The History of the New World Order (nWo)
Story:
History of the nWo: Scott Hall appears on Nitro promising a “takeover”. The next week, Kevin Nash appears and promises the same thing. They attack people for the next month or so (most notably powerbombing Eric Bischoff through a table) until challenged by Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage to a six-man tag at Bash at the Beach. Nash and Hall – at this point only “The Outsiders” – accept, and say their third man will be revealed later.
Hall and Nash are victorious when their third man is revealed to be Hulk Hogan, who over time adopts the new persona of “Hollywood” Hogan. The newly-christened New World Order begins attacking WCW wrestlers viciously. The first new members to arrive are Ted DiBiase (acting as a manager and “money man”) and Vincent (acting as “head of security”). At Road Wild, Hollywood Hogan defeats the Giant by cheating outrageously to win the WCW World title. Strangely, the Giant joins the nWo two weeks later, citing the money as his primary reason. Also at Road Wild, the Booty Man tries to join, but is beaten up.
The next member of the nWo appears when they debut a “Fake Sting” at Wargames, who wrestles ittermitently over the next few months until the original Fake Sting, now called “nWo Sting”, goes to compete in Japan as part of their version of the nWo. The Nasty Boys try to join the nWo as well, but are beaten up for their trouble. Although he is in fact the seventh member, Sean Waltman joins in November as Syxx.
The nWo announces a “membership drive”, giving “all WCW wrestlers” the chance to join the nWo. In order, the wrestlers accepting this offer are Marcus Bagwell (soon redubbed “Buff”), Michael Wallstreet, Big Bubba, and Scott Norton. Also, Eric Bischoff is revealed as being an nWo member around this time, and Masa Chono and the Great Muta, visiting from New Japan Pro Wrestling, join the North American nWo (although they have little effect). At the same time, Giant is kicked out for demanding a title shot from Hulk Hogan.
Randy Savage joins the nWo at SuperBrawl. Newly appointed WCW Commissioner J.J. Dillon says that according to their contracts, Big Bubba and Michael Wallstreet cannot be members of the nWo. Amidst great hype, Dennis Rodman “joins” the nWo, despite wrestling only one match that year as a celebrity guest at Bash at the Beach. Konnan joins the nWo in August. Ted DiBiase quits the nWo and becomes a manager for the Steiner brothers.
Curt Hennig joins the nWo after turning on the Four Horsemen at WarGames. Rick Rude joins in December. Bret Hart is invited to join the nWo, but declines. The Disciple joins sometime in January, although he is not named until March. Dusty Rhodes joins at Souled Out after turning on Larry Zybysko. Bryan Adams joins in January after turning on Bret Hart. Scott Steiner joins in February after turning on his brother Rick. During most of January, Louie Spicolli acts as a flunky to Scott Hall and wears an nWo t-shirt, although he is never “officially” inducted into the nWo before his death. Syxx disappears when Sean Waltman is fired by WCW.
Randy Savage and Kevin Nash, having issues with Hollywood Hogan, form the nWo “splinter faction”: nWo Wolfpac. Curt Hennig and Konnan immediately join, as do longtime nWo foes Lex Luger and Sting; they immediately distinguish themselves from the “traditional” nWo (now known as nWo Hollywood or nWo Black-And-White) by wearing black-and-red T-shirts rather than black-and-white. Scott Hall is invited to join the Wolfpac, but refuses. Giant rejoins nWo Hollywood.
Curt Hennig quits the nWo Wolfpac to rejoin nWo Hollywood. Randy Savage is injured and disappears from the Wolfpac. Dennis Rodman once again is trumpeted as a member of the nWo for a celebrity match at Bash At The Beach. Stevie Ray joins nWo Hollywood in September. The Disciple quits nWo Hollywood in October to join the “One Warrior Nation”. Horace Hogan joins nWo Hollywood at Halloween Havoc. Bret Hart seemingly joins, quits, and rejoins nWo Hollywood several times during this period, and never wears an nWo shirt or explicitly states his membership in the nWo.
Hollywood Hogan announces his “retirement”, and Scott Steiner becomes the leader of nWo Hollywood. Scott Hall is kicked out of nWo Hollywood in November, but despite his efforts is not allowed to join nWo Wolfpac. Disco Inferno starts claiming he is a member of the Wolfpac.
