New World Order (professional wrestling): Difference between revisions

The New World Order (commonly known as the nWo, the official typeset in the logo) was a professional wrestling stable that originally wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW).^[1] The group later appeared in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after the purchase of WCW by WWE.^[2]

The stable's gimmick was a group of unsanctioned wrestlers aiming to "take over" and control WCW in the manner of a street gang; the group's seven initial members had each gained fame in the rival World Wrestling Federation, although this connection was only implied.

The nWo angle was one of the most influential forces in the late 1990s success of WCW, and was instrumental in turning mainstream American wrestling back into a more mature, adult-oriented product. The brainchild of WCW Executive Eric Bischoff, and fueled initially by the unexpected heel turn of Hulk Hogan, the nWo storyline is generally considered one of the most successful angles in the history of modern-day professional wrestling, spawning several imitations and parodies. It dominated WCW programming throughout the late-1990s and almost until the dissolution of WCW in 2001, during which time there were several, sometimes rival incarnations of the group; the rival WWF even resurrected the angle for a time in 2002.

History

World Championship Wrestling (1996-2000)

Formation

In 1996, both Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left the WWF to sign with WCW. Hall first appeared on WCW TV live, unnamed, and unannounced on the May 27, 1996 edition of Nitro, by interrupting a match between The Mauler and Steve Doll. He walked through the audience, grabbed a microphone from the ring announcer, and entered the ring. He then delivered his now-famous "You Want a War?" speech, stating that he and unnamed allies had a challenge for WCW Executive Vice-President Eric Bischoff and any WCW superstar. As Nitro neared its end, Hall accosted Bischoff in the broadcast booth and demanded that he tell Ted Turner to pick three of his best wrestlers.^[4][5] The next week, Hall reappeared on Nitro five minutes before the end of the broadcast and again interrogated Bischoff. Sting confronted and slapped Hall after Hall spat a toothpick at him and said he had a "little...no...BIG surprise" for Sting. Kevin Nash was revealed as Hall's surprise the next week, and the two were dubbed The Outsiders.^[4][6]

At The Great American Bash, Bischoff (as Nitro's on-air lead commentator) invited The Outsiders to do an interview. Bischoff promised them a match at the next pay-per-view event, but Hall was skeptical whether Bischoff had chosen his three WCW representatives in the match. This led to Nash powerbombing Bischoff through the interview stage, after Bischoff refused to reveal the identities of his representatives.^[7][4][8]

Following the Great American Bash, The Outsiders continued to randomly terrorize WCW events, being chased away by armed security guards.

The Hostile Takeover Match

The match Bischoff promised, a six-man tag known as the "Hostile Takeover Match," served as the main event of Bash At The Beach the following month. Hall and Nash came to the ring by themselves, leaving speculation open as to who would be their partner. Gene Okerlund came into the ring immediately following Hall and Nash's entrance and, after discussing the situation with ring announcer Michael Buffer and referee Randy Anderson, demanded that The Outsiders tell him where the third man was. Hall and Nash assured Okerlund that their partner was in the building, but they did not need him at the moment. After Okerlund left the ring, The Outsiders finally found out who they would be facing: Lex Luger, Sting, and Randy Savage. As a show of solidarity, all three men came to the ring with painted faces (which Sting had always done but Luger and Savage had never done).

The match did not start well for Team WCW, as Luger was taken out of the match shortly after it began. While he was being held in a corner by Nash, Sting ran over and hit a Stinger Splash to try to break up the hold but hit Luger at the same time, knocking him off the apron to the floor unconscious. Bobby Heenan was heard asking for someone out to replace the injured Luger since Hall and Nash had a third man waiting. With the matchup apparently even at two a side with Hall and Nash's partner still yet to be revealed, the two sides continued to battle as announcers Tony Schiavone, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes speculated as to who the third man was, at one point even accusing each other of being the third man.

The match reached its climax at approximately the sixteen-minute mark, shortly after a late tag from an exhausted Sting to Savage. Savage beat on Hall and Nash, but was stopped by a Nash low blow, done while Hall was holding on to Anderson to keep him distracted. As Anderson began counting Nash and Savage out, Hulk Hogan, who had not been seen on WCW television for several weeks, made a surprise return run-in. After chasing off Hall and Nash, Hogan then shocked the crowd by legdropping the fallen Savage in the center of the ring, revealing himself to be the third man. After neutralizing Sting, who attempted to save the day, Hogan threw Anderson out of the ring and legdropped Savage one more time while Hall and Nash executed a mock three-count.

After Savage was then carried out of the ring, the fans began showing their displeasure with the now-heel Hogan by throwing cups, garbage, and other assorted debris into the ring. One fan even jumped into the ring in an attempt to attack Hogan but was intercepted by Hall and Nash and whisked away by WCW security.

