Spotlight on nWo part 1
There’s nothing I could say about the New World Order that people don’t know. All the stories are out there on the public domain, all the videos are available on YouTube and on DVD and VHS (remember those? Pepperidge Farm remembers!!). The faction was formed at Bash at the Beach 1996 during the main event dubbed the “Hostile Takeover match,” when Hulk Hogan turned heel and revealed to be the Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) mystery partner against Macho Man Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Sting.
The Outsiders had jumped over and debuted on May 27th, 1996 (Hall) and June 10th, 1996 (Nash), with the intention of “starting a war” on WCW. Hogan turning heel and joining them was one of the biggest shocks in wrestling history, and one of the most influential moments, helping WCW compete with WWF, and creating a more adult orientated product. nWo’s presentation was that of unsanctioned wrestlers aiming to take over WCW in street gang warfare.
This created interest in WCW to the point that Monday Nitro as being Monday Night Raw in the ratings each week. Over time, more members joined, starting with Ted DiBiase. There have also been 4 celebrities that joined the ranks. Kyle Petty drove the nWo racecar from September 23rd, 1996 until September 5th, 1997, Dennis Rodman joined Match 10th, 1997, famously missing practice woke signed with the Chicago Bulls in the lead up to, and during, the NBA Playoffs, and last appearing August 9th, 1997, before joining nWo Hollywood in 1998. Paul Gilmartin and Claud Mann (Dinner and a Movie host and chef, respectively) were both one night only members at Clash of the Champions XXXV, on August 21st, 1997.
On April 27th, 1998, nWo broke into 2 separate factions, the heel nWo Hollywood (led by “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan), and the face nWo Wolfpac (led by Kevin Nash). The split was caused by a disagreement, and split by, Kevin Nash, Macho Man, and Konnan. Many other names joined the warring factions, from The Giant to Lex Luger, to Sting.
In December of 1996, NJPW had their own version of nWo, initially lead by Masahiro Chono (as heels), and by Keiji Muto from April of 1998 until January 4th, 2000 (as faces). On the January 4th, 1999 episode of Nitro, one of the more controversial moments in, not only WCW history, but wrestling history occurred. The infamous Finger Poke of Doom. After beating, and ending the undefeated steak of WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg with some help by a cattle prod wielding Scott Hall, Levin Bag was the new World Champion. He followed that up by defending the title against Hollywood Hogan. After minutes of staring each other down, Hogan looked Nash in the chest, who sells it like he was hit in the chest by a cannonball. After the match ends, Nash and Hogan celebrate, reuniting nWo Hollywood and Wolfpac creating nWo Elite.
During this time, WCW and nWo had presented joint PPVs, with nWo promoting Souled Out 1996 as their own. 2 further groups were also created, nWo Black and White (aka nWo B-Team) and nWo 2000. nWo in WCW came to an end on April 10th, 2000 upon the return of Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff (the latter was previously a member of WCW as the corrupt President of WCW, a fictionalised version of himself).
Some members were split, with some joining the New Blood, others joining the Millionaires Club. After the closure of WCW in 2001, and WWF’s purchase of the promotion, Vince McMahon brought in nWo as hired thugs to “kill” the WWF during the Vince McMahon vs Ric Flair feud. Following WrestleMania X8, Hogan was kicked out after losing to The Rock and turning face. X-Pac and the Big Show both rejoined the faction (after previously joining under the names Syxx and The Giant respectively).
Following this Booker T and Shawn Michaels both joined (the latter kicking the former out a week later). It wasn’t long after this that the nWo drifted apart and ceased to exist, ending a 6 year run.
Come back next week, where we’ll continue this Spotlight on nWo
PPV + PLE Content. Northern Adelaide suburbs resident with a lifelong passion for professional wrestling since the age of 14. What drew Rhys to wrestling was the antics of Eddie Guerrero and the freestyles of John Cena, and has been hooked ever since. Currently, Rhys watches WWE and AEW programing. This passion for wrestling has led to Rhys writing for PW Down Under, where he has become the resident PPV guy.
