Breaking Down The Myth: The NWO Saved The Wrestling Business

7. The Countless Attempts To Recapture That Spark

nWo Kevin Nash Hollywood Hogan Scott Hall
WWE.com

When looking at what the nWo had become by then, it's no surprise that the initial split of the New World Order came at a time when WCW's grip on the ratings war was fading.

Having had a successful 37-week run, 13 April 1998 saw WCW lose out to WWF Raw in the ratings. Many look back and cite the overgrown, oversaturated monster that the nWo had become by this point as being the catalyst for WCW audiences starting to opt for WWF when it came to their Monday night viewing habits.

The nWo would be split into two rival factions by the end of that April, yet WWF went on to win out on the ratings front for the majority of the rest of the year, completely dominate WCW across 1999 and 2000, before Ted Turner's promotion was famously bought out by Vince McMahon in 2001.

So reliant had WCW become on the nWo, and so complacent had the success of the nWo caused WCW management to become, it got to a point where the company's only answer to any ratings decline was to look to rehash the nWo in some form or fashion.

As mentioned, once the decision was made to end the main incarnation of the New World Order in April '98, the group was split into the rivalling nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac stables. When Hollywood and the Wolfpac didn't swing the ratings battle, it was decided in January 1999 to form the nWo Elite and nWo B Team groups.

Even then, another relaunch was around the corner when nWo 2000 formed in December 1999. The bloom was long off the rose, yet WCW was adamant to milk this once-over cow completely dry rather than look at alternative solutions to its ratings slump.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.