While debris continued to litter the ring Okerlund reentered the scene, this time demanding answers from Hogan for his actions. Hogan cemented his heel turn by saying that he was tired of the fans that had turned on him despite everything he had done for them over the last two years in WCW, that Hall and Nash were the two people that he wanted as his friends, that he was bored with the way his career had turned out, and that together, the three of them would take over the company and destroy everything in their path in the process. During the course of the interview Hogan dubbed himself, Hall, and Nash as the "new world order of wrestling", and the name stuck.

1996

Soon after the nWo formed, the stable began appearing on Monday Nitro, causing mayhem and attacking WCW wrestlers.^[4] After the newly rechristened Hollywood Hogan won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from The Giant at Hog Wild, he spray-painted the letters "nWo" on to the title belt and began to refer it on occasion as the "nWo World Heavyweight Championship". The defacing of the belt was the first step of what they referred to as "taking over" WCW.^{[1][9][10][5]} This tagging would become a signature method of the group's terrorism; they even spray-painted the initials on the backs of wrestlers they had knocked unconscious.

As WCW's annual pay-per-view Fall Brawl was drawing closer, WCW was preparing their team to fight at Fall Brawl 1996: War Games against the nWo. The nWo tricked fans and wrestlers into thinking that Sting had joined the nWo. At War Games, the nWo won the match controversially as two wrestlers in Sting's style of face paint fought in the match: an impostor "nWo" Sting and the real Sting. The real Sting was revealed to be an ally of WCW, however as his fellow WCW wrestlers (including his longtime friend Lex Luger) and the fans had doubted his allegiance, he declared that he would no longer help WCW in the war against the nWo, leading to a nearly year-long retreat from the ring.^[5][11][1]

During this time the faction began introducing new members, including Ted DiBiase (who was "financing" the group, an implied continuation of his "Million Dollar Man" gimmick in the WWF), Vincent (as "head of security"), Syxx,^[5] and The Giant.^[1] Referee Nick Patrick became the group's official referee after he began showing partiality to nWo members during their matches. The nWo continued to dominate WCW, with Hogan successfully retaining his "nWo" World Heavyweight Championship against "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hall and Nash winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship from Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) at Halloween Havoc 1996.^[12][13]

As WCW only recognized Hogan, Nash, and Hall as WCW employees due to their holding WCW titles, the other nWo members went unrecognized as WCW employees. Because of this, they were unable to wrestle other WCW wrestlers, which led to the nWo starting a segment on WCW Saturday Night, called nWo Saturday Night, where nWo stable members wrestled jobbers in an empty arena.^[4] The nWo used their financing to purchase ad time during WCW programming, which amounted to low budget anti-WCW propaganda. They would also hijack the broadcast signal on occasion.

WCW President Eric Bischoff was revealed to be a member of the nWo after new WCW arrival Rowdy Roddy Piper exposed Bischoff's membership on-air. Bischoff then threatened the WCW locker room, telling them to either join the nWo or be a target of the group. Soon after Bischoff's threat, Marcus Alexander Bagwell joined the faction, turning on his American Males tag team partner, Scotty Riggs, and renaming himself "Buff" Bagwell. Others who joined the nWo were Scott Norton, Big Bubba Rogers, and Mr. Wallstreet.^[5][14][1] Japanese wrestler Masahiro Chono also joined the group and established himself as the leader of nWo Japan, a sister stable in New Japan Pro Wrestling.^[15][3]

The Giant won a 60-man battle royal at World War 3 1996, earning a title match against Hogan.^[1][16] At Starrcade 1996, Piper defeated Hogan in a non-title match. The next night on Nitro, The Giant was kicked out of the nWo when he refused to choke slam Piper in an nWo assault.^[4][17] At the same event, they stole Eddie Guerrero's newly won United States title belt; Guerrero constantly feuded with mid-card nWo members such as Scott Norton^[18] and Syxx.^[19]

Toward the end of the year, on an episode of Nitro, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash introduced Kyle Petty from NASCAR as an honorary member of the group, as Petty drove the nWo racing car on the Busch Series circuit (Petty had been previously involved in an angle with Jim Crockett Promotions, the predecessor of WCW, as a "judge" in the "Million Dollar Match" between Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair at Starrcade 1984 that featured Joe Frazier as referee for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship). An angle was run where the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) "vandalized" the nWo car at a racetrack by peeling off the wrap (NASCAR teams often use vinyl wrap to cover a car instead of painting the car; multiple schemes printed on vinyl similar to decals are positioned, and each may be peeled off to show another scheme for another race), kayfabe scaring off Petty and replacing him with Steve Grissom. In reality, the deal with Dan Shaver Racing had two drivers driving in selected races each. As part of the angle, Grissom's races carried the WCW paint scheme and Petty's an nWo paint scheme.^[4]