Hollywood Hogan comes out of “retirement” to “beat” Kevin Nash in a thrown match for the WCW World title and reform the nWo as one single entity. The Wolfpac is now an “elite rank” of the nWo: its members are Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell, and Scott Steiner. The remainder of the nWo (Giant, Curt Hennig, Vincent, Stevie Ray, Bryan Adams, Scott Norton, and Horace Hogan) continues wearing the black-and-white, while the Wolfpac wears black, white, and red. The Wolfpac also seems to be conducting a gradual elimination of the black-and-white (also referred to as “the nWo B-Team”); at this writing, both the Giant and Curt Hennig have received turfing-out beatdowns, with more likely to come. Konnan has been explicitly kicked out of the nWo entire. Sting’s status is unknown. Bret Hart’s nWo membership is entirely forgotten.
With Scott Hall in retirement, Hulk Hogan back in semi-retirement, and Bagwell turfed from the group, the only members left are Lex Luger, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner, and possibly Disco Inferno. Steiner and Nash rarely do anything nWo-related (besides use the Wolfpac music). The nWo black-and-white is whittled down to Vincent, Horace Hogan, Stevie Ray and Bryan Adams, with Scott Norton doing his own thing without the nWo name. Soon after, Horace Hogan is fired, Bryan Adams is repackaged, Stevie Ray leaves to reform Harlem Heat, and Vincent joins the West Texas Rednecks, thus finally ending the group’s legacy once and for all.
By mid 1999, the nWo had disappeared. In late 1999, the nWo came back for one more run as the silver and black (rather than black and white). This version was also referred to as “nWo 2000” and the word “new” in “new World order” logo was underlined to emphasise that this was a new version of the group. Consisting of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, and the Harris twins (Don and Ron). Several fitness models(Tylene Buck, April Hunter, Kim Kanner, Midajah O’Hearn and Pamela Paulshock) were brought in who would come to ringside with the group only to be ordered to the back by Jeff Jarrett. This nWo lasted into early 2000, but soon faded away, in great part due to the injury and retirement of Bret “The Hitman” Hart, the leader of the group. By this point, not only the nWo, but the entire WCW, had lapsed into what seemed to be an inevitable and permanent decline, constantly bettered by the WWF and relegated to a permanent second-place status, a situation many longtime WCW fans blamed in part on WCW management having stayed with the nWo storyline for entirely too long. The lead heel group in WCW was eventually replaced by The New Blood.
After the WWF bought WCW in 2001, Vince McMahon brought in Hogan, Hall and Nash as the nWo, at the No Way Out PPV on February 17, 2002. In this storyline, the nWo was brought in as McMahon’s allies in an attempt to “kill” the WWF so that McMahon would not have to share power with new WWF “co-owner” “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. However, Hogan left the group after he lost his WrestleMania X8 match with The Rock and was assaulted after that match by Hall and Nash. Hogan’s comeback to the WWF after 8 years had fans cheering him, more than even The Rock. As a result, he turned face and began feuding with Hall and Nash, with The Rock at his side. Hall and Nash brought in two nWo members afterwards, X-Pac (formerly known as Syxx, who was also a former nWo member whilst in WCW), on March 21, 2002, at SmackDown! in Ottawa, Ontario and The Big Show (formerly known as The Giant), on April 22, 2002.
The nWo reunion in the WWF would not last long, however. Hall was released in May due to drinking problems during a UK tour. Flair later became a semi-member of the nWo after turning on Stone Cold Steve Austin. As owner of RAW, Flair set up a lumberjack match with Austin against the newest member of the nWo, which turned out to be Booker T. Booker had just finished a silly skit with Goldust minutes earlier, where he had been wearing a lumberjack costume and fake beard, all but destroying his “tough” momentum going into the match. Nash introduced Shawn Michaels into the nWo on June 3, 2002. Michaels then “kicked” Booker out of the nWo (he literally hit Booker with his Sweet Chin Music) one week later.
