Guest Bulldogs'86 Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 The WCW roster in 1998 seemed incredible from top to bottom. There were emerging stars in Eddie Guerrero, Benoit, Rey Misterio, Jericho, DDP. There were established stars in Sting, Hart, Hogan, Luger, the Steiner Brothers, the Giant, Goldberg, Nash and Hall. There also was a great collection of stars past their prime but still capable of making an impact in Flair, Piper, Savage, Hennig and the Ultimate Warrior. Would you say that this collection of talent was the best that a promotion has had in any one particular year?
tommytomlin Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 Absolutely. The WWF in 2002, with Austin, Rock, Hogan, Taker, Triple H, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio, Jericho is a close second. And the fact that both companies turned to shit a year later is testament to how inept the people in charge were.
Guest Bulldogs'86 Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 Absolutely. The WWF in 2002, with Austin, Rock, Hogan, Taker, Triple H, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Mysterio, Jericho is a close second. And the fact that both companies turned to shit a year later is testament to how inept the people in charge were. 1998 WCW as the best roster ever. 2002 WWF as the second best roster ever. Would you rank 1991 WWF as the third best roster ever? That year included stars Hogan, Flair, Savage, Road Warriors, Ultimate Warrior, Hennig, DiBiase and emerging stars Hart, Michaels and Undertaker. It's amazing how the WWF didn't utilize its roster in 1991 properly either. Too bad Sgt. Slaughter had to play such a prominent role that year.
humanoid92 Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 Depends on your perception. '98 WCW and '02 WWF may have had a really impressive list of names, but in wrestling it may be a case of too much of a good thing. The roster was too saturated. Hence WCW's three hour TV shows twice a week and huge stables. And the WWF extending into two brands and throwing the likes of Flair and Hogan into major programs just for their name value. At the same time they were trying to push Brock to the moon and re-establish HHH, Flair, Hogan, Nash, Hall, etc. were pushed into major programs, and the result was guys like Jericho, Angle and RVD getting lost in the shuffle. In wrestling, it doesn't necessarily pay off to have such a huge, bloated roster. I agree that name-value wise, it's hard to beat '98 WCW, '02 WWF, or '91 WWF. But as far as a truly loaded AND balanced roster, I think 2000 WWF takes the cake. You had the proven main eventers like Rock, Austin, Taker and HHH. Then the guys that looked like they could step up at any moment in Jericho, Angle and Benoit. A really solid midcard with Eddie, X-Pac, Rikishi, Val, Malenko, etc. Kane and Big Show weren't completely stale yet. The tag division was very deep with Edge & Christian, Hardyz, Too Cool, Outlaws, APA, Dudleys, etc. Pretty well rounded and it was loaded but not quite to the point of being bloated.
cabbageboy Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 I always thought WCW had too many guys, even during the not so peak years. What they had on TV was too hard to boil down into a 3 hour PPV card...too many guys who had been on TV were forgotten. I think the WWF in the 1980s was somewhat like this as well, but at least then you could tell some guys were there to kill time. I think if anything a somewhat thin roster works well. Enough guys to keep things fresh on top and not be too repetitive, but not so many that things are impossible to follow. I think the WWF circa 1997-98 was a good example of this, as was ECW on a more threadbare level.
Guest jm29195 Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 The thing I loved about the vastness of WCW's roster in 97/98/99 was the random bizarre matches that would occur on the B shows, with everyone from John Nord to El Dandy under contract you could have some really cool stuff going on if you watched all their programes.... WWE in 2002, right after Wrestlemania X8 had most of the ECW roster under contract, everyone from the WWF's boom period, as well as WCW big guns Hogan, Nash, Hall, DDP, Booker, Flair, and random people like Saturn, Awesome, Hennig, and Goldust all under contract...
Just John Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 I think WCW 97 was a little stronger than 98. They had Jarrett and Waltman who made good midcarders. I can't think of anyone good they had in 98 that they didn't have in 97.
Guest Bulldogs'86 Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 I think WCW 97 was a little stronger than 98. They had Jarrett and Waltman who made good midcarders. I can't think of anyone good they had in 98 that they didn't have in 97. You're right. I think the main reason I mentioned 1998 instead was because Bret Hart was there for a full year. I think he was in WCW for December 1997 as well though.
