WCW Wrestlers Who Won A World Title & A Midcard Title In The Same Year

Although WCW boasted a world-class roster throughout its lifespan, the promotion had a penchant for utilizing the same core group of talent as its pillars. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, and Goldberg were regularly at the helm of WCW’s sinking ship, and it wasn’t until the company’s final two years that this began to change, as Booker T, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, and Diamond Dallas Page emerged as the next Aces of WCW.

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Some of the biggest stars ever held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. These former WCW Champions had the best entrances.

All eight held the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at least once, while also having success elsewhere in the promotion – but who managed to lift both a World and a secondary title in the same year?

Ron Simmons

Year Of Achievement: 1992

The first to achieve a major and minor WCW championship victory in the same year was Ron Simmons, whose August 1992 victory of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship made history. In defeating Big Van Vader, Simmons became the first black World Champion in professional wrestling, paving a legacy for The Rock, Kofi Kingston, and Swerve Strickland to follow.

Earlier that year, he had won the WCW United States Tag Team Championships alongside Big Josh,

the future and original Doink The Clown
.

Lex Luger

Year Of Achievement: 1997

Although Lex Luger did indeed win both a World and a mid-card title in 1997, he achieved a combined six days as a WCW champion that year. As World Heavyweight Champion, he toppled Hollywood Hogan before dropping it back to ‘The Hulkster’ at Road Wild, while he enjoyed a one-day reign with the World Tag Team Championships six months earlier.

With the doubles titles, ‘The Total Package’ teamed with The Giant to defeat The Outsiders. The belts were returned to Kevin Nash and Scott Hall the following evening, the decision being that Luger hadn’t been medically cleared for the title match.

Scott Steiner

Year Of Achievement: 2000

Having spent the bulk of his career as a tag team wrestler alongside his brother Rick, Scott Steiner’s 1998 breakout as a singles performer allowed him to become ‘Big Poppa Pump’, a certified main event-caliber act. The payoff to this heel turn came two years later, in 2000, as Steiner ascended the mountain to become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion at the Mayhem pay-per-view.

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From his early years as a rookie to his time as Big Poppa Pump, Scott Steiner always stood out due to his impressive look and physique.

The same year, at Spring Stampede, the younger Steiner sibling achieved his second WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, the title having been declared vacant following

Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff’s ill-fated reboot of the promotion
.

Ric Flair

Year Of Achievement: 1996

Despite winning his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 1991 when the Ted Turner-fronted group withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance, it took Ric Flair another five years to win a mid-card title in the same year as one of his sixteen World Championships.

In 1996,, besting Randy Savage and Konnan, respectively.

Bret Hart

Year Of Achievement: 1999

His time in the promotion wasn’t notable and outright ended his career, but there is no denying that Bret Hart was successful in WCW. ‘The Hitman’ achieved two World Heavyweight Championships, four United States Heavyweight Championships, and one set of World Tag Team Championships, with 1999 seeing Hart reign with all three.

Bret won both of his World Championships in the winter of ’99, alongside his final United States title in WCW and six days with the company’s World Tag Team Championships,

Goldberg being his partner
. That victory awarded both Bret Hart and his mortal enemy Triple Crown status.

Sting

Year Of Achievement: 1998

Sting was already an immensely decorated performer by the time 1998 rolled around, but it was in ’98 that ‘The Icon’ achieved this remarkable feat. He started the year as World Heavyweight Champion before being stripped of the Big Gold Belt following the controversy surrounding his and Hollywood Hogan’s Starrcade 1997 headliner, however, he was once again the World Champion following SuperBrawl VIII.

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Following the loss of his fourth WCW World Heavyweight Championship
, Sting ventured into the tag team ranks, holding WCW’s doubles titles twice in the year. Reigning for 16 and 36 days, respectively, ‘The Stinger’ teamed with The Giant and Kevin Nash, Nash replacing the future Big Show following Sting’s nWo Wolfpac defection.

Goldberg

Year Of Achievement: 1998

If 1998 was good for Sting, it was great for Goldberg. ‘Da Man’, who debuted the previous year and embarked on a lengthy winning streak, saw his first taste of WCW gold in ’98, toppling Raven for the United States Heavyweight Championship.

His victory of the secondary US title propelled Goldberg to challenge Hollywood Hogan for the World Heavyweight Championship that summer, where he defeated the immortal Hogan to achieve immortality himself. The Hogan match occurred on a notable Monday Nitro broadcast from Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.

Booker T

Year Of Achievement: 2001

Not even the closure of World Championship Wrestling could prevent Booker T from holding three distinct WCW titles in 2001. He held the World Heavyweight, United States Heavyweight, and World Tag Team Championships in ’01, racking up two reigns with the World title.

The second of those, alongside Booker’s final reign with the company’s World Tag Team Championships, occurred after the buyout of WCW from the WWF, while his United States title reign carried over.

Diamond Dallas Page

Year Of Achievement: 1999, 2000

Diamond Dallas Page is a rare breed, being one of two WCW alumni to have held a World and a secondary championship in the same year more than once. DDP first achieved the accomplishment in 1999, with two reigns as World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Champion apiece, adding another two reigns with each title in 2000.

For his time as a WCW World Tag Team Champion, the future WWE Hall of Famer would be joined by Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon in The Jersey Triad in ’99, and by Kevin Nash to form The Insiders in 2000.

Kevin Nash

Year Of Achievement: 1998, 1999, 2000

While Diamond Dallas Page reached this landmark in two separate years, Kevin Nash managed to do so in three years: 1998, 1999, and 2000. ‘Big Daddy Cool’ joined Page in the latter to enjoy two reigns as WCW World Tag Team Champions, with Nash’s other partners being Scott Hall and Sting.

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Kevin Nash has won plenty of championships throughout his wrestling career across several promotions, with some reigns lasting longer than others.

In full, the nWo’s co-founder reigned as WCW World Heavyweight Champion for a combined 97 days across the three years, and as WCW World Tag Team Champion for a total of 198 days.