and Sting didn’t get boos to make it not last beyond another month. However, some diehard WCW fans look back at this time fondly for such a different version of Sting.