Top 20 worst world title changes in wrestling history

9. Ric Flair def. Hulk Hogan: Uncensored 1999

I’m still very confused by this one. Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair are arguably the two biggest names in wrestling history. WWE missed out on a battle between the two icons at WrestleMania VIII but we finally got the dream match in 1994 when Hogan signed with WCW. Flair had gone back the year before and the two would battle numerous times over the years during the Monday Night War with WWE. Whether it was when Hogan was wearing the red and yellow colors of Hulkamania or the black and white (or red) of the nWo, these two crossed paths quite a bit. And while some matches were good, there were others that weren’t so good, including this train wreck at Uncensored in 1999.

There was so much leading up to this match that it’s hard to know where to begin. The biggest thing here was that the winner of this match was to take control of the company AND was also for the World Heavyweight Championship. This was just a couple of months after the Fingerpoke of Doom (again, more on that later) and things were already starting to go off the rails in WCW and this night certainly didn’t help matters. The match was billed as a Barbed Wire Steel Cage First Blood Match (there’s a lot going there), which is never a good idea when Ric Flair is involved because he starts bleeding when a fly lands on his head. So what happens? Not long into the match, Flair starts bleeding. Shocking, I know. But for once, Hogan isn’t booked to win so the match just goes on. Charles Robinson, Flair’s little buddy, was the referee for this one and his headset had to be going crazy.

Flair, who was the GM at this point, said that the match wouldn’t be stopped for “incidental blood.” What does that even mean? It’s a First Blood Match. The guy who bleeds first loses, right? Apparently not. So the match goes on and there’s controversy on top of controversy and then Flair wins with a pin. WHAT?! Gotta love WCW.