Just John Posted September 12, 2006 Report Posted September 12, 2006 Yeah, he was the guest ref for the Bischoff/Zbysko match at Starrcade 97, as well as playing a part in the finish to Sting/Hogan. They didn't have The Warrior in 97, but I'd still take midcard Jarrett and Waltman over him.
Precious Roy Posted September 13, 2006 Report Posted September 13, 2006 WCW in 1998 had so many random names from the 80's Rick Martel Marty Janetty Greg Valentine Lanny Poffo Barry Darsow Barry Horowitz I wouldn't call it the best roster ever, but it was certainly one of the deepest and most random, and it did make for a lot of weird B show matches. I'm usually pretty partial to the WCW of 1992/1993 At various times in 92 you had: Vader Sting Barry Windham Arn Anderson Rick Rude Cactus Jack Steve Austin Brian Pillman Ricky Steamboat Ron Simmons The Steiners Steve Williams & Terry Gordy Dustin Rhodes 2 Cold Scorpio Scotty "Raven" Flamingo Jushin Liger was around part-time Masa Chono Kensuke Sasaki William Regal Paul Orndorff Greg Valentine The Barbarian Danny Spivey Dick Slater Larry Zbyszko Bobby Eaton Brad Armstrong Terry Taylor Ricky Morton The Freebirds The Southern Boys Scott Hall Kevin Nash DDP Marc Mero And at one point in 1993 they had Ric Flair Sting Vader Arn Anderson Barry Windham Steve Austin Brian Pillman Cactus Jack Great Muta Ricky Steamboat Rick Rude Ron Simmons Bobby Eaton British Bulldog Chris Benoit 2 Cold Scorpio William Regal Shane Douglas Scotty Flamingo Kevin Nash Marc Mero DDP Brad Armstrong Harlem Heat
cabbageboy Posted September 13, 2006 Report Posted September 13, 2006 Isn't it interesting that WCW had all these guys in like 1992-93 and couldn't find a way to make a dime? One problem WCW always had in my view is that guys simply vanished with little rhyme or reason. Just because those guys were on the roster doesn't mean that they were DOING anything on a week to week basis. WCW had such a large roster that it was impossible to put everyone on the main show. If you watched Nitro you wouldn't really grasp the whole story taking place on Saturday Night, since several guys from Sat. Night didn't make Nitro on a weekly basis. If there's one thing WWE has always had on WCW it is that largely since Raw debuted they feature the guys you want to see on a weekly basis and build to the PPV accordingly. WCW arbitrarily tossed guys onto PPVs with little TV build, and it produced matches that didn't have much heat or frame of reference.
Dobbs 3K Posted September 13, 2006 Report Posted September 13, 2006 If we're talking "best roster" purely on paper, then WCW in 1997/1998 wins. If you mean "best utilized roster", then WWF from about 1999/2000 wins hands down, I think.
World's Worst Man Posted September 13, 2006 Report Posted September 13, 2006 Mid 90's New Japan smokes any of these rosters. The North American "big 3" (Benoit/Guerrero/Malenko) during their primes. Liger. Otani, Samurai, Kanemoto when he didn't suck as much, Akira, a prime, pre-lazy Muto, a still good Chono, Hashimoto, Hase, Tenryu, Koshinaka, Fujinami Yamazaki (after 96) plus the slew of young guys who would become better later on (Nagata, Tenzan, Kojima and Sasaki). Plus others that they brought in on occassion, like Scorpio, Jericho, the MPro guys, etc.
