NWO, WCW And When Too Suhweet Became Sour

The nWo was a concept borne out of genius. With Scott Hall and Kevin Nash having just moved to WCW, and with Hulk Hogan being there already, Eric Bischoff thought out a plan in 1996 to make WWE stars look like invaders to the WCW product, stealing a march on the WWE who were not prepared for this sort of storyline, nor the ramifications it would have on the ratings. Fast forward to 2000 and the nWo had lost its lustre. Instead of being one of the shining lights of WCW, now it seemed to be a massive millstone that the company simply could not rid itself from. WCW seemed married to the nWo, and wasn't prepared to admit that it really wasn't working anymore, with constant updates, reunions and break ups making Friends' Ross and Rachel saga seem steady in comparison. The fact remains though that for a while the nWo were the hottest thing on TV. However, for all the good they did WCW, now many look back and see the nWo to represent some of the worst excesses of selfish top card talent. While it would be part of the foundations that would make WCW a massive thorn in Vince's side, it would also be a major cog in the downfall of the company. In the 5th of these articles about the great lost opportunities of wrestling (Part one, two, three and four can be seen here), I will examine what was compelling about the nWo before looking at why it did not end on better terms. Finally I will examine if there was a better way to gracefully say goodbye to the angle.