1997

In the start of 1997, nWo had become so powerful that they had their own pay-per-view event, entitled Souled Out. Hogan and The Giant fought to a no contest in the main event due to the nWo referee, Nick Patrick, being biased in the match. U.S. champion Eddie Guerrero retained his title against Syxx in a ladder match.^[19] Nash and Hall lost their WCW World Tag Team Championship to the Steiner Brothers at Souled Out,^[19] but were re-awarded the titles the next night on Nitro after Bischoff claimed that Randy Anderson, who ran in to officiate after Nick Patrick was knocked down, was not an official referee for Souled Out.^[20][13]

At Super Brawl VII, Piper wrestled Hogan for the title in a losing effort. This match marked the first time (and one of the few times) that Hogan had successfully pinned Piper. In the same match, Randy Savage returned and defected to the nWo when he attacked Piper during the match. Savage had been previously suspended by Bischoff, who told Savage that he would never wrestle again unless he joined the nWo; Savage thus had no choice but to capitulate to Bischoff's demands. Earlier that night, The Outsiders lost their titles to Lex Luger and The Giant.^[21] The next night, Bischoff returned the titles to The Outsiders, only to be suspended by Harvey Schiller,^[14] president of Turner Sports, for abusing his power. Later, J.J. Dillon (as Chairman of the WCW Executive Committee) also stripped the nWo of two members, V.K. Wallstreet and Big Bubba Rogers, because they were employees of WCW.^[14]

Team nWo, which consisted of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash, won a triple-threat tag team match at Uncensored 1997 against Team WCW, which consisted of Lex Luger, Scott Steiner, and The Giant (Rick Steiner was originally selected to wrestle for Team WCW but was attacked and unable to make the match), and Team Horsemen, which consisted of Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael, Jeff Jarrett, and Roddy Piper.^[22] A stipulation was added that if the nWo won, they would have the privilege to challenge for any WCW title at any time or location. The event, however, did end on a happy note for WCW as Sting descended from the rafters and attacked every member of Team nWo with his baseball bat and his signature move the Scorpion Deathdrop, thereby indicating his allegiance to WCW. He also set his intentions towards Hollywood Hogan and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

At Spring Stampede 1997, the tension within the nWo grew and Nick Patrick quit the group and returned to being an honest referee. While Ted DiBiase quit the group months later on the August 4 episode of Nitro and joined the Steiner Brothers as their manager. The nWo recruited The Great Muta and Hiroyoshi Tenzan several weeks after Spring Stampede; they made occasional appearances on television due to their working for New Japan Pro Wrestling (with which WCW had a working relationship).

Hogan lost the World Heavyweight title on an episode of Nitro to Luger,^[14] after Luger earned a title shot defeating Hogan and Dennis Rodman with his partner The Giant at Bash at the Beach 1997.^[23] However, Hogan regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Luger at Road Wild 1997.^[24][25]

A War Games match was announced for Fall Brawl 1997: War Games, after the nWo mocked The Four Horsemen by dressing as them. Team nWo defeated The Four Horsemen after Curt Hennig, who had joined The Four Horsemen a month earlier, turned on the Horsemen and joined the nWo.^[14][26]

Rick Rude joined the nWo on an episode of Nitro on the same night he made a pre-taped appearance on the WWF's show Raw is War. He spoke of his sympathy for Bret Hart because of the Montreal Screwjob and how he had a grudge against Sting for ending his career in a match in Japan three years earlier.^[20] Scott Hall then won a 60-man Battle Royal at World War 3 1997, earning a future WCW World Heavyweight Championship title shot.^[27]

Bret Hart made his WCW debut on the December 15, 1997 edition of Nitro. Speculation abounded over whether he would align himself with the nWo. Instead of joining the nWo, however, he agreed to be the special referee in the match pitting Larry Zbyszko against the nWo's Eric Bischoff, with the winner of the match would gain control of WCW Monday Nitro.^[20] On the Monday before Starrcade, the nWo staged a complete takeover of WCW Monday Nitro. They tore down the set and ran off commentators Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay. They then replaced all WCW logos with the nWo logo and turned WCW Monday Nitro into nWo Monday Nitro. This event was intended as a legit test run for a permanent changeover of Nitro to an nWo-centric show, with the soon-debuting Thunder becoming the WCW-centric prime-time show. However, due to abysmal ratings following the twenty-plus minutes of the conversion of the set on live television, the plan for an nWo weekly show was quietly dropped, with the only evidence being the occasional nWo Monday Nitro t-shirt being worn by an nWo member.

