Breaking Down The Myth: The NWO Saved The Wrestling Business
The nWo may be 4 life, but was the group really pro wrestling's saviour?
There's no doubting the New World Order's place in wrestling history as one of the hottest acts to ever grace the squared circle.
The nWo popped huge ratings, sold a ridiculous amount of merchandise, and across the various incarnations of the faction we saw some of the biggest names in the history of the wrestling business. But while the nWo was a clear shot in the arm for WCW and the most important part of Ted Turner's company dominating Vince McMahon's WWF in the ratings from 1996 through until 1998, was the nWo the industry-saving faction that many claim it to be?
Some view the initial trio of Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall forming the nWo at Bash at the Beach in 1996 as the saviour of a wrestling business that was down on its luck. Neither WWF nor WCW were drawing massive numbers at that time, and even the most trusty of World Champions were struggling to significantly pull business numbers out of the gutter.
Was the nWo an awakening for the industry? Most definitely. Did the faction prove to be a legitimate saviour of the wrestling world? Well, that's what we're going to get into here, as we explore the myth that the nWo saved the wrestling business.
10. The Humble Beginnings
To start off on a positive note, the nWo was clearly a shot in the arm for the professional wrestling business.
While the New World Order wasn't responsible for saving the industry, that's not to say that it doesn't have a hugely pivotal part to play in wrestling history. In the early nWo days, and technically even in the pre-nWo days, this faction had everybody talking.
As soon as a double-denim-adorned Scott Hall climbed the ringside barricade on the 27 May 1996 episode of WCW Nitro - which was also the first ever two-hour Nitro - the fans of the day were in a confused state of intrigue.
Hall himself would famously proclaim, "You know who I am, but you don't know why I'm here" - and it was that why that had viewers invested in where this was going. Of course, Hall's medium-sized man was soon to be join by the big man figure of Kevin Nash, and these Outsiders were quickly on a collision course with WCW that was to come to a head at the 1996 Bash at the Beach PPV.
It was there that the unthinkable happened, with the baby-kissing, granny-hugging, forever-posing, perma-tanned, skullet-rocking Hulk Hogan turning his back on WCW to form the nWo with Hall and Nash. And man, it was absolutely glorious and undeniably shocking to see.