The entire history of WCW features many polarizing aspects of conversation from both on-screen and behind the scenes. Vice’s “Who Killed WCW?” mini-series produced by The Rock is doing well to show how much fans still care about the defunct promotion. However, many of the topics are about things that created conflicting opinions.

Backstage controversies will always have debates about who was right or wrong, but the on-screen product is a bit different. Storylines that split the audience and don’t appease everyone can work, as seen with John Cena’s face run. Unfortunately, that is a rare best-case scenario. WCW had the following storylines viewed as the most polarizing in company history.

New Blood Vs Millionaire's Club Feud

Using Reality Was A Polarizing Concept For Wrestling Angles

• New Blood Was Inspired By Younger Wrestlers' Unhappiness
• Millionaire's Club Playing Faces Made Story Too Inconsistent
• Eric Bischoff & Vince Russo's Presence Made It Too Much About Them

WCW tried to reboot the entire product by taking a few weeks off and returning with all titles vacated. The New Blood faction opened that show with the younger talents in the ring, with Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff as their new leaders.

Established veterans like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, and others formed the Millionaire’s Club to combat them. The idea of young stars feeling the legends were holding them played into reality, which was an extremely hit or miss concept at the time.

WCW Went Back To Recycling Idea Again In Mid-1990s

• Flair Tricked Sting Into Trusting After Past Betrayals
• Long Con Helped Start New Version Of Four Horsemen
• Sting & Flair Were Much Better As Rivals Than Allies

The rivalry between Sting and Ric Flair helped make WCW a credible brand behind WWE. However, things grew a bit repetitive when Sting trusted Flair a few times and got betrayed every single time by the untrustworthy villain.

WCW tried the storyline again in 1995, when Sting agreed to team with Flair against teammates Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman. Flair betraying Sting again to reform the Four Horsemen split the audience between those that felt it was predictable and others who loved the angle.

The Ultimate Warrior Arriving To Haunt Hulk Hogan

Eric Bischoff’s Worst Free Agent Signing Led To Horrible Feud

• Warrior Was Meant To Be Major Free Agent Signing
• Fans Cared About Warrior Vs Hogan Feud At Start
• Terrible Results Ruined End Of Feud To End Warrior's Stint

WCW hoped that fans would care about Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior having their rematch from an epic WWE match almost a decade prior. Warrior unfortunately didn’t hold the same appeal and looked like a shell of his former self.

There were fans invested in seeing a legend returning to haunt Hogan using supernatural powers. Other fans were skeptical of the nonsense, and this side was proven correct when Warrior and Hogan had an all-time bad match to end Warrior’s WCW tenure.

Bret Hart Leading NWO 2000 Reboot

Interesting Idea On Paper Never Worked Out As Planned

• NWO 2000 Was Done To Create Interest During Struggles
• Bret Hart's Injury Ruined Concept As The Leader
• Group Ended Before Goldberg Could Get Revenge

Life after the original New World Order concept ended was difficult for WCW to get a hot product again. WCW threw a bold idea at the wall when the NWO 2000 formed with Bret Hart as the new heel leader.

Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, and Scott Steiner helped Bret cheat Goldberg out of the WCW Championship. Hart’s injury doomed the rest of the faction, but it was already polarizing with some fans viewing it as a desperate rip off of a great act.

Buff Bagwell's Heel Turn After Neck Injury

Made Weird Move Refusing To Make Buff Babyface

• Buff's Real Injury Had Fans Sympathisizing With Him
• Teased Face Turn In Return Appearances With Rick Steiner
• Swerve Attack On Rick Led Bagwell Right Back To NWO

The New World Order tenure of Buff Bagwell made him a bigger star, but there was potential for much more success. Bagwell suffered a real-life scary neck injury in the ring that took him television for a few months.

Fans wondered if Buff would ever wrestle again and supported him in his rare appearances. Bagwell shocked everyone when attacking Rick Steiner to reveal he was healthy again. Any injury being manipulated for storylines will be polarizing, but fans wanting to cheer Buff like a hero made it worse.

