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The nWo - Bischoffs bizarro world

Iafeta

Referee
Messages
24,357
So I was listening to Bischoff on Wresthing (the show where EB brown noses Vince and then when asked about crazy booking of his own answers "I don't remember, but..."). He was asked how he thought the nWo angle should have concluded. And this is where I realise Eric should have stuck to hawking games to kids on AWA. He said the nWo should have stormed Ted Turners office, thrown him out, and Nash should have smoked a stogie behind his desk completely taking over WCW.

A few retorts to that. They had their own PPV which was absolutely canonised as one of the worst PPVs of all time. They had hours of nWo Nitro as a marketing test where ratings dropped. Third, the nWo members power within the booking committee was already out of control and this would have increased that.

Maybe midway through the angle trying to storm CNN towers like I think DX either planned or tried to would have increased the intensity of the angle. But the premise of wrestling is the baby faces chase the heel and eventually go over to keep the fans happy. The nWo itself showed this, when there continued to be no overwhelming babyface payoff fans started deserting the show as there was no happy ending and no real competition- you basically knew who was going to come out on top when it mattered so why bother.

So the questions are, is Eric nuts, and how and when would you kill off the nWo?
 

Iafeta

Referee
Messages
24,357
That they did. I get the feeling bookers of the 90s are so prepared to go the shock option they're quite happy if literally 99% of the audience are in disbelief. Because it's madness.

Yet wrestling, despite changes in presentation and media forums, is such a simple game. Faces chase the heel and get the fans going home happy that vengeance eventually was served.
 

Mogsheen Jadwat

Juniors
Messages
2,428
I didn't mind the NWO angle but after a while it was clear that, without it, WCW didn't have enough going for it to keep them on top.

I actually didn't mind the split, the wolfpack and the OG nwo, but the angle sucked. they should've destroyed each other and concluded the NWO angle, not reunited after however long + finger poke of doom.
 

Iafeta

Referee
Messages
24,357
The Wolfpack was over AF. I don't however think Sting should evvvveeerrr have been associated with any nWo faction. Same as Bret Hart.

Still, holistically I think Sting/Hart/Goldberg and one other up and coming baby face should have been responsible for the ultimate demise of nWo in 1998.

You could then still do a Wolfpack stable, just not nWo Wolfpack as it needed to be killed off to put faces at the top as the payoff.
 

Mogsheen Jadwat

Juniors
Messages
2,428
I guess you could've done an invasion style ppv with WCW nwo winner take all. Add in the Wolfpack. Have them join forces and then someone like Nash turns. Would be entertaining.
 

Valheru

Coach
Messages
17,513
The NWO angle should have finished at Superbrawl 1998 after Sting defeats Hogan for the 2nd time clean with Starrcade being WCWs crowning moment against the NWO.

There is an argument that Goldberg wouldn't have been as over without the NWO in mid 1998 but I disagree. He still could have been integral in helping Sting finish them off in early 1998. From there you continue the streak and have a slow burn heel turn of Sting who promises a title shot to Goldberg but at first manages to dodge it and then flat out turns heel to avoid it and voila, there is your main event for Starrcade 1998.

Around that you elevate the likes of DDP, Guerrero, Benoit, Mysterio, Jericho etc. among others and utilise the likes of Flair, Bret Hart, Hennig, Hall, Nash etc. a lot better and some of them may not leave and WCW is worth something to someone in 2001 when time warner wants out and who knows, maybe we still have meaningful competition today.
 
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2,839
nWo off TV for a month, however they storm the Superbrawl 98 ppv (held in Jan) for one last takeover attempt. Leads to one last match between the nWo and WCW at Souled Out (held in Feb), 10 on 10 War Games. WCW goes over.

nWo implodes. First, the Wolfpac (Nash, Hall and Syxx) kick Hogan out. Hogan is without a home and moves into a feud with Raven (stole this idea from the Wrestling Roundtable on youtube, which is awesome). TheWolfpack expands to include Konaan and Eddie Guerrero. They are an unnoficial stable, with no connection to the nWo whatsoever. Hall and Nash to turn on Konaan and Guerrero eventually and fight them for the tag belts at Starrcade with the young latinos going over. Think Los Guerreros but a few years earlier.

Bret Hart, in the meantime, starts going after Flair and the Horsemen , forming a 'Dungeon' stable with Bulldog, Neidhart, Jericho and Benoit (who turns on Malenko). This becomes THE fued. They meet in a War Games match at Starrcade.

