5 Best WCW Wrestlers Of 1997 (& The 5 Worst)

1996 represented WCW's arrival in the big time. That year, The nWo sparked a revolution, unlike anything the sport had seen before. WCW would ride that positive momentum into 1997, where their dominance over WWE would continue. While WWE featured the rise of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 1997, WCW countered with two huge storylines of their own.

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The first was the ongoing story of Sting's quest to save WCW from The nWo. The second would be the heated rivalry between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and the up-and-coming Diamond Dallas Page. While those storylines and competitors kept WCW red hot in 1997, that year would also feature some less than stellar WCW competitors.

10 Best: Lex Luger

In the late 80s, Lex Luger joined WCW and immediately started being groomed for the main event position as a member of The Four Horsemen. In the early 90s, Luger would reach World Champion status in WCW but he'd eventually leave the promotion for WWE. In WWE, Luger had a decent run but failed to reach the top of the mountain.

When Luger returned to WCW, he rehabilitated his character back to its former glory. By 1997, Luger was undoubtedly one of WCW's top stars. This was never more evident than on the 8/4/1997 WCW Monday Nitro where Luger defeated Hollywood Hogan for the WCW Championship. Luger's reign would be brief but his title win was unforgettable.

9 Worst: Jeff Jarrett

There was just something about Jeff Jarrett during the 90s that made him extremely unlikable to fans. Heat in the wrestling business is often a good thing. However, Jarrett had what some in the business call "Change the channel heat." Despite that, Jarrett found himself working in WCW in 1997.

Jarrett would become a member of The Four Horsemen. Although, admittedly, many Horsemen fans hated the addition. Double J even scoop up some gold in WCW, winning the U.S. Championship. In the end, though, Jarrett never seemed to fit into WCW and the fans never embraced him as a heel or babyface. He'd soon make his way back to WWE.

8 Best: "Macho Man" Randy Savage

In late 1994, "Macho Man" Randy Savage shocked the wrestling world when he departed WWE. At the time, Savage had been positioned as the elder statesman overseeing WWE's New Generation. However, Savage still felt he had a lot left in the tank as a performer. WWE didn't agree, thus, Savage jumped to WCW.

In WCW, Savage proved he certainly had a lot left in the tank. In 1997, Savage did something uncommon among top-tier WCW talents, creating a main event star. That year, Savage and Diamond Dallas Page had Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Feud Of The Year. Their rivalry solidified Savage as a true legend and class act while making Page a bonafide star going forward.

7 Worst: Mongo McMichael

Ever since Vince McMahon and WWE figured out that incorporating celebrities into pro wrestling was lucrative, the hunt for willing celebrity wrestlers was on. In 1995, WWE boldly built their WrestleMania card around the attraction match of Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor. This sparked a new interest in football players stepping into the squared circle.

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WCW would capitalize on that interest by signing former Chicago Bear, Steve "Mongo" McMichael. At first, Mongo was just an on-air personality. By 1997 though, Mongo was a full-fledged member of The Four Horsemen. While Mongo certainly had name identity, he was far from a good wrestler. Despite having a run as WCW United States Champion in 1997, Mongo was one of the promotion's weaker characters at the time.

6 Best: Diamond Dallas Page

Sometimes in pro wrestling, greatness can be seen coming from miles away. Other times, greatness sneaks up and catches everyone off guard. The sudden rise of Diamond Dallas Page certainly caught the wrestling universe off guard. In 1997, after gaining some strong momentum, Page would enter the feud that would make his career.

1997 would see the legendary "Macho Man" Randy Savage take Page under his wing and make him a megastar. When Page hit a Diamond Cutter for the win at Spring Stampede 1997, he became a made man in WCW. Page would keep that momentum rolling into 1998 where he'd experience even more career success.

5 Worst: Wrath

In the mid-90s, WCW became a thorn in WWE's side by implementing one simple but effective strategy. Take former WWE performers and bring them into WCW to perform for an audience that hadn't already been overexposed to them. At first, the strategy worked flawlessly but eventually lesser WWE alumni started being brought in.

One of those lesser WWE performers was Wrath, who had worked in WWE as "Adam Bomb" until 1995. In WCW, Wrath debuted a Mortal Kombat rip-off character alongside Mortis. Eventually, that gimmick would die out and Wrath would be able to find moderate success in WCW but 1997 was a rough year for him.

4 Best: Hollywood Hogan

In 1996, Hulk Hogan went from one end of the pro wrestling spectrum to the other when he became the villainous Hollywood Hogan. After the initial shock wore off, Hogan settled into his new role as WCW's top heel. Throughout 1997, Hogan had a stranglehold on the WCW Championship.

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Hogan's 1997 was spent playing the role of the cowardly heel to perfection. He'd find a way to continually hold on to the WCW Championship while also managing to dodge sting at every possible turn. It's hard to imagine Sting being so hot in 1997 without the evil Hogan being his counterpart.

3 Worst: Hugh Morris

At times, WCW management could be their own worst enemies. Starting in 1996, the promotion was on fire thanks to the introduction of The nWo. While the success was great, it caused WCW to take their eye off the ball. WCW management was so thrilled with their success at the time that they lost sight of the company's future.

Young stars were rarely developed. Whenever there were any potential young talents, like Bill Demott, WCW would immediately ruin them by giving them a rib name like "Hugh Morris." No matter how much talent Morris had, the name was always going to weigh him down. Not surprisingly, Morris never accomplished as much as he should've in WCW.

2 Best: Sting

There will perhaps never be another performer like Sting in 1997, who managed to be the hottest star in WCW while only wrestling one match that year. The enigmatic silent warrior took WCW by storm starting in late 1996. By 1997, the entire wrestling world was captivated by the ongoing story of Sting trying to save WCW from The nWo.

Week after week in 1997, fans tuned in to watch Sting drop from the rafters and foil The nWo's plans. Perhaps even more impressive than the fact that Sting only wrestled once in 1997 is the fact that he didn't even speak throughout the whole year either. It takes a special type of performer to be so over without wrestling or uttering a single word for over a year.

1 Worst: Disco Inferno

Disco Inferno has been a controversial figure in the wrestling business ever since his WCW debut in 1995. Some fans tolerated Disco while others hated him. In 1997, Despite being injured for a good chunk of the year, Disco began moving up the WCW card. Whether that was a good thing is open for discussion.

Disco would go on to have a couple of short stints with the WCW World Television Championship but would eventually drop the title twice. First to Perry Saturn, then to Booker T. 1997 would also mark the start of Disco's silly dancing feud with Alex Wright. Lastly, 1997 featured Disco losing a match at Halloween Havoc to Jacqueline. So, overall, not the greatest year for Disco Inferno.