10 WWE Stars Who Flopped In WCW

It's been 23 years since WCW Starrcade 1999, an event that, sadly, is best remembered as the night Bret Hart's in-ring career practically ended.

Defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg in the main event, The Hitman was kicked in the head with undue force, sparking the concussion issues that would keep him out of the squared circle going forward (minus a few house show matches before the extent of his injury woes were known).

It was a depressing end to what had been a torrid stint for the Pink and Black Attack, who had come into the company in late '97 with all the momentum and support in the world, only for that to drain away as he became 'just another guy on the roster'.

Bret was not alone in that regard, as many people coming to Ted Turner's organisation from WWE had suffered similar fates in the past (and would later, too).

People like to talk about WCW stars failing when they jumped to WWE, but the reverse was often true.

10. Bret Hart

WWE.com

Bret always envisioned himself working with Vince McMahon, who he viewed as something of a father figure, for his entire career.

A WWE megastar, Hart left the company in the most controversial way possible and was coming into Eric Bischoff's organisation with incredible buzz, as tales of him punching out Vince McMahon following the Montreal Screwjob made the rounds.

The Hitman - who always said he was worried that WCW wouldn't know what to do with them - debuted at Starrcade 1997. Not in a match or as a surprise, but as the special guest referee for Bischoff's match with Larry Zbyszko.

It was a weak first appearance and things didn't really improve much from there.

Yes, Bret won some titles and had his share of decent matches and rivalries, but it was staggering to see how quickly he blended in as just another well-paid face in the crowd.

There was an accusation towards Bret that he turned up as damaged goods (emotionally) following the Survivor Series 1997 fallout, and that he wasn't the same dynamic he performer he had been in his prime.

But the Pink and Black Attack showed that he was still game, when he was given something good to do. The two biggest highlights from his WCW run were probably the Owen Hart tribute match he had with Chris Benoit and the chest plate protector angle he did with Goldberg.

It just wasn't enough, really.

9. Brutus Beefcake

WWE.com

Don't call him Brutus Beefcake, of course. That's WWE intellectual property.

Just call him The Butcher, The Clipmaster, The Booty Man, The Zodiac, The Man With No Name, The Disciple...

Yeesh.

Brother Bruti (there's another one!) went through names and gimmicks like most folks go through hot dinners. None of them were very good and none of them came close to matching the success he had in WWE.

As one of the best friends of Hulk Hogan, Beefcake was kept on the payroll as long as the Hulkster was around and was given chance after chance after chance to get over.

The two even worked a programme together, culminating in their WCW Title match in the main event of Starrcade 1994. It was rubbish, and the Beefster never got near the title scene again, though he was always doing something.

Clearly there as a favour to a real top star, Ed Leslie really didn't add much to the product. With his phony schtick and behind-the-times style, he looked like a dinosaur out there at times.

8. Ahmed Johnson

WWE.com

If things had gone different for Ahmed Johnson, he could have been WWE Champion.

Vince McMahon and company were certainly high on the Pearl River Powerhouse, but a combination of bad timing with injuries and a bad backstage attitude reportedly did him in.

Still, he could be happy knowing that he was a former Intercontinental Champion and, more than that, the first African American performer to win a WWE singles title.

He left WWE in early 1998 due to personal reasons and wasn't seen again until he showed up in WCW in late '99.

Ahmed - now going by the apt name of Big T - had gained a noticeable amount of weight and quite clearly wasn't the same sort of athlete fans were used to seeing from his WWE stint.

He was around for about five months and appeared on a few pay-per-views, getting involved in the feud between brothers and former Harlem Heat teammates Booker T and Stevie Ray which included a match with Booker over the rights to the initial 'T' (seriously).

He was let go from WCW after failing to make much of an impression while his weight continued to balloon.

7. Marty Jannetty

WWE.com

Though by no means a megastar or anything, Marty Jannetty had a following thanks to his Rockers fame and was continually employed and re-employed by WWE because he was a hell of a hand.

After a period doing the indie thing, Party Marty was hired by WCW in order to beef up the roster for new show Thunder.

He proceeded to do much of nothing, as WWE utilised him as a glorified enhancement talent, booking him to put over other, 'bigger' stars like Chris Benoit, Raven and Chris Jericho.

All told, Marty only wrestled 28 matches (eight of which were house shows). He could have been a solid addition to the cruiserweight edition, as he could still go, but it was not to be.

WCW released him while he was recovering from shoulder surgery, as they were prone to doing.

6. Jake Roberts

WWE.com

If Jake Roberts didn't have bad luck, he'd probably have no luck at all.

The Snake was signed by WCW President Kip Frye after he had left WWE following WrestleMania VIII. The contract was a lucrative one for Roberts, who was waiting for his 90-day no-compete to expire before he signed it.

On day 87, Frye was replaced by Bill Watt - someone Roberts had heat with dating back many years - and his salary was slashed by The Cowboy, who intended on cutting many more costs while in charge.

First order to business was a feud with top babyface Sting. That ended at Halloween Havoc, where they had to 'spin the wheel and make a deal'.

The wheel (which wasn't gimmicked) landed on a Coal Miner's Glove match, an ancient stipulation where the object was to climb the pole and retrieve the dreaded coal miner's glove and use it on your opponent.

