What Went Wrong With The nWo's WWE Run

In the mid-1990s, the promotional jumps of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash combined with the turning of Hulk Hogan created a foundation for insanely-lucrative unpredictability on WCW programming. While the nWo did eventually peter out, those earlier days of the group made for landmark wrestling television, so much so that the stable has been imitated on several occasions over the past 30 years, though they have always been worse than the original’s success. 

This even includes WWE, who resurrected the black-and-white faction with the original trio in 2002, one year after the then-World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. 

The nWo in WCW

In the spring of 1996, WWF stars Razor Ramon and Diesel jumped ship to WCW, lured by mouth-watering deals that allowed them to work fewer dates for more money. The Kliq members reverted to their real names of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash and were presented as uninvited invaders looking to take over World Championship Wrestling. Just weeks later, their third man was revealed to be eternal-babyface Hulk Hogan, who turned heel in the closing moments of Bash at the Beach 1996 and formed the New World Order. 

Quickly, the nWo began running roughshod over WCW. They attacked wrestlers with baseball bats and spray paint, and commandeered the commentary desk in order to broadcast their whimisical rhetoric.

The group wasted no time expanding either, welcoming the likes of The Giant, Sean Waltman, Marcus Bagwell, Scott Norton, financier Ted DiBiase, and treacherous executive Eric Bischoff, among many others, into the group.

The nWo remained at the top of WCW, with Hogan reigning as WCW World Heavyweight Champion for much of the next two years. The faction also had their own spinoff pay-per-view and had co-branding with WCW for other shows, such as WCW/nWo Uncensored. Merchandise numbers for nWo were also huge as thousands wore the black and white t-shirts to pro wrestling TV tapings. 

Eventually, the nWo fragmented, splitting into two factions of nWo Wolfpac led by Kevin Nash and nWo Hollywood led by Hogan. While the Wolfpac proved to be popular in the short term, the freshness of the nWo had faded by the latter half of 1998 and an unholy reunion at the dawn of 1999, brought about by the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom, was met with derision and disinterest. 

The nWo brand never recovered, and the Hogan-led revival faded to black by mid-March. A later attempt led by Bret Hart of nWo 2000 never fully came to fruition either due to ill-timed injuries. 

WWE Sign Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall

After WWF bought WCW in March 2001, this meant the New World Order would be a part of Vince McMahon’s company if the faction were ever to return.

Despite winning the Monday Night Wars, WWF were struggling by the end of the year following the ill-fated Invasion storyline and botched heel turn for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. 

To illustrate how bad things had become, the 2001 Survivor Series was the battleground for the WWF and the WCW/ECW alliance to settle the score once and for all. Ticket sales for the event were dismal, with many premium seats still available in the waning days before the card. Raw ratings for the period had also dropped to lows not seen since the early days of the Attitude Era. The WWF wasn't in any danger of folding, but there was an obvious decline in interest.

Despite this, it was still a surprise in December of 2001 when the rumour mill noted that WWF were in talks with Kevin Nash over a return to the organisation. Nash was 42 at the time with a history of leg injuries, and wasn't exactly known for being a strong in-ring performer. There was also the political element, with Nash known to be a Kliq member who also enjoyed booking power at times while he was a part of WCW. 

A roster meeting was held at the January 3, 2002 taping of SmackDown in Washington, DC in which Vince McMahon asked for the wrestlers’ thoughts on bringing back the founding nWo members. The response was, at best, lukewarm, as hardly anyone in the room spoke in favour of bringing in Hall, Nash, and Hogan. 

Many individuals on the roster either knew the trio from WCW or even earlier WWE stints and they had no interest in revisiting the politics or the drama. There were also concerns that the ages of the three would be starkly evident, at a time when pushed wrestlers like Chris Jericho, The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Kurt Angle were spearheading the slickest, fastest-paced WWF action ever produced.

Despite any potential issues, Vince McMahon re-signed the trio. Nash agreed to a multi-year deal with WWF in the early days of 2002. By mid-January, Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan had also agreed to return to the World Wrestling Federation. Word of the trio's signing reached the WWF locker room during a house show loop of Texas the second weekend of January, and it was said that morale bottomed out as a result. 

Business-wise, bringing in the nWo did appear to make sense, despite opposition from the roster. Plans for a brand split meant the company needed as much star power as possible, while the company could have used some fresh match-ups after what ended up being a difficult 2001. It was also hoped the locker room atmosphere wouldn’t be poisoned by the trio infamous for politicking. 

A Lethal Dose of Poison

The build to the nWo’s debut on WWF TV began following the 2002 Royal Rumble. Vince McMahon and Ric Flair were presented on TV as co-owners of the World Wrestling Federation following the Invasion, which led to a Street Fight at the pay-per-view ultimately won by The Nature Boy.

