10 Wrestling Moments That Exploited Nostalgia (And Failed)

9. New World Order On A Moment Of Bliss

Nikki Cross nWo
WWE.com

The premise was beyond dissonant - the coolest, transformative renegades of the 1990s appearing on WWE's blandest, worst ever talk show, and think of the ground that covers.

The execution was almost unbelievably awful. So the nWo were getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Great. This was accomplished via the announcement graphic. The nWo tend to turn up whenever the lads fancy hogging the spotlight on a televised tragic boy's night, so it's not as if they are draws in 2020.

Whatever. The nWo were on A Moment of Bliss. Repeat the announcement, do some schtick, go away. No problem. It's promotion.

But this was sh*tty even by nWo-in-WWE standards. Nikki Cross marked out because the entire roster is Matt Striker in 2011 when Matt Striker was ridiculed in 2011. After mentioning that the nWo were to be inducted into the Hall of Fame about a million times, Alexa Bliss asked what name the polyonymous Sean Waltman goes by nowadays, he said "Hall of Famer, yeah!" as if it were the reveal. It didn't get a pop because it wasn't the reveal.

Kevin Nash was in full Kevin Nash mode, which is great...on Twitter or a shoot interview, and Scott Hall pissed himself every time Goldberg got booed.

WWE tried to exploit the nWo, but they got the version down there. Down where?

Down there.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!