At Starrcade 1997, Zbyszko defeated Bischoff by disqualification after Scott Hall interfered, giving full control of Nitro to WCW. In the main event, Hogan lost the WCW Championship to Sting. Hogan had originally pinned Sting, but confusion arose when Bret Hart appeared at ringside and accused referee and former nWo member Nick Patrick of making a fast count, claiming "it would never happen again" (referencing the Montreal Screwjob). Hart laid out Patrick and ordered the match to continue with himself as the referee. Hogan then submitted to Sting's Scorpion Death Lock.^[28]

1998

Because of the controversy surrounding Sting's title win, James J. Dillon vacated the title on January 8, 1998 on the inaugural episode of WCW Thunder. This prompted Sting to finally speak after 16 months, telling Dillon "You have no guts!" before turning to Hogan and declaring him a "dead man".^[29] Meanwhile, Dusty Rhodes, former WWF star Brian Adams, and Hogan's best friend Ed Leslie (now known as The Disciple) all joined the nWo.^[1] At Souled Out, now-WCW commissioner Roddy Piper announced a title match between Sting and Hogan to take place at SuperBrawl.

Soon, problems began to arise between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Savage had attempted to defeat Lex Luger on numerous occasions, but lost because of botched interference from fellow nWo members, including Hogan. This led to heated arguments between Savage and Hogan, and there were near physical confrontations between Savage and Nash. At SuperBrawl VIII, Sting defeated Hogan to win the vacated world title, with help from Randy Savage. The night was not a total loss, though, for the nWo as Hall and Nash regained the WCW World Tag Team Championships from the Steiner Brothers and added Scott Steiner to their ranks, thanks to him turning on Rick late in the match.^[30]

After SuperBrawl Savage then made his intentions clear: He did not need the nWo's help, and now that Hogan had dropped the ball, he was intent on beating Sting himself to take the WCW title back to the nWo. Hogan and Savage tried to one-up each other on episodes of Nitro and Thunder.^[29] At Uncensored 1998, Savage and Hogan attempted to settle their differences in a steel cage match. The match ended in a no contest. On the same card, Scott Hall received his World War 3-earned title shot against Sting, but lost the match. Savage then stated to Hogan that there were certain members of the nWo who were plotting to throw him out of the group.^[31]

The rift between the different factions of the nWo grew wider after nWo member Sean Waltman (Syxx) was released from his contract and Scott Hall was taken off TV. Kevin Nash confronted Hogan and Bischoff on March 26 edition of Thunder. Hulk Hogan stated that Waltman "could not cut the mustard" and that he did not know the whereabouts of Scott Hall. The differences within the nWo were becoming more apparent. Randy Savage and Nash were suddenly realizing that Hogan was only looking out for himself, and the nWo was secondary.^[29] Nash sided with Savage after Hogan had interfered in a number of Sting/Nash matches, not wanting to have to face Nash to take back his title.^[29] Nash supported Savage in his quest to defeat Sting, but also agreed to team with Hogan against the returning Roddy Piper and The Giant in a Baseball Bat on a Pole Match. Nash made it clear, however, that he would just as soon use the bat on Hogan. At Spring Stampede 1998, Hogan and Nash defeated Piper and The Giant. After the match, Hogan assaulted Nash. Savage beat Sting to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with help from Nash on the same night.^[32][33] The next night on Nitro, Hogan challenged Savage for the title.^[34]

During the match, interference by both Kevin Nash and Bret Hart played a major role. By the end it looked as if Hogan had Savage beat, but a jackknife powerbomb from Nash on Hogan turned the tides and Nash put Savage on top of Hogan. However, Bret Hart reversed the tides again and interfered moments later on Hogan's behalf attacking both Nash and Savage and preserving the win for Hollywood. Although Nash's interference didn't work out the way he had planned, it signaled the breakup of the original nWo into two separate factions.^[34][20] On May 4 edition of Nitro, Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, and Konnan appeared wearing black shirts with a red nWo logo, as opposed to the familiar white logo. They called themselves nWo Wölfpac, and were joined in the following weeks by Curt Hennig, Miss Elizabeth, and Rick Rude. The Wölfpac became the first nWo incarnation to wrestle as faces.^[35] Meanwhile, Hogan's side were the original Black & White, also known as nWo Hollywood: Eric Bischoff, Scott Steiner, Scott Norton, Vincent, The Disciple, and Brian Adams. Bret Hart seemed to be siding with Hogan, but was never officially named an nWo member.^[36] nWo members Scott Hall and Buff Bagwell were out of action at this time, and their alliances were not yet known.

At Slamboree 1998, Scott Hall returned wearing the red & black, and joined his partner Kevin Nash in a scheduled tag-team title defense against Sting and The Giant, who had recently rejoined the nWo on Hogan's side (making Sting his unwilling partner in the match, which had been signed prior to Giant's defection back to the nWo). During the match, Hall turned on Nash and joined nWo Hollywood, giving the tag team titles to Sting and Giant.^[37] On May 25 edition of Nitro, Lex Luger joined the nWo Wolfpac, stating "it just feels right", and asked Sting to do the same.^[35][29] On June 1 edition of Nitro, Sting also joined the nWo Wolfpac.^[35][29] At The Great American Bash 1998, Curt Hennig and Rick Rude jumped back to nWo Hollywood after attacking Konnan after losing a match to Goldberg.^[36][38][13] The next night, Nash became a tag team champion again as Sting, who won control of the tag team titles from The Giant in a singles match, chose Nash as his partner.^[38]