Slickster Posted September 14, 2006 Report Posted September 14, 2006 Well, the BIGGEST roster definitely belonged to WCW. (Past/future World champions listed in bold.) The WCW roster for January 1998 was as follows: Bobby Eaton, Sting, Jack Boot, Dallas Page, "Buff" Bagwell, Steve Regal, Ric Flair, Stevie Ray, Booker T, Mark Starr, Ray Traylor, Steve Armstrong, Meng, Alex Wright, Hulk Hogan, Scott Armstrong, Randy Savage, Renegade, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Scotty Riggs, Lex Luger, Scott Norton, The Giant, The Barbarian, Hugh Morrus, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge, Konnan, Dave Taylor, Bobby Walker, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Billy Kidman, Rob Ruckus, Ken Kaos, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Steve McMichael, Rey Misterio Jr., Jim Powers, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Chris Jericho, Juventud Guerrera, Syxx, Vincent, Psicosis, Roadblock, Rowdy Roddy Piper, La Parka, Ultimo Dragon, Super Calo, Ray Mandoza Jr., Greg Valentine, Jerry Flynn, Mortis, Wrath, Hector Garza, Masahiro Chono, Yuji Nagata, Joey Maggs, Ernest Miller, Silver King, Damien, Rick Fuller, Curt Hennig, Raven, Villano V, Texas Hangman #1, Texas Hangman #2, Brad Armstrong, Lizmark Jr., Perry Saturn, Barry Darsow, Bill Goldberg, Fit Finlay, Kendall Windham, Barry Horowitz, El Dandy, Chris Adams, Sick Boy, Bobby Blaze, Louie Spicolli, Lanny Poffo, Lenny Lane, Johnny Swinger, Norman Smiley, Jim Duggan, Michael Wallstreet, John Nord, Barry Darsow, Van Hammer, Lodi, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, Rick Martel, Marty Jannetty,Wayne Bloom, Mike Enos TOTAL ROSTER: 102 INACTIVE: 4
slabinskia Posted September 18, 2006 Report Posted September 18, 2006 In 2002, the WWF really had enough talent to have 2 seperate brands and they couldn't have handled it much worse. Here is a list of some of the names they had under contract that year. They were not all on the active roster at the same time but it is very impressive no matter how you look at it. Steve Austin The Rock HHH Hulk Hogan Shawn Michaels Brock Lesnar Kurt Angle Undertaker Ric Flair Chris Jericho Chris Benoit Big Show Kane Scott Hall Kevin Nash Rey Mysterio Diamond Dallas Page Rob Van Dam Booker T Rikishi Edge Christian Taz Raven Dudleys Hardy Boys Guerrerros Lance Storm MR. Perfect Goldust William Regal Val Venis Perry Saturn X-Pac Billy Kidman Tajiri That is 40 guys right there and there were at least 30 more lesser names that they had. Pretty tough to screw that up but they did.
GODSON Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 WCW Saturday night feature some of the best matches you will ever see but is totally forgettable because people was so interested in the Monday NIght Wars. Worldwide was not bad as well. I wish I had every Saturday night from 96-98, I would never watch any "new" wrestling again.
snuffbox Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 The only **** matches I remember seeing on Saturday Night were Flair-Steamboat and Flair-Sting from 1994.
GODSON Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 The only **** matches I remember seeing on Saturday Night were Flair-Steamboat and Flair-Sting from 1994. What about Juvi/Rey matches, Dean vs. Eddie, Eddie vs. Rey,Rey vs.Kidman,etc. there was countless matches.
Dobbs 3K Posted September 19, 2006 Report Posted September 19, 2006 What I liked about WCW SN was that it was just "wrestling for the sake of wrestling." It was fun to watch and see who they'd put on the show, and then see two guys go at it for five to ten minutes, without some convoluted storyline or angle to drive the match.
GODSON Posted September 20, 2006 Report Posted September 20, 2006 What I liked about WCW SN was that it was just "wrestling for the sake of wrestling." It was fun to watch and see who they'd put on the show, and then see two guys go at it for five to ten minutes, without some convoluted storyline or angle to drive the match. It was a smark dream show. No bs storylines and when they did do storylines it was great. The wrestling was always top notch,even during the last two years when they move the timeslot. I did not join the IWC until 99 and when I seen people complain about the show I never understood why. It was sometimes the best show on tv.
Guest Krateros Posted September 22, 2006 Report Posted September 22, 2006 This is a good point. I am looking for any SN episode from 96 to 99, cause they had so many jobbers on the show and the impressive thing was that most od the jobbers had their own entrance music in contrast to the WWF. I am talking about people like John Nord, Len Denton, Johnny Attitude .... Apart from this I am a Themes collector and have more than 800 Themes so it would be great if somebody could post a Saturday Night episode or when somebody has episodes on tapes he can maybe just record different themes and post them later. That would be really great. So any match, recording or segment from SN or Worldwide of that time would be very appreciated.
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