40 Greatest Stories Wrestling Ever Told
8. The Outsiders Gatecrash WCW (WCW, 1996)
"You people know who I am, but you don't know why I'm here".
Those words from one Scott Hall came during an otherwise-forgettable bout between Steve Doll and Mike Enos on the 27 May 1996 edition of WCW's flagship show Nitro. They worked because they were 100% truth - people wanted to know why the WWF's Razor Ramon had interrupted Nitro. Soon, they'd find out.
In a clever touch, Eric Bischoff made sure that the loudest words went unspoken. Neither Hall nor his big buddy Kevin Nash actually said that they'd been sent by Vince McMahon to gatecrash the competition and cause trouble, but that was the insinuation. It was a conclusion that WCW higher-ups let fans come to themselves, which made for beautiful television.
Suddenly, WCW was portrayed as such a huge threat to McMahon that he'd sent Razor and Diesel down south to cause a ruckus. That made the promotion look big time, and brighter days were ahead. However, for close to 2 months, The Outsiders (as they were called) demanded respect and said they were about to change everything.
So confident were Hall and Nash that they even walked into Bash At The Beach '96 at a numbers disadvantage against WCW defenders Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage. Of course, the pair had an ace up their sleeves that was about to be revealed, and it's shake the entire wrestling world to its very foundations in a heartbeat.
Before that, WCW crafted an ace narrative packed with intrigue. We knew who Hall and Nash were, but why were they doing all of this?!