10 Stupidest Decisions By WWE In 2002

10. Bringing Back The nWo

There was very little creative direction in WWE following the end of the Invasion angle, an angle that by rights should have kept the company going until WrestleMania, if it had been handled correctly. Instead, it was viewed as a major disappointment, and killed off after only six months. One of the major criticisms of the Invasion was that the Alliance side lacked star power, specifically the big names from WCW's glory days. Where were Hogan, Hall, Nash, Sting, Goldberg and Flair? Well, they were still under contract to Time Warner, earning their hefty WCW salaries without having to lift a finger. It was inevitable that WWE would recruit some of these heavy hitters once their deals ran out, though. WWE began negotiations with the three original nWo members in early 2002 and they returned at the No Way Out PPV in February. In the storyline, Vince McMahon had brought them back into the fold in order to inject a 'lethal dose of poison' into his own company. In reality, the majority of the WWE locker room was sceptical about the hiring, due to the very real negative effect that the nWo's politics had on WCW in its dying years. Indeed, it didn't take long for Hall and Nash to cause problems: Hall's substance issues were evident and he was disrespectful to many backstage and Nash turned up late to a Smackdown taping and complained incessantly when Rock ad-libbed during a promo and called him 'Big Daddy Bitch' (Nash's hypocrisy is staggering). Overall, the nWo 2002 was a washout and their presence on WWE TV most unwelcome. The group was history within a few shorts months, despite WWE's efforts to mix it up by adding X-Pac, Booker T, Big Show and Shawn Michaels to it. Scott Hall was fired in April while Nash tore his quad in June and would be out for close to a year. Hogan was history by SummerSlam (but would return in early 2003). Money well spent.