Abruptly, the nWo was (kayfabe) disbanded by McMahon on July 15, 2002, after he regained full control of WWE from Ric Flair. The final nail in the nWo coffin was X-Pac (legitly) fainting on July 15 before the show and Nash tearing a quadriceps muscle during a match one week prior to the disbanding, taking him out of action for several months. Ironically, the nWo disbanded on the same night that Eric Bischoff, the man who was often credited for creating the nWo, made his debut in WWE as the general manager of RAW. At the time of the nWo’s demise, Michaels was offering Triple H membership in the nWo.
The concept was originally started by Scott Hall, who “invaded” WCW on the first two-hour Nitro in May of 1996 (see “Monday Night Wars”) and declared that they were taking over, although he didn’t note who “they” were. The implication was that is was a WWF takeover, which led to a later lawsuit and was publicly denied by Hall at the “Great American Bash” PPV in 1996. Kevin Nash joined him two weeks after he debuted, and the two of them promised a third man at the “Bash at the Beach” PPV in July. The third man was Hulk Hogan, who coined the phrase “New World Order” during his heel turn interview, although in a nebulous and roundabout way. Commentators Bobby Heenan and Larry Zbyzsko later officially named them the nWo, building on Hogan’s speech, and the rest is history.
Off-and-on booker Paul Orndorff was really credited with the creation of the “invasion” angle, and Nitro booker Terry Taylor is credited with coming up with the details (the t-shirt selling, the black and white, the attitude). Hulk Hogan was given much leeway in his own angles (as usual) and improvised a great deal of the mannerisms and catchphrases (as did Hall and Nash). And it should be noted that Eric Bischoff had almost NOTHING to do with the nWo’s creation, although he often takes credit for it regardless by stating that it was based on where else.
Members of the nWo:
| Year | Wrestlers |
| 1996 | Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Ted Debiase, Eric Bischoff, Syxx, Scott Norton, Mr Wallstreet, Big Bubba Rogers, Buff Bagwell , Masahiro Chono, nWo Sting, Vincent, The Giant |
| 1997 | Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Syxx, Eric Bischoff, Rick Rude, Scott Norton, Konnan, Buff Bagwell, Hiroshi Tenzan, Keiji Muto, Masa Hiro Chono, Scott Norton, Randy Savage, Miss Elizabeth, Dennis Rodman, Vincent |
| 1998 (Black and White) |
Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Scott Steiner, Brian Adams, Horace Hogan, Scott Norton, Eric Bischoff, Dusty Rhodes, Bret Hart, Louie Spicolli, Konnan, Dennis Rodman, Miss Elizabeth, Buff Bagwell, Tenzan, Muto, Chono, Saito, The Disciple, Stevie Ray. |
| 1998 (Wolfpac) | Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Luger, Curt Hennig, Rick Rude, Konnan, Randy Savage. |
| 1999 (Wolfpac) | Huk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Buff Bagwell, Scott Steiner, The Disco Inferno, Eric Bischoff, Lex Luger. |
| 1999 (Black and White) |
Scott Norton, Stevie Ray, Brian Adams, Curt Hennig, Horace Hogan, The Giant, Vincent. |
| nWo Japan | Masa Chono, Keiji Muto, Mr Wallstreet, Big Titan, nWo Sting, Hiro Saito, Ohara, Hiroshi Tenzan, Scott Norton, Brian Adams. |
| nWo (1999-2000) |
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, Ron Harris, Don Harris |
| nWo (WWF Version: 2002) |
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, X-Pac, The Big Show (Giant), Ric Flair, Booker T., Shawn Michaels |
Current and Past nWo Members and The Major Titles They Held:
| Member | Major Titles |
| David Flair | WCW United States Title, WCW World Tag Team Title, NWA World Tag Team Title, NWA Georgia Tag Team Title |
| Scott Hall | AWA World Tag Team Title, WWF Intercontinental Title (4 Times), WCW World Tag Team Title (4 Times), WCW United States Title, WCW World TV Title |
| Disco Inferno | WCW World TV Title (2 Times), WCW World Cruiserweight Title |
| Buff Bagwell | WCW World Tag Team Title (5 Times) |
| Bret “Hitman” Hart |
WWF World Tag Team Title (2 Times), WWF Intercontinental Title (2 Times), WWF World Title (5 Times), WCW United States Title (4 Times), WCW World Title, WCW World Tag Team Title |