On the post-Rumble edition of SmackDown, McMahon appeared in a series of unnerving vignettes where he mused with heavy emotion to his dressing room mirror. The unhinged Vince spoke of the WWF's impending death due to Flair's meddling, and vowed that he wouldn't let Flair kill his company... because he would kill it first. Thus, Vince threatened to inject the WWF with a "lethal dose of poison." He then spun around in his chair to reveal a crudely-drawn nWo logo on the backrest. 

The reveal led to instant excitement amongst the WWF fan base as they remembered the heady days of the nWo which meant chaos, action, suspense, and a sense that anything could happen at any given moment. 

The hype continued to build on the following episode of Raw where Ric Flair urged Vince McMahon not to bring in the New World Order, even going so far as to play the ‘Lonely Road of Faith’ video which highlighted all the good that WWF was, which Vince McMahon would be callously wiping out with his "lethal dose of poison." 

A desperate Flair then asked Vince - who wouldn't even look him in the eye - what he could do to get McMahon to scrap the plans. McMahon finally spoke, saying that if Flair sold him back his shares of the WWF and then quit, he would cancel the nWo invasion, but if Flair refused, Vince would spitefully watch from the sidelines as the nWo "killed his creation."

What happened next was Flair nearly selling his shares on Thursday's SmackDown, before Steve Austin talked him out of it. The two left Vince laying and Flair tore up the sale papers, essentially telling the evil boss to do his worst.

In the weeks ahead, Hogan, Hall, and Nash appeared in starkly-lit video packages, hyping up their impending arrival, which took place at the No Way Out pay-per-view.

At the start of No Way Out, Hogan and The Outsiders entered to the classic New World Order theme and cut insincere promos about how they weren't bad guys, and they just wanted to go with the flow.

Unlike their rebel spirit in WCW, this was just the nWo reciting scripted verbiage. When the trio were verbally cut down by The Rock in an admittedly-funny backstage segment less than two hours later, the nWo was no different than anybody else in WWE at the time: just three guys in t-shirts you can buy from the company website.

By night's end, the nWo managed to regain a bit of dignity by beating Austin up after the main event, but it wasn't the strongest presentation for the group.

No Way Out did a healthy 575,000 pay-per-view buys, but that was based on intrigue, and not eventual execution. After day one, the nWo didn't feel all that special.

Regardless of that, the group were factored into major plans for WrestleMania X8 at the Toronto Skydome in The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Scott Hall. The latter bout was a point of contention for Stone Cold, though. While Austin has denied rumours that he had heat with Hall, he did see the match as a demotion and it only added to Austin's unhappiness, having been dissatisfied creatively for several months. Austin also wasn’t happy with the original plan, which would have seen him put Hall over on the grandest stage.

Hall, meanwhile, had his own problems, partying harder than WWF would have liked in the build to WrestleMania after years of substance abuse issues. The former Razor Ramon also ruffled feathers backstage after his return, with Chris Jericho remembering that Hall was antagonistic on the day he came back, with Jericho recalling an interaction Hall had with Bubba Ray Dudley in which he gushed about how great the 3D looked, only to add that he couldn’t wait to kick out of it. 

In light of Hall's issues, the WWF reversed course and decided to put Austin over at WrestleMania, but this created a new problem as it meant both nWo members would be losing at WrestleMania, with Hogan already scheduled to lose to The Rock at the pay-per-view. 

The Rock and Hogan's arc began with a historic face-off the night after No Way Out during Monday Night Raw, during which Hogan claimed the fans turned on him, Rock refuted that claim, then went into the whole dream match/iconography spiel before challenging "Hollywood" to the ultimate generational battle at WrestleMania 18.

After milking the crowd reaction, and the duelling chants, for every last drop, Hogan accepted the challenge. He then received a Rock Bottom, but it was the nWo that got the last laugh as the Outsiders attacked Rock, and the three men proceeded to give Dwayne Johnson an extensive beating, so extensive that Rock required an ambulance ride to the hospital which was cut short when Hogan crashed a semi-truck into said ambulance.

Alas, The Rock was hardly harmed as he re-appeared on TV without a scratch, which begged the question of how the nWo was going to poison the WWF when they couldn’t even take out The Rock with an automobile crash.

Over the weeks ahead, the nWo appeared on Raw and SmackDown like any other part of the show. Whereas the WCW version of the group loomed large even when they *weren't* on camera, the carefully-scripted WWF didn't book the group like the boundless hellraisers they were best known for being as Hogan and co. instead just waited in line for their ordained segments to come up.

When WrestleMania rolled around, the nWo did indeed go 0-2. Austin beat Hall in an overbooked match, while The Rock defeated Hogan in a match for the ages, known best for 68,000 fans inside the Skydome going wild for every little thing Hogan did, even forcing Hollywood to work the match as a babyface, Hulk Hogan comeback and all.