Goldberg keeps doing his thing, remains undefeated and wins World War III, with he and Scott Steiner being the final two. They meet at Starrcade 1999 as a prelude to the following year.

Sting in the meantime, promised DDP a match for the belt but gradually starts reneging on his promise, turning heel in the process. They meet at Starrcade with Page going over.

Starrcade 1998

War Games
The Horsemen (
Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and Steve McMichael w/JJ Dillon) v The Dungeon (Bret Hart, British Bulldog, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho w/Jim Neidhart)

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Sting (c) v Diamond Dallas Page

WCW United States Championship
Bill Goldberg (c) v Scott Steiner

WCW World Tag Team Championships
Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (c) v Eddie Guerrero and Konaan

Raven's Rules - No Holds Barred
Hulk Hogan v Raven

Special Attraction
The Giant v some celebrity, Rodman or someone

WCW Television Championship - Submission Match
Lex Lugar (c) v Perry Saturn

Blood Runs Cold Tag Team Match
Glacier and Mortis v Wrath and Ernest Miller

WCW Cruiserweight Championship - Four Way Elimination Match
Rey Misterio Jr. (c) v Billy Kidman v Juventud Guerrera v Psycosis
 

Iafeta

Referee
Messages
24,357
I think Glacier was so over exposed without reason that I don't think he could ever recover and get over in WCW.

Love the idea about one last hurrah ....
 
Messages
2,839
Yeah, I'd go that route, or do Hogan/Sting II right off the bat at Sould Out (in Jan) to right the wrongs of the ref f**k up with Bret acting as the specal guest referee. He helps Sting fight off the nWo in the match, Sting wins and Bret is promised a match as a result...with Sting backtracking, pissing Bret off, allowing him to build on the Screwjob even more, and get the Dungeon idea over more so.

But yeah, I'd basically have killed the idea off in the month or two after, Nash and Hall were the two blokes most over anyway, so theyd still be able to get their merch flying off the shelves as the Wolfpack. And they wouldnt interfere with Goldberg as they'd be on the same side of the ledger as faces.

I'd probably have Bret turn on Benoit after a WWIII win in 1999, leading to a Starrcade match between them.

Infact, off the bat, this'd be my card haha:

Starrcade 1999

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Scott Steiner (c) v Bill Goldberg

Goldberg chasing the belt he never lost (due to kayfabe injury).

Iron Man Match

Bret Hart v Chris Benoit

Grudge match between the rightful number one contender and his grizzeld vet mentor.

WCW World Tag Team Championships
'The Filthy Animals' Eddie Guerrero and Konaan v Rey Misterio, jr. and Billy Kidman

Lying and Cheating and Stealing all round...but jesus this would have been over.

Steel Cage Match
Kevin Nash v Scott Hall

The blowoff we never got, Hall would have to go over here, Nash can take a break after being on top (ish) since 95.

Grudge Match
Diamond Dallas Page v Booker T

Friends turned enemies, Page playing the jealous one here.

Grudge Match
Sting v Raven

Raven has gotten into Sting's ear over the past 12 years, convincing him to give him a title shot and all sorts of rubbish. Sting to go over here. After a postmatch beatdown, Hulk Hogan to make his return and save Sting. One night only fun moment.

Grudge Match - Death of the Dungeon
British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart v Chris Jericho and Lance Storm

As it says, Jericho was made to choose between his mentors and his best friend (Benoit). He chose neither and was beaten down by the veterans anyway. As a result, he recruited his old running mate and 'The Last Graduate' Lance Storm.

WCW United States Championship
'The Chosen One' Jeff Jarrett (c) v Dean Malenko

Jarrett is playing the overhyped asshole who has cheaten his way to the strap and cheated his way out. This would be a fun 10-minute clinic with Malenko going over.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
whoever
 
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Messages
4,040
Why did they have to be killed off? The horsemen as a faction existed for how long?

I would've just changed some of the key personnel / turn hogan face to fight them and elevate someone like Benoit or DDP to hogans spot in the nwo

f**k the variations of the nwo, I hated them. Even the Wolfpac. It killed the whole angle for me
 

Iafeta

Referee
Messages
24,357
Horsemen were in a very different era. 3-4 PPVs per year etc. No internet. Hell you got roll out the Great American Bash tour in 100 towns and it'd be fresh every time because no one has seen it. Also, the Horsemen were more of an elite/exclusive group. You could have a lot of other action that was non Horsemen related. The likes of Arn and Tully would happily put others over more readily. They were never taking over a promotion, they were just stiffening the level of competition.

