The 5 Tallest (& 5 Shortest) WCW Champions In History

The WCW Championship was held by a strong variety of wrestlers. It was a respected title for most of WCW’s existence with only top talents holding the gold. WWE even used the title for a short while before changing the name and linage to the World Championship. The difference in heights of wrestlers can be fascinating. Only wrestling can have people with the heights of Rey Mysterio and The Great Khali facing each other for example.

We will look at the tallest and shortest wrestlers to win the WCW Championship. Wrestling was quite demanding about the size of wrestlers back in the 90s. Taller wrestlers received pushes far easier than the current era. Promotions also rarely pushed shorter talents into the main event scene. The following WCW Champions had the extremely different sides of heights when holding the title.

10 Tallest: Diamond Dallas Page: 6'5''

Diamond Dallas Page and Vader were both listed at 6’5’’, but the latter was exaggerated for his monster heel character. The height of Page made him a surprisingly taller wrestler on WCW’s roster. It was easy to not notice his height since most top names had similar tall looks.

DDP’s shocking rise to the top of WCW came due to his genuine connection with the audience. The career of Page is remembered fondly for great matches along with three WCW Championship reigns. None of them lasted long, but they count just the same.

9 Shortest: Jeff Jarrett: 6'0''

WCW brought in Jeff Jarrett with the intent of making him a top heel. The close relationship with Vince Russo convinced him to make the move when promised a bigger push than his WWE mid-card role. Jarrett won the WCW Championship four times in the final few years.

The 6’0’’ height of Jarrett made him one of the shorter world champions for either company in the Monday Night Wars. Jarrett was never viewed as a smaller wrestler despite having the same height of wrestlers that broke the mold for future stars.

8 Tallest: Hulk Hogan: 6'7''

Hulk Hogan was one of the most deceptively tall wrestlers in the history of the business. Fans viewed Hogan as an underdog overcoming the giant heels even though he was among the tallest wrestlers in either WWE or WCW in his own right.

The impressive 6’7’’ height saw Hogan having the look along with the physique of a superhero. WCW made Hogan the top star in his entire run from 1994 to 2000. It’s hard to envision WCW ever posing a real threat to WWE without the Hogan signing.

7 Shortest: Bret Hart: 6'0''

Bret Hart broke the mold for wrestlers 6’0’’ or shorter in WWE. Vince McMahon’s philosophy of bigger guys drawing more hurt many talents on the roster. Hart was the first one to become the face of the company after names like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage had that role.

The look of Bret was great, but his height did play a role in the push coming slower than usual. Hart worked twice as hard and proved the audience would get behind him before Vince trusted someone of his size to get the biggest push possible in WWE.

6 Tallest: Sid Vicious: 6'7''

The height of Sid Vicious played a huge role in why WWE and WCW each pushed him so hard. Sid is one of just four wrestlers to win both the WWE Championship and WCW Championship while also main eventing each company’s biggest show WrestleMania and Starrcade.

The lackluster title reigns didn’t stop either promotion from giving him such major pushes. Sid won the WCW Championship twice thanks partially to his 6’7’’ height. WCW did seem to regret the title reigns since Sid didn’t prove to be a draw at all.

5 Shortest: Chris Benoit: 5'11''

Chris Benoit’s one-day WCW Championship reign saw him stripped of the title after leaving for a fresh start in WWE. WCW expected Benoit to remain on the roster after getting the biggest possible win in the company.

The timing was too late as Benoit felt years of disrespect from WCW for his hard work. Benoit was 5’11’’ and that alone held him back from moving up the card during the peak of WCW’s run. The company not pushing him until ready to leave made him want to get a better run in WWE.

4 Tallest: Kevin Nash: 6'10''

Kevin Nash was considered one of the giants of wrestling in the 90s thanks to his 6’10’’ height. Despite falling under the 7-foot-tall mark, Nash seemed as tall as anyone else in the industry when in the ring together. The height helped Nash have college basketball success before his later move to wrestling.

WWE and WCW both loved the height of Nash adding to his already impressive charisma. Nash won the WCW Championship on five occasions with most of his matches featuring him having a size advantage. Only one or two wrestlers could pose a real threat to Nash’s height at the time.

3 Shortest: Chris Jericho: 5'11''

Chris Jericho didn’t win the WCW Championship until moving to WWE. Vince McMahon purchasing WCW in 2001 allowed WWE to keep the WCW brand and title alive for a few months during the infamous Invasion storyline.

WCW viewed Jericho as too small to move into the main event picture when delivering great work and trying to start a program with Goldberg. Jericho scored the ultimate revenge as the last WCW Champion as a WWE main eventer when the company was at its end.

2 Tallest: The Giant: 7'0''

Hulk Hogan discovered Big Show aka The Giant at a gym due to his incredible height. Upon noticing the youngster looked like an athlete, Hogan convinced him to join WCW and give wrestling a chance. The Giant was pushed as the son of Andre the Giant due to his 7’0’’ height.

Fans did view The Giant as an attraction, but he just never reached the absolute top level of names like Hogan, Kevin Nash and Randy Savage. The move to WWE helped him improve throughout the years as their new big man. Big Show’s height helped him find the wrestling business to change his life forever.

1 Shortest: David Arquette: 5'10''

Actor David Arquette joined WCW on Nitro and Thunder after starring the co-promoted Ready to Rumble film. Vince Russo wanted Arquette to become a major player on the show due to his fame as a top actor at the time and the husband of Courtney Cox.

Arquette won the WCW Championship at Russo’s request to hopefully improve ratings and gain media attention. The title reign instead flopped and hurt the careers of all involved. Arquette did make some history as the shortest WCW Champion ever at 5’10’’.

NEXT: WCW: Every Use Of A Celebrity, Ranked From Worst To Best