Breaking Down The Myth: The NWO Saved The Wrestling Business

Hall's arrival in WCW had sparked an immediate curiosity amongst the wrestling community, and his pairing with Nash and later Hogan was a major part of why WCW began to decimate the then-WWF in the ratings war that had been simmering away since WCW decided to launch rival Monday night programming on 4 September 1995.

From the week after Hall's WCW debut, WCW Nitro went on to better WWF Raw in the TV ratings for 46 out of the next 47 weeks.

No matter how much people poke fun at latter-day WCW, and no matter how people may say that the overall influence of the nWo was a negative one, there is no taking away just how phenomenal an achievement those ratings were - and likewise, the domination that Nitro had over Raw all the way through until early 1998.

The buzz generated by Hogan's Bash at the Beach heel turn and the formation of the New World Order was huge. Even though the babyface reactions to Hogan weren't quite as fervent as they'd been at the prime of Hulkamania running wild, brother, it was still a shock to see the Hulkster throw away the red and yellow and turn villainous for the first time since the early days of his AWA run in 1981.

What would this evil Hulk Hogan look like? How could Hogan, Nash, and Hall be stopped? And who else might join them in their crusade against WCW?