| Curt Hennig | AWA World Tag Team Title, AWA World Title, WWF Intercontinental Title (2 Times), WCW United States Title, WCW World Tag Team Title |
| “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan |
IWGP Title WWF World Title (5 Times), WCW World Title (6 Times) , WWF Undisputed Title |
| Jeff Jarrett | WWF Intercontinental Title (6 Times), WCW United States Title (2 Times), NWA North American Title, WWF World Tag Team Title, WWF European Title, WCW World Heavyweight Title (4 Times), WWA World Heavyweight Title |
| Konnan | CMLL World Title, WCW United States Title, WCW World Television Title, WCW World Tag Team Title (2 Times) |
| Lex Luger | NWA World Tag Team Title, WCW World Title (2 Times), WCW World Tag Team Title, WCW World Television Title (2 Times), WCW United States Title (2 Times), NWA United States Title (4 Times) |
| Kevin Nash | WWF Intercontinental Title, WWF World Tag Team Title, WWF World Title, WCW World Tag Team Title (6 Times), WCW World Title (5 Times) |
| V.K. Wall$treet | WWF World Tag Team Title (5 Times), NWA World TV Title (2 Times), NWA World Tag Team Title |
| “Macho Man” Randy Savage |
WWF Intercontinental Title, WWF World Title (2 Times), WCW World Title (5 Times) |
| Scott Steiner | NWA World Tag Team Title, NWA United States Tag Team Title, WCW World Tag Team Title (5 Times), IWGP Tag Team Title (2 Times), WCW World Television Title (2 Times), WWF World Tag Team Title (2 Times), WCW United States Title (2 Times), WCW World Heavyweight Title, WWA World Heavyweight Title |
| Stevie Ray | WCW World Tag Team Title (10 Times) |
| Sting | NWA World Television Title, NWA World Title, WCW United States Title (2 Times), WCW World Title (6 Times), WCW International World Title (2 Times), WCW World Tag Team Title (3 Times) |
| Big Bubba Rogers |
UWF World Heavyweight Title, WWF Hardcore Title (4 Times), WWF World Tag Team Title |
| The Giant | WCW World Title (2 Times), WCW World Tag Team Title (2 Times), WWF World Tag Team Title (2 Times), WWF World Title, WWF Hardcore Title (2 Times) |
| Syxx (X-Pac) | WWF World Tag Team Title (4 Times), WCW World Cruiserweight Title, WWF European Title (2 Times), WWF World Tag Team Title (2 Times), WWF World Light-Heavyweight Title (2 Times) |
| Brian Adams | WWF World Tag Team Title, WCW World Tag Team Title (2 Times) |
| The Disciple | WWF World Tag Team Title |
| Scott Norton | IWGP Tag Team Title (2 Times), IWGP Title (2 Times) |
| Dusty Rhodes | NWA World Tag Team Title (3 Times), NWA World Title (3 Times), NWA United States Title, NWA World Television Title (3 Times), NWA World 6-Man Tag Team Title (2 Times) |
| Ted DiBiase | WWWF North American Title, WWF World Tag Team Title (3 Times), All Japan World Tag Team Title |
| Masahiro Chono |
IWGP Tag Team Title (5 Times), NWA World Title, IWGP Title |
| Tatsutoshi Goto | IWGP Tag Team Title |
| Satoshi Kojima | IWGP Tag Team Title (2 Times) |
| Keiji Muto (The Great Muta) |
IWGP Tag Team Title (5 Times), NWA World Television Title, IWGP Title (3 Times), NWA World Title, WCW World Tag Team Title |
| Michiyoshi Ohara |
IWGP Tag Team Title |
| Hiro Saito | NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title, IWGP Tag Team Title, WWF World Junior Heavyweight Title |
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan |
IWGP Tag Team Title (4 Times) |
| Ron Harris | USWA Tag Team Title (6 Times),SMW Tag Team Title, WCW World Tag Team Title |
| Don Harris | USWA Tag Team Title (6 Times),SMW Tag Team Title, WCW World Tag Team Title |
| Booker T. | GWF Tag Team Title (3 Times), WCW World Tag Team Title (11 Times), WCW World TV Title (6 Times), WCW World Title (5 Times), WCW United States Heavyweight Title, WWF World Tag Team Title, WWF World Hardcore Title (2 Times) |
| Ric Flair | NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Title (3 Times), NWA Mid-Atlantic TV Title (2 Times), NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title (2 Times), NWA World Tag Team Title (3 Times), NWA United States Title (5 Times), NWA World Heavyweight Title (10 Times), NWA Missouri Title, WCW World Title (8 Times), WWF World Heavyweight Title (2 Times), WCW International World Title (2 Times), WCW United States Title |