Outside of a decent match with Dustin Rhodes, that was about as good as it got during Roberts' brief stay. He left WCW after repeatedly butting heads with Watts, though his spiralling substance abuse issues certainly didn't help matters.

5. Tammy Sytch

WWE.com

Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch became an international superstar in the mid-90's, thanks to her role as WWE's blonde bombshell.

Managing, ring announcing, commentating, ring announcing - 1996's most downloaded celebrity did a little bit of everything in the company, but left in the summer of 1998 due to backstage problems and Vince McMahon focusing on a shiny new thing (Sable).

She then went to ECW, the rowdy locker room environment not doing her or boyfriend Chris Candido (who also suffered with substance abuse issues) any favours.

After burning their bridges there, WCW was the final destination, with the pair showing up for a short run in the spring of 2000.

They feuded with The Artist (Prince Laukea) and his manager Paisley over the Cruiserweight Title, before moving on to a brief programme with Daffney and Crowbar.

Once Candido had dropped the title, they were history, leaving amid rumours and accusations of drug misuse.

4. Jim Neidhart

WWE.com

Like the previously discussed Marty Jannetty, Jim Neidhart was in and out of WWE off and in during the nineties.

When The Anvil wasn't there, he tended to bounce around from place to place and ended up having a couple of forgettable stints in WCW.

The first came in 1993, his tremendous Hart Foundation team with Bret now split up and something of a distant memory as the Hitman's singles career went from strength to strength. He only worked thirteen matches for Turner that year, between late April and early October.

A few of those were short televised bouts on shows like Worldwide and Saturday Night, and he also worked the dark match at the Clash of the Champions XXIII special.

When Neidhart returned in 1998, following Bret after the Montreal Screwjob, WCW was a very different beast indeed.

He worked a lot more matches (48) for them that time around, but was never strongly pushed or anything. It was a big money deal for Jim, but in the eyes of executives he didn't do enough to justify the cost of it and was released in October.

His case wasn't helped much by an injury suffered by his partner at the time...

3. The British Bulldog

WWE.com

The British Bulldog, like Jim Neidhart, also deemed that blood was thicker than water and walked out of WWE after the Montreal Screwjob, following Bret to WCW.

Davey Boy Smith had been there before, of course, enjoying a successful stint there in 1993, where he was positioned as a contender to Vader and the WCW World Heavyweight Title.

He wouldn't be so fortunate in 1998, but the truth is Bulldog wasn't half the performer he had been five years prior.

Plus, WCW's talent roster was so bloated at that time and it was such an organisational mess that it was hard for anyone outside of the established headliners clubs to truly stand out.

Smith's most notable contribution during this second run was probably his team with Neidhart, which didn't really have much of a chance to get going.

Davey Boy suffered a debilitating back injury in the opener of the Fall Brawl pay-per-view when he landed on a trap door (which had been installed under the ring canvas so that the Ultimate Warrior could make his entrance later in the evening).

He was giving his marching orders while convalescing (and getting addicted to pain meds). He went back to WWE shortly thereafter.

2. Barry Darsow

WWE.com

After six really good years as one half of Demolition (Smash) and, erm, Repo Man, Barry Darsow headed to WCW in 1994 as a totally different character.

He'd worked for Jim Crockett Promotions under his given name before making it to WWE in the late-80s, but this time would be coming in as Blacktop Bully, a truck driver with a bad attitude.

It wasn't the greatest gimmick in the world and Darsow wouldn't be around long enough to see where it could go.

As a member of the Stud Stable, Bully primarily feuded with Dustin Rhodes for the few months that he was there, leading to the fateful King of the Road match at the Uncensored pay-per-view.

The concept of the King of the Road match was that the two men would fight in the back of a moving flatbed truck, the winner being the man who was able to incapacitate his opponent enough to blow a horn.

It was a dodgy gimmick and the match itself wasn't good or anything. Worse still, it ended up costing both (and road agent Mike Graham) their jobs, because they both bladed, something that was strictly against WCW policy at the time.

Darsow returned to WCW in 1997 and '98 as an enhancement talent.

1. The Ultimate Warrior

WWE.com

A lot can be said of the Ultimate Warrior - both the performer and the man behind the face paint - but Warrior was a star, of that there is no denying.

That's why WWE kept going back to him when they felt business could use a boost (despite him habitually leaving on bad terms), and that's why Eric Bischoff called him in the summer of 1998, when WWE were starting to turn the tide in the Monday Night Wars.

Hellwig was brought in on huge money and, in the end, Eric Bischoff didn't get a whole lot to show for it.

From his rambling debut promo which went about fifteen minutes too long, to the eventual Halloween Havoc match with Hulk Hogan, everything Warrior touched turned rotten.

The feud with the Hulkster was out-of-date cheese and, truthfully, fans just didn't respond to him like WWE audiences had years earlier.

Two weeks after losing to Hogan, Hellwig retired and later claimed he had only been brought in so that Hulk could get 'his win back' (after Warrior had beaten him for the WWE Title at WrestleMania VI eight years prior).

A legacy-damaging run that did nothing for anyone, besides Warrior's bank balance, this was a major, expensive misstep from a company that was beginning to show the cracks that would, ultimately, lead to their downfall.