In the meantime, a new contender for Hogan's championship emerged in undefeated rookie Goldberg, who had run off an impressive string of victories and won the United States Championship in the process. On the July 2, 1998 edition of Thunder, Goldberg was granted a title match against Hogan for the July 6 edition of Nitro.^[29] Goldberg in fact wrestled two matches against the nWo Black and White that night, the first against Scott Hall with his shot at Hogan on the line. After defeating Hall Goldberg defeated Hogan in the main event and won his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship.^[29]

After his loss to Goldberg Hogan turned his attention to celebrity matches for the next two months, wrestling in two tag team matches at Bash at the Beach and Road Wild. Hogan won the first match with Dennis Rodman over Diamond Dallas Page and Karl Malone. The second match was a culmination of a storyline involving several Tonight Show skits involving Jay Leno making fun of Hogan, which resulted in Hogan and Eric Bischoff kayfabe taking over the show and Diamond Dallas Page coming to save the day. Hogan and Bischoff lost to Page and Leno thanks to interference from Kevin Eubanks.

Meanwhile the feud between Scott Hall and Kevin Nash continued. In July Nash and Sting put their tag team championships on the line against Hall and the Giant, losing the match after interference from Bret Hart. Over the next few months the two wrestlers continued to feud, which would culminate in a singles match between the two.

The nWo Wolfpac became hugely popular amongst wrestling fans in the summer of 1998 while continuing their battle with nWo Hollywood. Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan had his own battle to deal with in the form of The Warrior, who returned to wrestling on an August edition of Nitro.^[29] Warrior formed his own faction dubbed the One Warrior Nation, which included himself and former nWo member The Disciple.

At Halloween Havoc 1998, Scott Hall defeated Kevin Nash by count out after Nash left the ring following two Jackknife Power Bombs on Hall. Nash later stated that he didn't care about winning the match, he just wanted his friend back. Hulk Hogan defeated The Warrior when Hogan's nephew, Horace, interfered and joined nWo Hollywood. Bret Hart defeated Wolfpac member Sting, putting him out of action for about 6 months.^[39]

At World War 3 1998, nWo Hollywood attacked Scott Hall and kicked him out of the group for disrespecting Hogan and Bischoff a few weeks earlier.^[29] Kevin Nash went on to win the 60 man battle royal and earned a WCW World Title shot.^[40] On the Thanksgiving episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, nWo Hollywood leader Hulk Hogan announced his retirement from professional wrestling. Scott Steiner went on to assume the leadership role in the nWo Hollywood faction.

During that same month, Harlem Heat's Stevie Ray, who had previously flirted with the possibility of becoming a member of the nWo, officially joined nWo Hollywood after turning on Booker T.

At Starrcade 1998, nWo Wölfpac leader Kevin Nash won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Goldberg when Scott Hall interfered and used a stun gun on Goldberg and the oblivious Nash made the pin cover after jackknife powerbombing Goldberg.^[41][42] The next night on Nitro, Randy Savage returned wearing an nWo black-and-white t-shirt, but instead helped Ric Flair defeat Eric Bischoff in a match to determine the WCW presidency.^[29]

1999

On the January 4, 1999 edition of Nitro, Goldberg was scheduled to have a championship rematch with Nash. A false imprisonment instigated by the nWo removed Goldberg from the match, causing the match to be replaced with Nash versus the returning Hulk Hogan. In the match, which has been called "the Fingerpoke of Doom" by fans, after the bell rang to begin the bout, Hogan poked Nash in the chest, after which Nash fell to the mat until Hogan was able to get the pin and win the match.^[43][44][45] The conspiracy led to a reorganization of the nWo, with the nWo elite (Hogan, Nash, Hall, Buff Bagwell, Scott Steiner, Lex Luger and Miss Elizabeth) reunited under the Wolfpac label,^[46] while the undercard wrestlers in the nWo continued in the "black and white" faction. This short-lived group was sardonically labeled the nWo B-Team by fans and commentators.^[47] Steiner and Bagwell happily joined the Wolfpac while Konnan was betrayed and thrown from the group entirely. This allowed him to align with Rey Mysterio Jr. and feud with the nWo. Sting, a former member of the Wolfpac, had been on hiatus during the nWo reuniting and did not partake in the now-heel stable upon his return.

End of the nWo era

The reunited New World Order did not last long for either faction.