| Shawn Michaels | Central States Television Title, NWA Central States Tag Team Title, Texas All-Star Texas Tag Team Title (2 Times), Texas All-Star USA 6-Man Tag Team Title, AWA World Tag Team Title (2 Times), Southern Tag Team Title (2 Times), WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Title (3 Times), WWF World Tag Team Title (2 Times), WWF World Heavyweight Title (3 Times), WWF European Heavyweight Title, TWA Heavyweight Title |
Hulk Hogan’s Famed Heel Speech from “Bash at the Beach” 1996:
(It’s the conclusion of the “Bash at the Beach 1996” Pay-Per-View and Hogan has just shocked the wrestling world by attacking Randy “Macho Man” Savage, thus revealing himself to be the third member of The Outsiders. “Mean” Gene Okerlund Okerlund enters the ring for an interview. Hogan stands beside his new allies, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, as the fans pelt the ring with debris. Tony Schiavone, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Dusty Rhodes sit by stunned at the announcer’s desk).
Gene Okerlund: Hulk Hogan, what in the world are you thinking?
Hulk Hogan: Mean Gene Okerlund, the first thing that you need to do is to tell these people to shut if you wanna hear what I gotta say.
Gene Okerlund: I have beeen with you for so many years… for you to join up with the likes of these two men absolutely makes me sick to my stomache and I think that these people here and a lot of other people around the world, have had just about enough of this man, this man, (pointing to Nash and Hall) and you want to put yourself in this group? You’ve got to be … kidding me!
Hulk Hogan: Well, the first thing you’ve got to realize, brother, is this right here is the future of wrestling (points to Nash and Hall). You can call this the New World Order of Wrestling, brother.
Gene Okerlund: “You have made the wrong decision, in my opinion!”
Hulk Hogan: Let me tell you something! when it all came to pass, the name Hulk Hogan, the man Hulk Hogan, got bigger than the whole sport! And then Billionaire Ted, Amigo, … he wanted to “talk turkey” with Hulk Hogan. Billionaire Ted promised me movies, brother, … Billionaire Ted promised me millions of dollars, brother, … and Billionaire Ted promised me world calibre matches. As far as Billionaire Ted, Eric Bischoff, and the whole WCW goes, I’m bored brother! That’s why these two guys here, the so-called Outsiders, … these are the men I want as my friends. They’re the new blood of professional wrestling, brother, and not only are we going to take over the whole wrestling business, with Hulk Hogan and the new blood, the monster with me, we will destroy everything in our path, Mean Gene Okerlund!
Gene Okerlund: Look at all this crap in the ring! This is what’s in the future for you if you want to hang around with the likes of this man, Hall, and this man, Nash.
Hulk Hogan: As far as I’m concerned, all this crap in the ring represents the fans out here. For two years, brother, for two years, I held my head high … I did everything for the kids … the reception I got when I came out here … you fans can stick it, brother, because if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, you people wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff would still be selling meat from a truck in Minneapolis and if it wasn’t for Hulk Hogan, all these Johnny-Come-Lately’s that you see out here wrestling, wouldn’t be here. I was selling out the world, brother, while you were stealing gas to put in the car to get to high school, so the way that it is now, brother, with Hulk Hogan and the New World Organization of Wrestling, brother, me and the new blood by my side … whatcha gonna do when the New World Organization runs wild on you? Whatcha gonna do????? (He grabs Gene Okerlund)
Gene Okerlund: Hey … don’t touch me!!!! I’m gonna call my lawyer … Tony, Bobby, Dusty, … dammit … let’s get back to you!
TONY: All right … we have seen the end of Hulkamania!!!!! For Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Dusty Rhodes, Gene Okerlund Okerlund, … I don’t know … I’m Tony Schiavone, and, Hulk Hogan, … YOU CAN GO TO HELL!!!!!!! STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!!!!!!!