Wrestlers who switched promotions in the 80s and early 90s

HeavyHands20

HeavyHands20

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Thanks to a thread started by @lakersfan45 , it took me down memory lane. In my youth I was always so starstruck and somewhat confused when wrestlers would suddenly show up in the opposite promotion. When we were children, we were very naive and had a hard time comprehending alot of the intangibles that came with professional wrestling. Before the Monday Night Wars that began in 1995, there were several incidents of wrestlers "jumping ship", which ones caused you guys to mark out and just blew your mind? I'm talking from the 80s to 1995.

The Road Warriors appearing in WWF as Legion of Doom


Rick Rude appearing in WCW


Heres a small list to get people thinking.

Ricky Steamboat (Left NWA for WWF in 1985: Jumped back and forth over the years)
Road Warriors (Left WCW for WWF in 1990 to become Legion of Doom)
Dustin Rhodes (Left WCW for WWF in 1990: Jumped back and forth over the years)
Rick Rude (Left WWF for WCW in 1991)
Ric Flair (Left WCW for WWF in 1991)
Sid Vicious/Sid Justice (Back and forth from WCW and WWF 1991-1996)
Hulk Hogan (Left WWF in 1993: Debuted in WCW in 1994)
Lex Luger (Left WCW for WWF in 1993)
Randy Savage (Left WWF for WCW in 1994)
 
HeavyHands20 said:
Thanks to a thread started by @lakersfan45 , it took me down memory lane. In my youth I was always so starstruck and somewhat confused when wrestlers would suddenly show up in the opposite promotion. When we were children, we were very naive and had a hard time comprehending alot of the intangibles that came with professional wrestling. Before the Monday Night Wars that began in 1995, there were several incidents of wrestlers "jumping ship", which ones caused you guys to mark out and just blew your mind? I'm talking from the 80s to 1995.

The Road Warriors appearing in WWF as Legion of Doom


Rick Rude appearing in WCW


Heres a small list to get people thinking.

Ricky Steamboat (Left NWA for WWF in 1985: Jumped back and forth over the years)
Road Warriors (Left WCW for WWF in 1990 to become Legion of Doom)
Dustin Rhodes (Left WCW for WWF in 1990: Jumped back and forth over the years)
Rick Rude (Left WWF for WCW in 1991)
Ric Flair (Left WCW for WWF in 1991)
Sid Vicious/Sid Justice (Back and forth from WCW and WWF 1991-1996)
Hulk Hogan (Left WWF in 1993: Debuted in WCW in 1994)
Lex Luger (Left WCW for WWF in 1993)
Randy Savage (Left WWF for WCW in 1994)
Click to expand...


I'll take some liberties with the term "early 1990s"
As a fan of their announcing, Jesse Ventura and Bobby Heenan going to WCW in early 90s was pretty big. Tony Schiavone had an 89-90 WWF run before going to WCW
Undertaker had a brief run as Mean Mark in 1990 with WCW
Steiner Brothers was a major grab by the WWF in 92
Nasty Boys were WCW to WWF in 91 and back to WCW in 93
Shane Douglas went from WWF to WCW around 1991
Mike Rotunda went from WCW to WWF around 1991
British Bulldog went from WWF to WCW in 1993
Paul Roma went from WWF to WCW around 92ish
Barbarian went from WWF to WCW in 92
Barry Windham and Arn Anderson went from WWF to WCW in 90ish
Terry Taylor went WWF to WCW in 1990 to WWF in 92
Haku went WCW in 94 after a long run in WWF
Iron Sheik was in WCW in 1990 and then back in WWF as Colonel Mustafa in 91
Big Bossman left WWF in 93 for WCW
Hogan, Beefcake, Savage, Earthquake went to WCW in 1994
 
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British Bulldog was jumping like crazy in the 90s wasn't he?

Vader in what 96?
The Radicals
Pillman
Stunning Steve
 
They weren't important enough for me to remember their names, but it always cracked me up that jobbers moved between companies. Come to think about it, couldn't you job for both companies back then? I don't see why it would matter.
 
HeavyHands20 said:
Agreed, however it seemed like WWF didnt know how to use them properly or they just didn't mesh well because they truly belonged in WCW
Click to expand...

I heard shoots where they hated the road schedule, but they probably also left because they were underused. Steiners were going over a team like Sting and Lex Luger in WCW, then go to WWF and are being matched up with Heavenly Bodies and Quebecers. Also in WCW, Steiners were legit title contenders when they were in singles competition. WWF seemed to not treat them near as formidable.
 
tugboat>typhoon>shockmaster>super shockmaster>typhoon>tugboat
 
prod2821 said:
What about Raven!?
Click to expand...

Raven was Scotty Flamingo in WCW from 92 to 93, then Johnny Polo in WWF from 93 to 94
Scott Hall was Diamond Studd in WCW from 91 to 92, then left to be Razor Ramon in WWF
Kevin Nash had multiple gimmicks from 91 to 93 in WCW, then became Diesel in the WWF
Somoan Swat Team was in WCW until 90, then became Headshrinkers in WWF in 92
Matt Borne was Big Josh in WCW from 91 to 92, then became Doink in WWF from 92-93
Sensational Sherri came to WCW in 94 after spending years in the WWF
Owen Hart had a brief WCW stint in 91 and went back to WWF at end of year
Honky Tonk Man had a cup of tea in WCW in 94
Jake the Snake ended his run in the WWF in early 92 and had a short stay in WCW at end of 92
Mick Foley was a jobber for the WWF in 87ish before finally getting to WCW in 91
Dusty Rhodes was in WWF from 89-early 91
Norman the Lunatic in WCW in 1990, Bastion Booger in WWF in 1993
 
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nwa scott hall>wcw diamond studd>wwf razor ramon>wcw scott hall
 
moonwolf said:
nwa scott hall>wcw diamond studd>wwf razor ramon>wcw scott hall
Click to expand...
You mean AWA Scott Hall?
hall.jpg
 
deezy said:
You mean AWA Scott Hall?
hall.jpg
Click to expand...
nah, I meant NWA Scott Hall. JR brought him back to NWA-WCW in 89 (he was previously in NWA-CWF 84-85).

mutahall2-2.jpg


 
RememberYammaPit said:
Raven was Scotty Flamingo in WCW from 92 to 93, then Johnny Polo in WWF from 93 to 94
Scott Hall was Diamond Studd in WCW from 91 to 92, then left to be Razor Ramon in WWF
Kevin Nash had multiple gimmicks from 91 to 93 in WCW, then became Diesel in the WWF
Somoan Swat Team was in WCW until 90, then became Headshrinkers in WWF in 92
Matt Borne was Big Josh in WCW from 91 to 92, then became Doink in WWF from 92-93
Sensational Sherri came to WCW in 94 after spending years in the WWF
Owen Hart had a brief WCW stint in 91 and went back to WWF at end of year
Honky Tonk Man had a cup of tea in WCW in 94
Jake the Snake ended his run in the WWF in early 92 and had a short stay in WCW at end of 92
Mick Foley was a jobber for the WWF in 87ish before finally getting to WCW in 91
Dusty Rhodes was in WWF from 89-early 91
Norman the Lunatic in WCW in 1990, Bastion Booger in WWF in 1993
Click to expand...
Didn't know about Owen having a Wcw :confused:​
 
This is a refreshing YouTube clip that pretty much sums up the point I was trying to get across with my OP. Completely marked out when this happened

 
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