The end of WCW caused a drastic change in the wrestling industry that was mostly all negative. TNA and Ring of Honor created secondary brands that lasted over two decades, but they never reached anywhere near that WCW level. AEW is the closest thing since 2000, and they are not near that WCW impact either.

WWE purchasing WCW meant that one brand running the industry limited the number of wrestlers to become stars. WCW continuing would have seen the talents on the roster or those potentially joining finding greater success. The following names would have been major stars if WCW stayed in business.

Sean O'Haire Had A Great Rookie Year In 2000

Sean O'Haire Flopped In WWE After The End Of WCW

• O'Haire Was Arguably The Best Member Of The Natural Born Thrillers Group
• WWE Gave Him A New Gimmick On SmackDown
• Being Overshadowed By Roddy Piper Ruined His Push

WCW pushed the Natural Born Thrillers faction of younger talents attempting to break out together. Sean O'Haire often stood out as the most impressive talent due to his athletic ability and incredible moveset.

Unfortunately, O'Haire eventually flopped in WWE after WCW went out of business. O’Haire received a push as a master manipulator and with Roddy Piper at his side, but the creative team made him feel too secondary to Piper.

Steve Corino Was Going To Join The New Version Of WCW

Eric Bischoff Enjoyed Steve Corino's Work

• Eric Bischoff Wanted Corino For A New Version Of WCW
• Steve Corino Was A Former ECW World Heavyweight Championship
• He Wrestled For Secondary Promotions Until Becoming A WWE Coach

Vince McMahon completed the deal to buy WCW, but Eric Bischoff putting together an ownership group was the other main option. The hope of Bischoff was to reboot WCW and have a PPV titled Big Bang reset the product with many new talents.

Former ECW Champion Steve Corino was on the list of names rumored to join WCW under Bischoff’s new vision. Corino was a strong heel and would likely have got over with the new audience at the height of his underrated wrestling career.

Elix Skipper Could Have Been The Next Cruiserweight Star

Did Great Things During TNA's Early Years

• Delivered Strong Matches As Member Of Team Canada
• Was Getting His Biggest Push When WCW Was Sold
• Skipper Had Great Matches In TNA

WCW placing Elix Skipper in Lance Storm’s Team Canada faction helped him showcase signs of his potential. Skipper could do incredible athletic things in the ring that a large percentage of the roster could only dream of.

The company was purchased right when Skipper and Kid Romeo received a push in the new cruiserweight tag division. TNA used Skipper as a top X-Division challenger, but their reach was too small for him to become a big star.

Shannon Moore Could Have Thrived Like Shane Helms

Talented 3 Count Member Never Got To The Next Level

• Moore Showed Potential As A Member Of The 3 Count Group
• His Best Work In WWE Came As Matt Hardy's Lackey
• Never Became A Major Star For WWE Or TNA

3 Count featured the talented cruiserweights Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, and Evan Karagias portraying a heel boy band gimmick that got a lot of heat. All three wrestlers did their part, but Helms was the one who had more success going forward.

WWE continued to push Helms after his character transitioned to The Hurricane. Moore had a stint in WWE, but he peaked in the lackey sidekick role behind Matt Hardy. WWE and TNA used Moore in secondary roles before he was completely out of the spotlight.

Chuck Palumbo Was Supposed To Be A Main Eventer In WCW

He Eventually Became A Midcarder In WWE

• WCW Gave Him Big Wins Over Former World Champions
• Enjoyed Tag Team Success In WWE Alongside Billy Gunn
• Palumbo Had A Bigger Gimmick In His Final WWE Run That Didn't Get Over

Chuck Palumbo had a similar story to Sean O’Haire as a former Natural Born Thrillers faction member. WCW gave Palumbo some big wins over names like Lex Luger and Diamond Dallas Page, which made wrestling fans believe he'd become a future top star in the business.

WWE struggled to find the same success with Palumbo in various roles. The infamous Billy & Chuck tag team was the peak of his WWE career. After a second WWE run that saw him accomplish even less, Palumbo fizzled out.

Sharmell Could Have Been Next Breakout Female Star

The Future Queen Showed Potential In WCW's Final Years

• Joined WCW As Part Of The Nitro Girls Dance Team
• Showed Potential As A Manager In The Promotion's Final Year
• Found More Success Managing Booker T In WWE

WCW was the place to first hire Booker T’s wife Sharmell into the wrestling industry. The couple met in WCW as Sharmell held various roles on the Nitro Girls dance team, broadcasting team, and she even became a manager in the final year.

One rare positive about WCW towards the end was putting more women on television. Sharmell could have been the next woman to join Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson as breakout stars. WWE ended up being the place where she had her biggest role, managing her husband Booker T (then known as King Booker) when he became World Heavyweight Champion.

Kid Kash Is A Forgotten Name From WCW

The Company Ended Before He Could Make An Impact

• Kid Kash Won The ECW World Television Championship In 2000
• WCW Signed Kid Kash A Week Before WWE Purchased Them
• Kash Had Forgotten Tenures With WWE & TNA After WCW

ECW pushed Kid Kash in the final years as one of the talents fans fell in love with. WCW signed him in March 2001, just weeks before the company closed. The name Cash was used for his sole televised WCW match against Jason Jett.

WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon one week later, which possibly ruined his best chance on a big stage. Kash had stints in WWE and TNA, but he never hit that true star level in wrestling.

Never Got Another Chance To Break Out After WCW

• Sanders Did Most Of The Talking For The Natural Born Thrillers
• He Managed The Team More Than He Wrestled Matches
• Had Lackluster WWE & TNA Stints Before Leaving Wrestling

WCW trusted Mike Sanders to do most of the talking for the Natural Born Thrillers faction. Sanders didn’t contribute much in the ring, but his promos led to most WCW fans hating him and any wrestlers associated with him.

WWE didn’t care to use Sanders beyond a developmental role and released him before he could make his main roster debut. Sanders had an overlooked TNA stint go by quickly before he left the industry and switched career paths.

Don Callis Was Going To Join Eric Bischoff’s WCW

• Showed Immense Charisma As A Commentator In ECW
• Bischoff Wanted Callis & Joey Styles For The New Version Of WCW
• Callis Found His Greatest Success Decades Later For AEW

Eric Bischoff reportedly wanted to hire the former ECW commentary team of Joey Styles and Don Callis to call the new WCW product if his ownership group purchased the company. WCW continuing would have helped boost the careers of Callis and Styles calling a new product.

AEW and New Japan each showed Callis’ potential as a personality decades later. A WCW stint for the revamped product under Bischoff could have helped Callis become a major wrestling star earlier in his career.

Mike Awesome Was Getting A Better Push At The End

Awesome Did Well Despite The Terrible Gimmicks

• Bad Gimmicks Hurt The Early Chapters Of His WCW Career
• He Was Finding More Success Teaming With Lance Storm
• WWE Used Him Poorly In The Invasion Storyline

WCW initially used Mike Awesome terribly under Vince Russo when he joined the company as ECW World Champion. Awesome struggled with abysmal gimmicks like the Fat Chick Thriller and That 70s Guy ruining any credibility he had.

The final few months saw Awesome finally having a decent run in the heel Team Canada faction with Lance Storm. Awesome and Storm having strong tag matches together was putting Awesome on a better path. Unfortunately, WWE barely used him after the purchase and his career fizzled out.