Ever since Jim Crockett Promotions was purchased by Turner Broadcasting and renamed World Championship Wrestling, countless performers have come and gone, from megastars to also-rans. Many of these wrestlers found a second (or third) life elsewhere, like Steve Austin in WWE, but there are also a number of underrated talents who fell by the wayside — especially after WWE bought the promotion.
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While some wrestlers found success on the indie and international scenes after WCW, there are many performers who never really got the second shot they may have deserved in a major North American promotion. Let’s take a look at 10 of these WCW wrestlers.
10 Scott Norton
In WCW, Scott “Flash” Norton was purely one of the many enforcer characters in the New World Order alongside Bryan Adams, Vincent, and Horace Hogan but there was one thing separating him from the rest. Overseas, the former arm wrestler was a respected powerhouse in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and even held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship while part of the nWo. However, by 1999 Norton moved on from WCW and finished out his career in Japan, never wrestling in a major North American promotion again.
9 Norman Smiley
Looking back on Norman Smiley’s entire career reveals a surprisingly versatile performer who wrestled shoot style in Japan, took on luchadores in Mexico before ever coming to WCW. In WCW, he proved adept at the American sports entertainment style, too, offering up a goofy dance and being a comedically unwilling participant in hardcore matches. Unfortunately, Smiley never got much recognition past that WCW run, and spent the 2000s wrestling tryouts for WWE and some minor appearances in Impact Wrestling before signing as a trainer for WWE developmental.
8 Alex Wright
When Alex Wright first showed up in WCW, he was a vanilla babyface cruiserweight nicknamed “Das Wunderkind.” Always solid in the ring, over the following years Wright showed some personality as he became a more heelish Euro-dance inspired heel and started hanging out with Disco Inferno. And, like Norman Smiley, he did a lot of dancing.
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Despite being a memorable part of WCW’s peak years of the mid to late 1990s, Wright pretty much retired from competition after the promotion went under.
7 Brad Armstrong
Of the various sons of “Bullet” Bob Armstrong that comprise the Armstrong wrestling family, the most successful by far was Road Dogg. But Brad Armstrong was always a solid junior heavyweight style wrestler who spent his entire time in WCW as a utility player, portraying masked characters like Arachnaman and Badstreet, portraying a parody of his brother as Buzzkill, or otherwise being a warm body in the No Limit Soldiers for some reason. After WCW, Armstrong retired from wrestling for a few years — though he had a brief stint in WWE in the mid-2000s as a producer and trainer.
6 Crowbar
For many fans, one of the worst parts of late period WCW was David Flair, the son of the legendary Ric Flair who never lived up to his father’s success. But as a heel, Flair had a fun thing going with Crowbar and Daffney, the latter of which found success on the indies and in Impact Wrestling. However, the same can’t be said for Crowbar (a.k.a. Devon Storm) who never got a major shot after WCW but still wrestles to this day and even made an odd AEW Dark: Elevation appearance in late 2021.
5 Mike Sanders
One of the many products of WCW’s Power Plant school, the hilariously nicknamed “Above Average” Mike Sanders is one of WCW’s forgotten midcard heels, despite his prominence in angles in 2000 and 2001. A former Cruiserweight Champion, Sanders was solid in the ring but had enough charisma to stand out in the roster, making him a great fit for WWE after it bought his old workplace. However, Sanders never really got a shot, spending his WWE run in developmental and then having a brief run in Impact before retiring.
4 Blitzkrieg
Speaking of cruiserweights, fans of the high flying division in 1999 may remember the masked Blitzkrieg, who ended up delivering some ridiculous aerial maneuvers in matches with Rey Mysterio Jr., Juventud Guerrera, and others. While impressive, his run with WCW only lasted about nine months.
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Blitzkrieg never competed again after leaving WCW in 1999, as a concussion caused the cruiserweight to rethink his choice in career. Instead, his journey eventually took him to nursing school.
3 Prince Iaukea
Fans watching WCW from 1996 to 2000 may remember Prince Iaukea hanging around WCW’s midcard, either as a generic babyface or as the Prince-inspired The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea. Despite his solid in-ring skills and his several titles in the promotion — including one earned by his vague physical resemblance to The Rock — Iaukea never really climbed above the midcard. And, once WCW went out of business, Iaukea mostly hung out on the Florida indie wrestling scene, competing in his last match in 2015.
2 Evan Karagias
Evan Karagias (pronounced “Courageous”) may have had the most ridiculous ring name in late period WCW, as far as importance he was mostly the third guy in 3 Count alongside Shane Helms and Shannon Moore. It’s a bit of a shame, because he worked well in a group and helped put on some show-stealing matches with Jung Dragons during his time with WCW. However, Karagias didn’t really show up anywhere notable post-WCW, having toiled in WWE developmental after several months.
1 Glacier
In 1996, WCW put a lot of money into Glacier, the ice-themed martial artist and main character of a mini-universe inspired by the popularity of the Mortal Kombat video games. A problem of timing, Glacier and his “Blood Runs Cold” storyline weren’t incredibly well-received, and eventually Glacier slid into jobber status while the whole concept was gradually dismantled. After a brief run as Coach Buzz Stern, the former Glacier was released from WCW in 1999, only to experience a brief return in the company’s final months. Even setting aside the extravagant gimmick, Glacier deserved better treatment, though he never found a second life in the majors after WCW.