The Horsemen model is more sustainable. With the nWo you had schmoz finishes everywhere and little elevation of baby faces. DDP and Luger as faces benefitted from the nWo. Even Sting became a joke from Starrcade onwards.

Perhaps the other option is to cut off recruitment after say Buff joins in December of 1996. They brought in VK Wallstreet, Big Bubba, etc because they were legitimately trying to get an nWo show but ultimately it watered it down.
 

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
Those are some sick cards, Marlins.

The nWo should have ended at the Great American Bash '98. The storyline would go something like the nWo have two shots at the WCW Championship and they're done. WCW will honour Hall's WW3 win and they'll also honour Hogan's rematch clause but beyond that they will not be granting any nWo member a shot at the WCW Championship.

The nWo try to play it off like WCW is scared and who cares about a paper championship but egos start coming into play. The pressure is on Hogan after losing to a guy who had a lighter schedule than Santa Claus and there is a power play happening between him and the Outsiders.

Meanwhile, Sting becoming WCW Champion is a 'careful for what you wish for' scenario. He's not the model employee and not only does the nWo want a piece of him, so do a bunch of WCW guys. Sting constantly has to stay two steps ahead of everyone and that's becoming harder when he doesn't have the entire promotion behind him anymore. Seeds are being planted, but you can tell there is an agenda to get the championship off of Sting and he's constantly being booked in matches that disadvantage him (Fatal Four-Ways, Triple Treats, Smoke and Mirrors Championship matches).

Sting vs Scott Hall - Ends up becoming a ladder match through some very loose wording in the WW3 contract. Hall's rationale is that he mastered the match and it would challenge Sting in more ways than one. In the early going he appears to be right, Hall uses the ladder to full advantage, seemingly knocking out Sting, but as it turns out Sting was playing possum and lulls Hall to climb the ladder allowing him to hit a Super Scorpion Death Drop for the quick but intense ladder match.

Sting vs Hollywood Hogan - Is a far more even contest than you'd expect. Hogan relies more on his actual wrestling ability and actually scores some nice takedowns on Sting before he starts getting cocky and allows Sting to fight back. Sensing trouble a few of the nWo guys swarm, Sting is able to fend off two of them, but he's a sitting duck for Nash, until a miraculous duck sees Nash hit Hogan with the big boot. Referee comes to, the nWo make out like bandits as Sting hooks in the Scorpion Death Lock as a semi conscious Hogan is forced to tap out.

The nWo come to WCW with a win/win proposal. If they lose, they'll officially disband and stop doing all their funny business. However, if they win then Sting must vacate the WCW Championship. JJ Dillon being the spineless worm he is accepts their deal, which pisses Sting off to no-end but Sting has a choice of his team mates. This becomes the big focus on TV, who Sting will choose and Sting has some very interesting tastes. He picks Diamond Dallas Page, some no name rookie Goldberg & Chris Benoit as his team. This causes quite a stir in the locker room, they can't figure out why Sting hasn't chosen guys like Piper, Flair, Hart, Luger, The Giant etc. and consider him a dumb-arse. The babyfaces dominate Wargames and the nWo cease to exist.

Hogan & Savage go on a sabbatical, Hall & Nash decide they don't want to take over the world, they just want to be the big dogs on campus and they'll corrupt as many guys as they can and Sting's time as champion is turbulent as ever. Sting manages to get Dillion fired, so the anti-authority shtick is over and now he has to face off against the guys he omitted from Team WCW. Eventually he loses the Championship to Bret Hart who drops the belt to Goldberg at Starrcade. Goldberg goes on a run before losing it to Sting, who ends up losing it to Scott Steiner in '99. Goldberg/Sting becomes the Rock/Austin of WCW, Ted Turner never sells to AOL, WCW buys ECW, brings over all the TNA and ROH guys and Pro Wrestling continues to remain watchable for a few more years.

Then I wake up finding myself writing up Pro Wrestling fiction on a Rugby League board. D'oh!
 
Messages
2,839
Haha I really dig that take on Hall/Nash, really reminds me of what DX started out as eh. I can see them getting in Eddie's ear, in Jericho's ear, Wrath etc, using them to their advantage then kicking them to the curb. I can imagine them doing surveys on the nWo guys as they kick them to the curb too, kinda like what DX did with Jim Neidhart and the Cliq were doing in reall life. Brilliant stuff.
 
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Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
War Games wasn't necessarily tied to Fall Brawl, originally it was apart of the Great American Bash tour in the mid to late 80s.
 
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