Led By: Hollywood Hulk Hogan Prominent Members: Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, X-Pac, Big Show, Shawn Michaels. Date(s): 2002, Intermittent reunions since The original nWo was devised in WCW, and it was undeniably badass. It featured three of the top talents that Ted Turner poached from the WWE: Kevin Nash (Big Daddy Cool Diesel), Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), and Hulk Hogan. It was bold programing, and WCW surged to an early lead in the Monday Night Wars. Eventually however, they fell, and fell hard. There were numerous nWo factions that watered down the brand you cant get over as a pack of rebels when almost every major player in WCW has been a member. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-zhlw_hnGU The WWE version of the nWo started out promisingly enough Vince brought in Nash, Hall, and Hogan to inject the WWE with a lethal dose of poison. And for awhile, this worked extremely well they assaulted the Rock with a hammer and spraypainted him, before hitting his ambulance with a truck. But at Wrestlemania XVIII, the best laid plans fell through. Austin refused to lose to Hall. The Rock beat Hogan, who was unexpectedly cheered, and the WWE turned him babyface almost immediately. And so, the nWo left Wrestlemania with an 0-2 win/loss record. Not very intimidating. Hall got fired for stupid backstage antics. Nash tore his quad. And for all intents and purposes, that was the end of that. Vince McMahon actually came out on Raw to put the stable out of its misery. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Kevin is an AP English Language teacher and freelance writer from Queens, NY. His focus is on American pop culture and American issues. He wrote a weekly column for Complex called "Throwback Thursdays," which spotlighted video games and trends from previous console generations. Kevin has also been published in VIBE, Salon, PopMatters, Joystiq, and Racialicious. Follow him on Twitter to learn more.
