7 Scripted WCW Moments We Totally Thought Were Real

Even way back when, when nearly every wrestling fan knew that their favorite combat sport was real and that heels and babyfaces hated each other, the sport was a work. That’s due to two things. The first is obviously far less technology and behind-the-scenes news and media revealing the business. Two, kayfabe was a real thing and wrestlers went to great lengths to protect it.

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The wall of kayfabe began to fall in the late eighties. But that didn’t mean that WCW didn’t craft several storylines throughout the decade that made fans question whether what they saw was real or scripted.

7 Rey Mysterio Long-Darted

The nWo had zero trouble running roughshod over anyone and everyone in WCW. Just three guys with baseball bats and that was enough to be a real dangerous threat to the entire roster.

On one such occasion, they invaded Nitro at MGM Studios and took out several WCW stars. Rey Mysterio tried to stop them and leaped right at Kevin Nash, who caught poor Rey-Rey and heaved him like a javelin right into a trailer wall. Mysterio collapsed in a heap.

6 Randy Anderson Fired

During the nWo’s first-ever PPV, Souled Out, every match was refereed by their very own ref - Nick Patrick. He had been knocked out during the tag team title match between the defending champions, The Outsiders and the Steiner brothers. Randy Anderson has bolted to the ring to officiate the three count, awarding the titles to the Steiners. Because he wasn’t the official ref, Eric Bischoff annulled the victory and forced the Steiners to give the belts back.

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For his part, not only was Randy Anderson fired - he came back the next week with his family in tow and Bischoff told him he was still fired! Not only did fans believe it, but Easy E’s bosses questioned his actions and had to have the angle explained to them.

5 The Bash 2000 Debacle

What happens when a work becomes a shoot? Vince Russo was a huge fan of the worked-shoot promos and cooked up a doozy, originally along with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. Depending on whose story you subscribe to, the initial thought was that after Jarrett laid down for Hulk, Russo would cut the promo he cut.

Hogan would eventually return at Halloween Havoc with his WCW Title and there’d be a match to unite the two WCW world titles. The murkiness of it all comes during Russo’s promo - what he was and wasn’t supposed to say to get heat. But one thing is certain - fans bought into this big time.

4 Scott Hall Invades

May 27, 1996, is one of the most important dates in wrestling history. Leaving the WWE several days prior, Scott Hall arrived at Nitro to declare war on Billionaire Ted and his cronies. Several weeks later, Kevin Nash arrived.

The message was clear - Razor Ramon and Diesel were invading on behalf of Vince McMahon. They were able to keep the ruse going for a month or until the lawsuit forced WCW’s hand to let everyone know that they in fact didn’t work for Vince. But for a little while, Scott Hall invading not only felt dangerous and raw (no pun intended), it felt really real.

3 The Original Spin The Wheel

Anyone who's anyone knows full well that when you’re talking about Halloween, you’re talking about Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal. It was a highlight of a few WCW Halloween Havocs and it’s a highlight of NXT’s versions as well. It’s simple - whatever match the wheel lands on is what match the combatants must have.

The first-ever match of this kind was contested between Sting and Jake The Snake Roberts. The reason that some fans felt that the wheel wasn’t gimmicked at all was that it landed on the “dreaded” Coal Miner’s Glove match. How could that match be booked over a Steel Cage for example? Because tough as nails Head Booker Bill Watts brought the match back from his old Mid-South Territory. During the heyday of Mid-South, there was nothing more devastating than the studded Coal Miner’s Glove.

2 Kevin Sullivan Was The Devil

As far back as any old-school territory fan knows - The Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan was a satanic Devil worshiper if not the Devil himself. It worked in the Florida territory, it worked in WCW. It even worked when real-world tragedy struck - Kevin Sullivan was thought by some incredibly gullible (or just plain ignorant) fans that he was behind the death of his ex-wife, Nancy Sullivan.

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In WCW, nearly every feud he had fans second-guessing about the depths he would go to sabotage his own brother’s love for Hulk Hogan, and several other angles had fans questioning the sanity of the supposed Satan worshiper.

1 Eddie Guerrero Quits

While folks like ridicule Eric Bischoff and his ability to fire people via FedEx, he actually renewed Eddie Guerrero’s contract while he was out injured. It was also around this time that rumors abounded that Eric Bischoff had heaved coffee on Guerrero.

That rumor led to an infamous promo where Eddie tossed coffee on himself and quit the company. Since WCW was a bit of a sideshow at that point, it was easy to think that yet another one of the inmates was running the asylum.