20 years have passed since the the doors of WCW closed. Though so much time has passed, the defunct promotion that once beat Monday Night Raw in the ratings for 83 weeks has remained popular with a cult following, and its weekly TV shows and PPVs can easily be watched on the WWE network.
Eric Bischoff helped to change the face of professional wrestling forever by introducing Nitro as the flagship show of the company, and one of the things that made Nitro so popular was the introduction of the Cruiserweights and Luchadors from Mexico.
20 years on, and people are still talking about the WCW cruiserweight division. Today, let’s take a look at the top 5 cruiserweights that had people tuning in Nitro week after week:
5: LA PARKA
The self proclaimed ‘Chairman of WCW’ wrestled exclusively with the company between 1996-2000. He came into the company when WCW began working with Mexican promotion AAA.
During his time with WCW, he competed against the likes of Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, and Psychosis. He is well known for playing air guitar with his signature chair that he brought to the ring and used on many opponents after matches.
4: PSYCHOSIS
The former 2-time cruiserweight came into the company mid-1996 like most of the Mexican talent that WCW signed. He won his first cruiserweight title in a 4-way corners match against Juventud Guerrera, Rey Mysterio Jr, and Blitzkrieg.
During a match against Billy Kidman in late 1999, Psychosis lost his mask due to the stipulation that if he lost, he had to remove his mask. However, this was not the first time he had lost such a match, as he had previously lost his mask to Rey Mysterio SR during a tour of Mexico prior to working with WCW.
3: EDDIE GUERRERO
Eddie (or spelled ‘Eddy’ during his time in WCW) signed for the promotion from ECW in 1996 for his second stint with the company, after working for WCW and NJPW in the early 90s.
During his time in WCW, he was able to capture the US Heavyweight championship once and Cruiserweight title twice. On January 19th 2000, Guerrero asked for his release from WCW with fellow stars Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn, which saw them all sign for WWE a few days later.
2: ULTIMO DRAGON
One of the greatest Japanese wrestlers to ever step in the WCW ring, Ultimo Dragon won both the Cruiserweight and WCW TV titles twice. However, due to a botched operation on an arm injury in 1998, Ultimo Dragon was forced into early retirement. However, he was able to come out of retirement for a short run in WWE in 2003 – 2004.
If you are new to the WCW product I highly suggest signing on to the WWE network and watching every Ultimo Dragon match on there.
1: REY MYSTERIO JR
How could the greatest Luchador of all time not be number one? Like Eddie, Rey signed for WCW in 1996 from ECW. During his time with the company, Mysterio won the Cruiserweight championship 5 times, the WCW tag titles 3 times, and along with Billy Kidman won the tag team Cruiserweight titles on the very final episode of Nitro – before they were sold to WWE in 2001.
In 1999, Mysterio and partner Konnan faced the Outsiders Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in a hair vs mask match that resulted in Mysterio losing his mask for the remainder of his time in WCW.
And there you have it, the top 5 Cruiserweights in WCW history. Make sure you tell us who your personal favourite was in the comments below.
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