On the Elite/Wolfpac side they enjoyed initial success with Hulk Hogan as WCW World Champion, Scott Steiner as Television Champion and Scott Hall as United States Champion. However they were wrecked by injuries when Hall's foot was accidentally backed over by a car and he was put on the shelf (and subsequently was stripped of the title) while Lex Luger suffered a torn bicep and as a result he and Elizabeth vanished from television. Hogan dropped the World Championship at Uncensored to Ric Flair and Steiner lost his Television Champion to Booker T after Bagwell accidentally nailed him with a chair. Shortly after Steiner beat him down and threw him out of the group. The following month Hogan was injured during a fatal four way match at Spring Stampede for the world title, which Diamond Dallas Page won. Nash would go on to win the title from Page at Slamboree which by that point spelled the end for the Wolfpac as Steiner reunited with brother Rick and Hogan would return to the red and yellow costume he'd previously worn shortly after his return later in the year. Other minor members would include Disco Inferno, David Flair, and Samantha. Inferno would engage in a feud with Konnan that ended with a loss to him at Spring Stampede 99 (which was the quiet end of his membership) while Flair and Samantha were quietly removed from television following Hogan's title loss at Uncensored.

nWo Black and White saw The Giant and Curt Hennig beaten down and removed from the group (with Hall explaining that it was "time to trim the fat"), while the others soldiered on with a storyline that saw every member told by Hogan they were the leader of the group. This led to infighting that eventually saw Stevie Ray win control defeating the other members in a Battle Royal. However by that time the Wolfpac Elite had collapsed and the nWo in general ceased to have any important baring on WCW. Eventually Scott Norton and Horace Hogan left the company, Brian Adams was kicked out while Vincent joined the West Texas Rednecks and Stevie Ray reformed Harlem Heat with Booker T. That was the final nail in the coffin as the once powerful super group quietly faded out of existence.

Hogan and Nash also would enter a feud before the end of the summer. Nash would lose his world championship in a tag team match at Bash at the Beach in July pitting him and Sting against Sid Vicious and the returning Randy Savage as Savage pinned him. The next night Hogan returned to Nitro and accepted a challenge from Savage for the championship; Nash interfered by powerbombing Savage and gave Hogan the victory, but the next week Nash attacked Hogan during a match with Vicious and aligned himself with Vicious and Randy Savage. Over the next few weeks Hogan and Nash, along with Vicious, Savage, and Rick Steiner (on Nash's side) and Sting and a returning Goldberg (on Hogan's side) feuded with each other, culminating in a match at Road Wild where Hogan put his title and career on the line against Nash's career; Hogan won the match and Nash was forced to retire.

Revival

In late 1999, the nWo came back for one more run as the silver and black (rather than black and white). This version was also referred to as "nWo 2000" and the word "new" in the "new World order" logo was underlined to emphasize that this was a new version of the group. Consisting of Bret Hart, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, and the Harris twins, Don and Ron. Several fitness models (Tylene Buck, April Hunter, Kim Kanner, Midajah and Pamela Paulshock) were brought in to come to ringside with the group, but were usually ordered to the back by Jarrett, a misogynistic character. This nWo lasted into early 2000, but soon faded away, in great part due to the injury and retirement of Bret "The Hitman" Hart, the leader of the group, when he was side kicked by Goldberg.^[48] By this point, not only the nWo, but WCW as a whole, had lapsed into what seemed to be an inevitable and permanent decline, constantly bettered by the WWF and relegated to a permanent second-place status, a situation many longtime WCW fans blamed in part on WCW management having stayed with the nWo storyline for entirely too long. In April 2000, WCW management "rebooted" the company, and the nWo's place as the lead heel faction was taken by The New Blood.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2002)

2002

After the WWF bought WCW in 2001, Vince McMahon brought in Hogan, Hall and Nash, the original nWo, at No Way Out 2002. In this storyline, the nWo was brought in as McMahon's hired thugs in an attempt to "kill" the WWF so that McMahon would not have to share power with new WWF "co-owner" Ric Flair.^[49][2] They began by targeting the company's two biggest stars, The Rock and Steve Austin. Hogan left the group after he lost his WrestleMania X8 match with the Rock and was assaulted after that match by Hall and Nash. Hogan's comeback to the WWF after 8 years had fans cheering him, more so than The Rock.^[2][50] As a result, he turned face and began feuding with Hall and Nash, with The Rock at his side.^[2] Hall and Nash then brought in two former nWo members, X-Pac (formerly known as Syxx), on March 21, 2002, edition of SmackDown! in Ottawa, Ontario^[51] and The Big Show (formerly known as The Giant), on the April 22 edition of Raw.^[2][52]

