Best WCW PPVs According To Fan Votes

While WWE may try to convince fans that WCW was a 13-year-long disaster, the promotion produced a lot of great stories, characters, and matches, especially before the company’s excesses got the best of them -- and sometimes even DURING those low points. Some of the best wrestling matches ever happened under the WCW umbrella, like the legendary bouts between Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair.

WCW has also produced some legitimately great pay-per-views over the years, too. Let’s consult the wrestling equivalent of IMDb, Cagematch.net, and see which PPVs they consider to be the best in WCW history.

UPDATE: 2024/08/12 22:00 EST BY ETHAN SCHLABAUGH

World Championship Wrestling was at one point the closest thing to beating the WWE as the number one professional wrestling promotion in the United States. That title didn't come undeserved either, as WCW talent put their heart and soul into their work and tried their best to compete against the global giant. This resulted in a slew of spectacular matches and PPVs that need to be checked out by either die-hard loyal fans wanting to reminisce about the old days or newer fans who want to watch something different than what is happening today. With Cagematch being a place for new and returning fans to voice their opinion, these shows are constantly changing in their ratings, so here is an updated look at them.

27 The Original SuperBrawl Didn't Feature Anything Special

Maintains A Rating Of 6.38

The inaugural SuperBrawl event had the subtitle, Return From The Rising Sun, as it was the first WCW PPV to take place after WCW traveled to Japan for the WCW/New Japan Supershow. That Supershow saw then reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami, capture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair.

Both titles were on the line with Fujinami leaving with an extra belt, so WCW thought it only made sense to have a rematch, but now with the WCW and NWA World Heavyweight titles up for grabs, with Flair getting his win back. The closest fans get to an outstanding match is the WCW World Tag Team Championship match as The Steiner Brothers defended against Sting and Lex Luger.

26 Slamboree 1994 Saw WCW & ECW Work Together

Maintains A Rating Of 6.38

World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling worked on a deal in 1994 allowing Terry Funk to wrestle against Tully Blanchard at WCW's May PPV Slamboree in exchange for Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton appearing at ECW's When Worlds Collide event.

Matches such as Steve Austin vs. Johnny B. Badd over the United States title and Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham were some spectacular highlights of the card. Sting vs. Vader was the main event where the two men went to war over the vacant WCW International World title.

25 Ric Flair Risked His Career At Starrcade 1993

Maintains A Rating Of 6.38

The biggest selling point of Starrcade 1993 was seeing Ric Flair put his career on the line against Vader, who was in the midst of a 285-day reign with the WCW World Heavyweight title. While the main event did a lot of the heavy lifting, the rest of the card did make attempts to show out. Matches like Lord Steven Regal vs. Ricky Steamboat went amazingly, and Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes was a better-than-expected bout.

After Flair's victory over Vader, a brief feud against the likes of Ricky Steamboat and Sting would ensue with Flair unifying the WCW World Heavyweight and WCW International World Heavyweight titles.

24 Halloween Havoc 1989 Started An October Tradition

Maintains A Rating Of 6.40

A night that caters to fans of tag team wrestling. This show featured five of them, with two ending the show. That is far from a bad thing when those matches feature the likes of The Road Warriors, Doom, The Steiner Brothers, and a relentless main event pitting Ric Flair and Sting in the same team.

The main event takes the credit for ending the show with an absolute banger. One match that deserves some attention is the NWA United States Championship bout between Lex Luger and Flyin' Brian Pillman. It should be noted that the typical hijinks of Halloween Havoc shows hadn't yet been established, so you won't find that here.

23 Hog Wild 1996 Tried To Capitalize On The NWO Hype

Maintains A Rating Of 6.48

The first WCW PPV to take place after the infamous creation of the New World Order saw Hollywood Hogan regain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from The Giant. That main event doesn't leave a great taste in fan's mouths by the end of the show, so on rewatch it would be better to end the show after The Outsiders vs. Luger & Sting.

The stand-out matches on the card featured a solid performance from Dean Malenko, Mysterio, and Ultimo Dragon doing what they do best, plus a rare non-Cruiserweight bout for Eddie Guerrero that saw him wrestle Ric Flair for the United States title.

22 SuperBrawl 7 Brought The Macho Madness

Maintains A Rating Of 6.51

SuperBrawl 7 was held at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. The event is notorious for being one of the lowest-rated main events in WCW's history, with Hollywood Hogan taking on Roddy Piper for the WCW World Heavyweight title. The match is at a 2.09 score on Cagematch.

The matches that helped the show include Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Jericho for the Cruiserweight Championship and Lex Luger teaming with The Giant to beat The Outsiders for the WCW World Tag Team Championships.

21 Greed Was WCW's Final Shot On PPV

Maintains A Rating Of 6.54

The final PPV that WCW ever got to run before being purchased by the WWE in 2001 saw a lineup featuring matches such as Scott Steiner vs. DDP, Booker T vs. Rick Steiner, and Dustin & Dusty Rhodes facing Ric Flair & Jeff Jarrett.

Despite the consensus on how WCW's quality took a dip around this time frame, the show still received decent ratings and a few of the matches also ranked highly among critics, such as the Cruiserweight Tag Team title match featuring Elix Skipper, Kid Romeo, Billy Kidman, and Rey Mysterio Jr.

20 Bash At The Beach 1994 Saw The Arrival Of Hulkamania

Maintains A Rating Of 6.55

The WCW in-ring debut of Hulk Hogan was the talking point of this PPV with the main event featuring Hulk Hogan pinning Ric Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Critics and fans agree the match was pretty good but wasn't the best match on the card. That honor would go to Ricky Steamboat and a young Steve Austin fighting over the WCW United States Championship.

Other matches that happened include Lord Steven Regal retaining the World Television title against Johnny B. Badd and The Stud Stable of Bunkhouse Buck & Terry Funk beating Arn Anderson & Dustin Rhodes.

19 Halloween Havoc 1997 Is Remembered For One Match

Maintains A Rating Of 6.56

Some PPVs get a high rating from Cagematch users because something important happened on this particular show, rather than being an overall great PPV. Halloween Havoc ‘97 certainly has some good stuff, including Randy Savage vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Yuji Nagata vs. Ultimo Dragon in one of the few singles bouts they had, along with a non-title cage match stinker between Roddy Piper and Hollywood Hogan.

But the real draw for fans here is the classic Cruiserweight Championship match, where Rey Mysterio Jr. -- in his iconic Phantom-inspired gear -- put his mask on the line for a title shot against his rival, Eddie Guerrero.

18 WrestleWar 1992 Ended The PPVs Lineage

Maintains A Rating Of 6.57

WCW's final WrestleWar show featured a massive main event between Sting's Squadron of himself, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, and Nikita Koloff facing off against Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance in a WarGames match.

With WrestleWar being finished after this show, the May slot gained Slamboree, and the WarGames match itself became a Fall Brawl tradition. Dave Meltzer rated the main event five stars and Cagematch users gave it a 9.03/10.