Sting's Heel Turn Against Hulk Hogan

WCW Turned Most Beloved Hero Into Villain

• Only True Sting Heel Turn Of His Entire Wrestling Career
• WCW Fans Still Cheered Sting As A Heel Character
• Many Loved Logic Of Sting Getting Revenge On Hogan

Sting turning heel for WCW in 1999 was akin to if John Cena ever turned heel in WWE. WCW fans viewed Sting as the heart of the promotion after a decade of success as the top overall babyface for most of that tenure.

Hulk Hogan going back to the Hulkamania character led to a rare face vs face showdown with Sting for the WCW Championship. Lex Luger helped Sting cheat Hogan out of the match for Stinger’s heel turn. The angle is remembered for being polarizing, with some fans liking a new side of Sting and others feeling he should have been a face for life.

Curt Hennig Betraying Four Horsemen For NWO

• Hennig Appeared To Be Perfect Fit In Four Horsemen
• Betrayed Group After A Few Weeks To Join New World Order
• Made For All-Time Memorable WCW War Games Moment

Curt Hennig was a tremendous talent for WWE as Mr. Perfect, but he received a bigger push in WCW. The Four Horsemen vs New World Order main event feud instantly made Hennig a huge part of it when joining the Horsemen in Arn Anderson’s spot.

Hennig fit perfectly into the Horsemen due to his chemistry with Flair and his role in the tradition of the sport. However, WCW wanted to pull off a big swerve and had Hennig betray the Horsemen to help the New World Order win War Games. Fans were split over which faction was the better fit for Hennig.

Brian Pillman Breaking Character As Loose Cannon

Rare Character That Referenced Breaking Kayfabe In 1990s

• Pillman Wanted To Trick Co-Workers During Loose Cannon Moments
• Fans Had No Idea What Was Real When Pillman Was On Screen
• WWE & ECW Showed Interest In Pillman With This Character

Wrestling was drastically different in the mid-1990s for WWE and WCW promotions. Fans still bought into kayfabe, and wrestlers tried to make everything on the show feel real rather than being scripted.

Brian Pillman introduced a character called the “Loose Cannon” that implied he couldn’t be controlled like other wrestlers. Shocking moments breaking script and even confusing his co-workers led to major dissent in the business, with many wondering if this was good for the industry.

Miss Elizabeth Leaving Randy Savage For Ric Flair

WCW Used WWE Storyline For Shocking Heel Turn

• Used WWE Backstory To Validate Shocking Heel Turn
• Many Fans Felt Elizabeth Being A Heel Was Huge Mistake
• Elizabeth Handing Flair Shoe Through Cage Helped Him Win Belt

The signing of Miss Elizabeth by WCW had everyone expecting her to reunite with Randy Savage. WCW did that first, but it was all done to set up a shocking heel turn when Elizabeth helped Ric Flair win the WCW Championship from Savage.

WWE ran a major storyline in previous years about Flair claiming that Elizabeth was his partner before Savage. WCW decided to go with this for her shocking heel turn. The move was polarizing since many fans felt it was a terrible move to turn Elizabeth heel.

Wolfpac Forming For New World Order Civil War Feud

Doubling Down On NWO As Biggest Storyline Split Fans

• Wolfpac Became Instant Top Face Act Loved By Fans
• Civil War Angle Provided Story Of Wrestlers Picking Sides
• Criticism Of Too Much NWO Confusion Made It Polarizing

The New World Order grew stale when too many members joined the group. WCW tried to combat that issue by splitting the group into two camps for an NWO Civil War storyline. Kevin Nash, Lex Luger, Sting, Randy Savage, and Konnan formed the Wolfpac face version.

Both sides going head-to-head and having the face vs heel dynamic caused a polarizing reaction. Many fans loved the red-hot babyface Wolfpac group, but others felt the NWO overkill hurt WCW. WWE documentaries named the Wolfpac vs Hollywood angle as one of many reasons for the downfall, despite the numbers saying otherwise.