The nWo reunion in the WWF did not last long, however. During an attack on Bradshaw, Kevin Nash injured his biceps and was put out of action for several months.^[2] Meanwhile, Hall asked for his release from WWE in May 2002, because he was in the middle of a custody dispute with his ex-wife over their two children, according to Nash (Nash made that statement during media promotions in Detroit for Vengeance 2002). This dispute led to Hall getting drunk on an airline flight back from the U.K. and getting into an altercation. Upon returning to the United States, Hall was immediately fired.^[2] Flair became a semi-member of the nWo after turning on Stone Cold Steve Austin.^[2][53] As owner of Raw, Flair set up a lumberjack match with Austin against the newest member of the nWo, which turned out to be Booker T. Booker had just finished a silly skit with Goldust minutes earlier, where he had been wearing a lumberjack costume and fake beard, all but destroying his "tough" momentum going into the match.^[2][54] Nash introduced Shawn Michaels into the nWo on June 3 edition of Raw.^[2][55] Michaels then literally "kicked" Booker out of the nWo one week later.^[2][56] Michaels, then in the midst of a five-year retirement from pro wrestling, would be the first nWo member who had never wrestled in WCW. The nWo would slowy begin to lose members as X-pac would be released from his contract and Big Show would be kicked out of the group. Michaels and Nash set their sights on recruiting Triple H (by using threats and demands) into the nWo, implying that they would re-create on-screen their old backstage group The Kliq. This storyline was ultimately never resolved, as Nash was injured again soon afterwards, the nWo storyline was permanently abandoned, and remaining nWo member Shawn Michaels would inexplicably turn face.

Final nWo appearance

On July 8, Kevin Nash returned to action on Raw, teaming up with Eddie Guerrero, X-Pac, the Big Show and Chris Benoit to take on Booker T, Goldust, Bubba Ray Dudley, Spike Dudley, and Rob Van Dam. Seconds after tagging in for the first time, Nash tore his quadricep while entering the ring, immediately putting him back on the injured list.^[2][57] On the following Raw (July 15), Vince McMahon came out to the ring to the entrance of the nWo, claiming that the group was officially disbanded.^[2][58] This marked the last time anything regarding the nWo was seen on WWE programming.

List of incarnations and members

nWo origin

The nWo storyline was an idea WCW Executive Vice President Eric Bischoff came up with after attending a New Japan Pro Wrestling show. He wanted to do an invasion-type angle where WCW was kayfabe being sabotaged by another wrestling group (initially insinuated as being the WWF, since its founding members formerly wrestled there). The nWo was originally portrayed as a separate entity from WCW (often, propaganda-style vignettes and product commercials concerning the nWo were preceded by an "interruption in the feed", and a voice proclaiming, "The following announcement has been paid for by the New World Order").

Others, such as Scott Hall, television director Craig Leathers, chief WCW booker Terry Taylor, and his assistants Kevin Sullivan and Paul Orndorff all contributed their own ideas to the nWo concept. For instance, the logo was designed by Craig Leathers, Scott Hall is credited with the group's trademark hand-signals, and Taylor belatedly scrawled the group's most popular catchphrase, "When you're nWo, you're nWo 4 life," in one segment he scripted for WCW Monday Nitro in late 1996.

WWF lawsuit

Shortly after the nWo was formed, the WWF filed a lawsuit, claiming that the New World Order storyline implied that Hall and Nash were invaders sent by Vince McMahon to destroy WCW, despite the fact that Bischoff asked both Hall and Nash point-blank on camera at The Great American Bash, "Do you work for the WWF?", to which they emphatically replied, "No." Another reason for the lawsuit was that the WWF claimed Hall acted in a manner too similar to that of his former "Razor Ramon" character, which was a trademark owned by the WWF. The lawsuit dragged on for several years before being settled out of court. In court documents, the WWF argued that, "TBS proposed interpromotional matches in order to associate WCW with WWF" before the New World Order angle was created.^[59]

Spinoffs

• The Kings of Wrestling

The Kings of Wrestling was a professional wrestling stable that came to fruition at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's (TNA) first-ever monthly Pay-Per-View on November 7, 2004, which was called "Victory Road". The members were nWo alumni Jeff Jarrett (NWA World Heavyweight Champion), Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash.

• D-Generation X

A popular faction that debuted during the World Wrestling Federation's Attitude Era. Many fans still argue whether DX was a parody, a rip-off, or an answer to the nWo. Most fans realize, however, that Hall and Nash, DX centerfolds Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Sean Waltman (who was in both groups, as Syxx in WCW and X-Pac in the WWF/WWE) are all real-life friends in their self-named backstage group "The Kliq". In some more recent DX promos, Michaels points at Triple H with both hands (in the same way that Hall and Nash would point toward Hogan), and often starts by saying "This message is brought to you by your good friends (at) D-Generation X!" (possibly referring to nWo promos starting with a narrator saying "The following announcement has been paid for by the New World Order").^[60]

• bWo (Blue World Order)

Stevie Richards', Nova's, and The Blue Meanie's answer to the nWo in ECW, the group was the most famous parody of the nWo, and its primary colors were blue and white.^[61]

• LWO (Latino World Order)

After Eddie Guerrero's spat with WCW head Eric Bischoff, a real-life conflict that was turned into a storyline, Eddie formed the Latino World Order, or "LWO" for short. The group consisted of every major Latin wrestler or luchador on the WCW roster except for Eddie's nephew Chavo Jr. and Super Calo, with green, white, and red as their official colors.^[62]

• nWd (New World Disorder)

Rowdy Roddy Piper, while cutting an anti-nWo promo on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, declared the formation of what he called "The New World Disorder", and that "[his] colors were black and blue." However, Piper never established such a group, and the idea was soon disposed of.