Post-match, Hogan put over The Rock and made amends with Dwayne Johnson which brought out an irate Hall and Nash, who turned on Hogan. The Rock then made the save, allowing him to pose alongside his childhood hero. 

With Hogan's babyface turn, though, the nWo had gone from being the poison designed to destroy the WWF to neutralised in just 28 days due to WWE quickly realising there could be more money in a babyface Hogan after the favourable crowd reactions The Hulkster was drawing, particularly in the week leading up to and at WrestleMania X8. 

The nWo After WrestleMania X8

Hogan being removed from the nWo left Hall and Nash as a directionless two-man crew, but that wouldn’t be for long as X-Pac reunited with his Kliq buddies after months of being off TV. 

The following week, the reunited trio first faced Hogan and Rock in a handicap match, before losing to the new super team and Kane on SmackDown. Any notion that the nWo was a fearsome, all-powerful entity was dead by this point.

In the first-ever brand extension, the group was drafted to Raw. Contrary to the New World Order of the past, Hall, Nash, and X-Pac never did try to invade SmackDown, and simply remained exclusive to one show, doing as they were told.

Over the months ahead, the nWo floated around the red brand. They beat up Kane and stole his mask, they had uninspired matches involving Steve Austin and Bradshaw, and they welcomed former member Big Show to the fold, after weeks of obvious teases.

Along the way, the stable lost Scott Hall, who (along with Mr. Perfect) was fired shortly after the infamous Plane Ride from Hell. Hall was still struggling mightily with his demons, and was in poor shape during the UK tour to the point there are reports that after returning to the United States, a near-unresponsive Hall was ferried through customs in a wheelchair.

Once Hall was gone, the nWo lost any shred of relevance they had left. Booker T joined the group randomly and without explanation. Showrunner Ric Flair aligned with the group, despite being openly opposed to Vince McMahon bringing them back. An inactive Shawn Michaels also bizarrely joined the nWo, and almost immediately kicked Booker out.

Booker T and Goldust vs. the nWo became a midcard feud at best, which ended abruptly when Nash, who had just returned from an arm injury that sidelined him for a few months, tore his quadriceps mere seconds after tagging into a match.

A week later, on the July 15, 2002 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon himself entered to the nWo's theme. He informed the audience that we would never hear that song again, because the nWo was dead.

Six months earlier, a possible nWo reunion was hotly anticipated, and now it was being spoken of in the past tense. All the good that came out of it was a lucrative Hogan nostalgia run and a commemorative nWo DVD, one of the first WWE releases that made good use of the WCW video library the company had acquired.

In the end, the nWo didn't kill the WWF - high court rulings did. Losses to a different group with a black and white logo in the World Wildlife Fund resulted in the WWF changing their branding to WWE that May.

What Went Wrong?

So, what went wrong with the nWo? It could be argued that the WWE version of the nWo wasn't likely to last anyway. Between Hall's personal issues and the median age of the core members, it was hard to imagine the nWo running roughshod over the company deep into 2002, let alone beyond that point.

There has been some who have claimed that this nWo could have added newer, younger members to make things work. Surely there were disgruntled midcarders that could have gotten a new lease on life by selling out to the black-and-white army. Imagine Christian or Sean O'Haire or The Dudley Boyz representing the next wave of nWo mercenaries, or Booker T joining the group with a better reason to do so. If the nWo was going to last, this sort of thing needed to happen, because otherwise it was just a nostalgia act.

New members or not, this nWo wasn't faithful to the concepts that made it work it the first place. There were chaotic moments, but there wasn't enough of that.

In WCW, the New World Order would take over the commentary desk at 8:17 pm on a Monday night and spend two hours goofing on the show, while interfering in matches they had some investment in, before eventually trying to fend off an attack from a defiant hero. The WWF mode of storytelling was so rigidly scripted that this couldn't be possible.

Every aspect of a Federation programme was planned out to the most minute detail, which was good for production, but it didn’t allow for anything renegade-minded to seep its way in. The nWo needed room to stretch its legs, and it didn't work when boxed up in tightly-produced segments.

This also meant the nWo didn’t feel as important as they once did, and the trio were never the truly dominant force of the show as they quickly abandoned the idea of being poison and instead focused on hand-selected main eventers. 

In the nWo's first year in WCW, they almost never came up empty, because they needed to be cemented as an unstoppable force. On night one in the WWF, the trio stood there petrified while The Rock goofed on their old catchphrases.

Classic New World Order kicked the door down but the WWE version only showed up after knocking first.

The final version of the New World Order was a toothless, soulless, entirely-plastic imitation of the influential group that once bore that name. Instead of facilitating a hostile takeover, the black and white faction was instead easily overtaken.