The art of the babyface character dictates that a talent must connect with a large percentage of fans in order to work. WCW tried to bring in some strong faces to make the promotion a success. WWE became a more mainstream success story after names like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior took over.
Related
Many all-time great artists worked for WCW and tried to excel in every role. Heels had an easier time getting the fans to hate them, but the faces had to work every week to maintain the crowd's support. WCW saw the following great wrestlers rise to become the greatest babyfaces in the company's history.
10
Hulk Hogan joined WCW as the biggest face in wrestling
WCW became a bigger threat to WWE with the addition of Hogan
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
1994-2000 | Ric Flair | 6 |
Eric Bischoff wanted to compete with the WWE and needed to sign a legendary star like Hulk Hogan to really have a chance. AEW's current plight shows that it takes a name like John Cena or Roman Reigns to make a big difference, but WCW has shown the blueprint.
Related
Hogan served as a top player for a short time and held the WCW Championship for a long time. The lower place on the list is due to this Hogan eventually grew stale and had to turn back. Hogan's founding of the New World Order led to greater success as a villain in WCW than as a face.
9
Lex Luger proved he could be a great face in the 1990s
WCW benefited from Luger taking action against the NWO
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
Hulk Hogan | 2 |
It was believed that Lex Luger worked much better as a heel than as a face when looking at his stints in WCW and WWE in the 1980s and early 1990s. Luger returned to WCW and proved that he could be a real top player in the right situation.
WCW needed the core stars to take action against the New World Order. Luger was one of the top talents to challenge the heel faction alongside Sting, Diamond Dallas Page and the Steiner Brothers. The fans reacted extremely positively to it shocking moment as Luger defeats Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship.
8
Kevin Nash was very charismatic as a babyface
Nash was a much better face in WCW than he was in WWE
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
Goldberg | 5 |
WCW had great success with Kevin Nash As an early member of the New World Order, he helped the heel group reach new heights. However, the split led to Nash forming the NWO Wolfpac to give fans a face of the polarizing group
Nash proved he can be a top opponent in this venture after struggling to prove he was a worthy WWE Champion as Diesel. WCW gave Nash more freedom to show his natural personality and it won over his fans to the point where he cheered over an undefeated Goldberg.
7
Ron Simmons made history as a face
Fans rallied behind Simmons for an all-time special WCW moment
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
1989-1994 | Big Van Vader | 1 |
The rise of Ron Simmons led to him becoming a strong babyface character at a time when WCW desperately needed new faces. Simmons was chosen to dethrone Vader for the WCW Championship and become the first black wrestler to win a world title in the promotion.
Dusty Rhodes, who looked after Simmons, created even more of a fan moment with an all-time great face behind him. In the long run, WCW could have done more with Simmons as their face, but it worked out perfectly here to win the title.
6
Booker T became WCW's last major babyface main eventer
Winning the WCW Championship made fans feel like they were part of Booker's moment
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
1993-2001 | Scott Steiner | 5 |
Wrestling is at its best when fans feel like a babyface is genuinely interested in winning a major title after being part of the journey. Booker T gets an unannounced WCW Championship match Bash on the Beach 2000 saw him win his first world title from Jeff Jarrett.
WCW fans loved Booker due to his decades of service as a hard-working tag team wrestler and midcarder until 2000. Booker's successful title win helped make him a top star and solidify his status in WWE after WCW's demise .
5
Goldberg's unbeaten streak made for an unexpected top face
Fans loved watching Goldberg destroy his opponents every week
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
1997-2001 | Hulk Hogan | 1 |
WCW took a risk with its debut Goldberg without any fanfare or video packages that made fans expect he would lose to the more established Hugh Morrus in his debut game. Goldberg captured the attention of fans with his victory, and his unbeaten streak increased every week for over a year.
Related
The victories piled up and Goldberg's popularity increased as his opponents became more credible. Goldberg's victory over Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship was the highlight of his undefeated streak and ensured that he would be an all-time great WCW face from that moment on.
4
Ricky Steamboat was the ultimate babyface wrestler
Few wrestlers were better faces than The Dragon
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
Ric Flair | 0 |
Steamboat held the NWA World Title, not the WCW world title.
WWE used Ricky Steamboat as a great midcard face, but WCW felt they could do more with his signing. Steamboat had a legendary series of matches against Ric Flair and always had fans behind him as a beloved facial character.
Steamboat's morals and genuine kindness were easily showcased as a white babyface when fans wanted that character. Steamboat thrived in WCW with memorable moments against offshoots like Flair, Steve Austin, William Regal and Rick Rude.
3
Diamond Dallas Page was nicknamed “The People’s Champion.”
The organic fan movement helped make Page the most unlikely main eventer
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
1991-2001 | Randy Savage | 3 |
After the massive free agent coup of names like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bret Hart and Roddy Piper, WCW became more difficult to climb the rankings. Diamond Dallas Page deserves a lot of credit for his rise to the middle class and secure a main event spot.
The push resulted in Page getting better and gaining more fans while also competing against top names. WCW pushed DDP to the forefront in the hottest years of 1997 and 1998 because audiences wanted more. The nickname “People's Champion” made perfect sense in the WCW context.
2
Rey Mysterio's underdog character thrived at cruiserweight
Young fans made Rey one of WCW's most successful babyface stars
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
1996-2001 | Eddie Guerrero | 0 |
Most would have assumed that Rey Mysterio would struggle in WCW, as wrestling was more about size than in future eras. Mysterio was the smallest wrestler on the roster, but he managed to make that a positive part of his underdog character.
Fans have invested Rey fights from behind and puts in incredible performances to win great games. Mysterio was the best in the cruiserweight division, but WCW could have told some better stories if Rey had mixed it in with a few more key players.
1
Sting's WCW legacy made him the biggest babyface in the company
WCW always used Sting In Face outside of the brief month-long heel turn
years in WCW | Top WCW rival as a babyface | Total number of WCW world titles |
1989-2001 | Ric Flair | 6 |
Sting's WCW career is fascinating because it lasted so long and because he almost always played a face. Both those The Surfer version and the Crow version of his characters made fans like Sting like the company's top star versus names like Ric Flair, Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.
Some fans waited for Sting to join the Wolfpac version of the New World Order since Kevin Nash had been a heel for so long before then. Sting turned around for a month in 1999 before WCW realized that fans would still be rooting for him. WCW saw Sting become arguably the biggest star in the company's history and clearly the best face character.
