What Happened To The nWo? Is the nWo Coming Back To WWE?

What happened to the nWo?

The nWo (pro wrestling)

The nWo is a professional wrestling stable that featured in the WCW and also in the WWE from the mid-90s to the early 2000s. 

This group of wrestlers originally consisted of three bad boys:

  • Hulk Hogan
  • Kevin Nash
  • Scott Hall

But, later on, X-Pac and the Big Shaw would also join the group, albeit just briefly after Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan had made their exit. 

Ric Flair, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels are other superstars that had brief stints in the nWo. 

The nWo storyline had great success in the WCW and was one of the major driving forces that helped the WCW rival the WWE in popularity in the late 1990s, at least for a while before it went burst. 

Sadly enough, the nWo did not enjoy the same kind of success when they made the switch to the WWE in the early 2000s after Vince McMahon bought off the WCW.

The nWo
ON THIS DAY of July 7th, 1996, the nWo stable was formed at WCW’s Bash at the Beach.

Below we shall have a look at some of the reasons that led to the downfall of the now: 

1. The Hulk Hogan loss to ‘The Rock’ in WrestleMania 18

The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan in WrestleMania 18 and this did not go down too well with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.

I mean, who wants to see the head of their group literally take an ass-whooping? So, the duo decided to assault Hogan after the match. 

Hulk Hogan was always a popular attraction in wrestling and an icon so not many fans really liked to see him as a heel and he would soon be replaced by X-Pac and the Big Show and his contract with the WWE would be eventually terminated in 2003.

The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) after defeating Harlem Heat at WCW's Halloween Havoc (1996).
The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) after defeating Harlem Heat at WCW’s Halloween Havoc (1996).

2. Injury-prone Kevin Nash

A series of injuries to Kevin Nash ended up putting him on the sidelines for months on end and this killed off the nWo as they were not a solid unit anymore as they had been earlier on. 

The group was never seen in action again after Nash tore his quad on 8th July 2012 during an attack on Bradshaw.

3. The Demons of Scott Hall

Scott Hall

It is widely known that Scott Hall was not doing too great in the early 2000s. 

With his excessive drinking and other backstage problems, Scott Hall’s stay in the WWE was very short-lived as he was quickly fired just months into his new contract and this all but cemented the nWo’s fate. 

A bit of poor booking also damaged his character in the WWE, for instance, going from a top feud with ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin in WrestleMania 18, to being placed in a feud on Raw with Bradshaw turned him into more of a mid-carder. 

A bunch of new members also joined the nWo and this turned the whole thing into a bit of a joke, with wrestlers joining and exiting every other day and this in turn, wore down on the solidarity of the group.
Many fans could barely keep up with what was going on in the now for the most part and this is another reason that led to its eventual downfall in the end. 

Is the nWo coming back to WWE?

The nWo

In all honestly, it is very difficult to imagine that the nWo will ever make a comeback to the WWE.
Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall are all in their 60s now so it is very difficult to see them ever wanting to feature seriously in the ring again. 

And even though the WWE has been on a downward spiral in recent years, and the fans definitely want to see something new, re-introducing a group that barely made any impact when they had a chance to do so would probably not be the best idea. 

However, the nWo’s impact in the wrestling industry, in general, was quite profound and cannot be understated. 

Just recently in December 2019, it was announced that the nWo would get their own special spot in the 2020 Hall of Fame. 

The founding members, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and the sixth member, Sean Waltman would all be inducted and their names will therefore remain in the history books for many years to come. 

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