WCW had a bad track record of confusing the audience with some of their big moments. PPV endings are arguably the most important time of any show given the stakes typically involved. Wrestling promotions treat PPVs like the culmination of the time spent building said event, with the main event as the top match.
RELATED: 10 WCW Feuds That Made No Sense
Some of the best PPV endings for WCW featured moments like Hulk Hogan turning heel to join the New World Order, Kevin Nash ending Goldberg’s undefeated streak and Ric Flair overcoming a retirement match to become WCW Champion. Unfortunately, not all scenarios have the same end result of success. The following PPV endings were the most confusing in WCW history.
10 Starrcade 1999 (Bret Hart Vs Goldberg)
Starrcade 1999 felt like WCW’s biggest show in many months due to the massive main event of Bret Hart vs Goldberg for the WCW Championship. Both top faces had strong followings and set up one of the rare dream matches WCW had yet to book.
RELATED: 5 WCW Wrestlers Who Survived Bad Gimmicks (& 5 Who Had It Define Their Careers)
Unfortunately, the match turned into a nightmare for all involved, especially the audience. Bret had Goldberg in the sharpshooter when Roddy Piper came out as a replacement referee and rang the bell to recreate the Montreal Screwjob. The confusing end was even worse one night later when Hart founded the New World Order 2000 group to officially turn heel.
9 Halloween Havoc 1998 (Goldberg Vs Diamond Dallas Page)
The confusion at the end of Halloween Havoc 1998 had nothing to do with the competitors in the ring. Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg had one of the best WCW PPV main event matches ever, but no one got to see it on PPV.
WCW ran over their allowed time for the PPV and the broadcast stopped before the big main event. Eric Bischoff made the decision to air the match for free on Nitro the following night to ensure the audience didn’t feel ripped off.
8 Slamboree 1998 (Sting & The Giant Vs Kevin Nash & Scott Hall)
The entire dynamic of Slamboree 1998’s main event was hard to follow. Sting and The Giant agreed to challenge Kevin Nash and a returning Scott Hall, but Giant turned heel to join the New World Order Hollywood faction before this event. The confusion of Sting saw him wrestling as expected and trusting no one.
However, it was the tension on the other side of Hall betraying Nash to end the match. Nash was a face leading the Wolfpac, but Hall remained heel attacking his former best friend. Sting had no idea how to react when winning the tag gold as Giant and Hall celebrated together.
7 Souled Out 1997 (Hulk Hogan Vs The Giant)
Everything about the WCW project of giving the New World Order their own PPV provided confusion. Souled Out 1997 started off odd by having the nWo members arrive to the show on a garbage truck, but things would get worse at the end.
The Giant challenging Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship ended when the nWo referee Nick Patrick refused to count a pin for him. Patrick was attacked by Giant until the other nWo members attacked him. The no contest ended the night with yet another nWo beatdown without a proper payoff, like most Nitro episodes.
6 Uncensored 1995 (Hulk Hogan Vs Vader)
WCW booked a strap match between Hulk Hogan and Vader for the WCW Championship as the main event of Uncensored 1995. WWE found more success with the strap match of wrestlers having to touch four corners to win, but WCW wanted to use it in a main event program.
RELATED: 5 WCW Plot Twists That Ruined A Storyline (& 5 That Saved Them)
Hogan somehow won the match despite no longer being attached to Vader at the end. Ric Flair interfering saw Hogan placing him on the other end of the strap and touching the four corners. Hogan won the match despite Vader not being involved.
5 Spring Stampede 1998 (Randy Savage Vs Sting)
WCW created an all-time great angle that culminated with Sting winning the WCW Championship from Hulk Hogan and the New World Order. Most fans expected Sting to have a great title reign, but it ended after a few months.
Sting dropped the belt to Randy Savage in just his second PPV title defense at Spring Stampede 1998. Hogan tried to cost fellow nWo member Savage the match since he wanted to win it back. Kevin Nash arrived and attacked Sting to help Savage win the gold. The entire thing was too confusing to follow until Savage and Nash formed the Wolfpac.
4 Halloween Havoc 1995 (The Giant Vs Hulk Hogan)
The Giant wrestled his first official WCW match at Halloween Havoc 1995 in a main event against WCW Champion Hulk Hogan. WCW booked one of the most confusing finishes in wrestling history when Jimmy Hart attacked a referee to stop Hogan from winning.
Hart hitting Hogan with the belt led to The Giant putting a bear hug on Hulk for quite some time. The Yeti then appeared bear hugging Hogan with Giant on the other end. An official handed Giant the belt for the win since Hart hitting a referee was considered a DQ against Hogan. Jimmy wrote it into Hogan’s contract he would lose the belt if DQ’d, but that wasn’t explained until the following night.
3 Slamboree 2000 (Jeff Jarrett Vs Diamond Dallas Page Vs David Arquette)
WCW booked a triple decker cage inspired by the Ready to Rumble movie when David Arquette was forced to wrestle a match involving his friend Diamond Dallas Page and enemy Jeff Jarrett. The match featured Arquette trying to avoid Jarrett and help DDP until the end.
Arquette turned on Page by hitting him with a guitar to help Jarrett win the belt back. Fans were confused at this angle since DDP was already recently betrayed by former best friend Eric Bischoff and wife Kimberly Page.
2 Uncensored 1999 (Ric Flair Vs Hulk Hogan)
The idea of merging two stipulations for a first blood steel cage match was already a bad sign for Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair main eventing Uncensored 1999. Both men were leaning heel around this time with Flair as the power hungry authority figure and Hogan as the top heel WCW Champion.
The match had a confusing ending when crooked referee Charles Robinson refused to end the match after Flair bled. WCW threw the entire stipulation out of the window when Flair pinned Hogan and was awarded the WCW Championship as the victor.
1 Halloween Havoc 1999 (Sting Vs Goldberg)
WCW started to go too far with the swerves when Vince Russo gained creative power in the final months of the previous millennium. Halloween Havoc 1999 was originally meant to feature a heel Sting vs Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship, but Hogan laid down earlier in the night to intentionally lose in a worked shoot angle.
Things somehow evolved into Goldberg getting a match against Sting in the main event after defeating Sid Vicious. The match was declared non-title, but the referee handed the gold to Goldberg after his three-minute victory. Sting attacked the referee for not knowing the stipulation and somehow had the title vacated as a punishment.