• oWn (One Warrior Nation)

The Warrior's group, the One Warrior Nation, reversed the nWo acronym when the Warrior made his WCW debut. The newer faction only grew to have two members - the other being Hollywood Hulk Hogan's associate and real-life friend The Disciple, whom Warrior supposedly brainwashed. The oWn was basically forgotten about after Warrior could not come to terms with WCW over pay and was later released to never be heard from again.

• J.O.B. Squad

The J.O.B. Squad was a faction in ECW/WWF that was a parody of the nWo. The J.O.B. Squad logo and the phrase "1-2-3 4-life" were also parodies of the nWo.^[63]

• Dynamite World Order

The Dynamite World Order was a group formed in 1996 by wrestlers who had quit the Slammers Wrestling Federation. Led by future Xtreme Pro Wrestling superstars "Dynamite D" Darren McMillan and Tim "Damien Steele" Fisher, they - in a non-scripted incident that no one ever heard of or cared about - stormed the ring at a Slammers Wrestling Federation and proceeded to run down the SWF and its promoter, Verne Langdon. The incident had a major role in leading to the formation of Xtreme Pro Wrestling.

• Evolution (professional wrestling)

Evolution was a professional wrestling heel stable, in the WWE led by Triple H, which consisted Ric Flair, Batista, and Randy Orton. Each of the members represented the best in "the past" (Ric Flair), "the present" (Triple H), and "the future" (Randy Orton and Batista) of professional wrestling.

• Juggalo World Order

The Juggalo World Order is a group currently competing in Juggalo Championship Wrestling. Its members are Violent J, Shaggy 2 Dope, Nosawa, Scott Hall and JCW World Champion Corporal Robinson.

• The Main Event Mafia

A heel group of legends in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. It's members are Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Scott Steiner, and TNA World Champion Sting. All members except Kurt Angle and Booker T were part of the WCW nWo but Booker T was in the WWE incarnation. Currently they are battling for respect with the TNA Frontline led by Rhino, Samoa Joe & A.J. Styles.

Championships and accomplishments

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW World Heavyweight Championship (8 times)-Hulk Hogan (4 times), Randy Savage (1 time), Kevin Nash (2 times) & Bret Hart (1 time)^[64]
    • Hulk Hogan: (August 10, 1996 - August 4, 1997),^[9] (August 9, 1997 - December 28, 1997),^[25] (April 20, 1998 - July 6, 1998)^[34] & (January 4, 1999 - March 14, 1999)^[45]
    • Randy Savage: (April 19, 1998 - April 20, 1998)^[33]
    • Kevin Nash: (December 27, 1998 - January 4, 1999)^[42] & (May 9, 1999 - July 11, 1999)^[65]
    • Bret Hart: (December 20, 1999 - January 16, 2000)^[66]
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (4 times)-Curt Hennig (1 time), Scott Hall (1 time) & Jeff Jarrett (2 times)^[67]
    • Curt Hennig: (September 15, 1997 - December 28, 1997)^[68]
    • Scott Hall: (February 21, 1999 - March 18, 1999) ^[69]
    • Jeff Jarrett: (December 20, 1999 - January 16, 2000), (January 17, 2000 - April 10, 2000)^[70]
  • WCW World Television Championship (2 times)
    • Scott Hall: (November 21, 1999 - November 29, 1999)
    • Scott Steiner: (December 29, 1998 - March 14, 1999)
  • WCW Cruiserweight Championship Syxx-(1 time)
    • Syxx: (February 24, 1997 - June 28, 1997)^[71]
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (11 times)- Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, (6 times), Sting and Kevin Nash, (1 time), Sting and The Giant (1 time), Scott Hall and The Giant (1 time), & Creative Control (2 times)^[13]
    • Nash & Hall: (October 27, 1996 - January 26, 1997),^[13] (January 27, 1997 - February 23, 1997),^[13] (February 24, 1997 - October 13, 1997),^[13] (January 12, 1998 - February 9, 1998),^[13] (February 22, 1998 - May 17, 1998)^[13] & (December 13, 1999 - December 27, 1999)^[13]
    • Sting & Giant: (May 17, 1998 - June 4, 1998)
    • Sting & Nash: (June 15, 1998 - July 20, 1998)
    • Creative Control: (February 12, 2000 - February 13, 2000)^[13] & (March 19, 2000 - April 16, 2000)^[13]
  • WCW World War 3 (3 times)
    • The Giant (1996)
    • Scott Hall (1997)
    • Kevin Nash (1998)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Best Gimmick (1996)

References