Memorable Moments in Wrestling (1) - Formation of New World Order (nWo)

The nWo was one of the most influential forces in the late 1990s success of WCW, and was instrumental in turning mainstream American wrestling back into a more mature, adult-oriented product. The brainchild of Eric Bischoff, and fuelled initially by the shock of Hogan's monumental "heel-turn", the nWo storyline is generally considered one of the most successful angles in the history of modern-day professional wrestling, spawning several imitations and parodies. It dominated WCW programming throughout the late-1990s and almost until the dissolution of the WCW in 2001, during which time there were several, sometimes rival incarnations of the group; the rival WWF even resurrected the angle for a time in 2002.

• How it all begins

In 1996, both Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) and Kevin Nash (Diesel) left the WWF to sign with WCW. Hall first appeared on WCW TV live, unnamed and unannounced on the May 27, 1996 edition of WCW Nitro, by interrupting a match between The Maulerr and Steve Doll. Hall walked through the audience, grabbed a microphone from the ring announcer, and entered the ring. He then delivered his now-famous "You Want a War?" speech, stating that he and unnamed allies (...referring to WWF) had a challenge for Eric Bischoff (then Executive Vice President of WCW) and any WCW superstar. As Nitro neared its end, Hall accompanied Bischoff in the broadcast booth and demanded that he tell Ted Turner (then owner of WCW) to pick 3 of his best wrestlers.

• Big Sexy arrives in WCW

The following week, Hall reappeared on WCW Nitro 5 minutes before the end of the broadcast and again interrogated Bischoff. Sting confronted and slapped Hall after Hall spat a toothpick at him and said he had a "little...no...BIG surprise" for Sting. Kevin Nash was then revealed as Hall's surprise, and the two were dubbed "The Outsiders".

At The Great American Bash 1996, Eric Bischoff invited The Outsiders to do an interview. Bischoff promised them a match at WCW Bash At The Beach 1996, but Hall was skeptical whether Bischoff had chosen his 3 WCW representatives in the match. This led to Nash powerbombing Bischoff through the interview stage, after Bischoff refused to reveal the identities of his representatives.

• WCW Bash At The Beach 1996 (Hostile Takeover Match)

The match Bischoff promised, a 6-men tag known as the "Hostile Takeover Match," served as the main event of WCW Bash At The Beach. Hall and Nash came to the ring by themselves, leaving speculation open as to who would be their partner will be.

Gene Okerlund (then interviewer of WCW) came into the ring immediately following Hall and Nash's entrance and, after discussing the situation with ring announcer Michael Buffer and referee Randy Anderson, he demanded to know where the 3rd man was. Hall and Nash assured Okerlund that their partner was in the building, but they didn't need him at the moment. After Okerlund left the ring, the Outsiders finally found out who they would be facing: Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage (Macho Man).

The match did not start well for Team WCW, as Luger was taken out of the match shortly after it began. While he was being held in a corner by Nash, Sting ran over and hit a Stinger Splash to try to break up the hold but hit Luger at the same time, knocking him unconscious. With the matchup apparently even at 2 a side with Hall and Nash's partner still yet to be revealed.

The match reached its climax at approximately the 16th minute mark, shortly after a late tag from an exhausted Sting to Savage. Savage began to clean house on Hall and Nash, but was stopped by a Nash low blow while Hall was holding on to the referee to keep him distracted. As the referee began counting Nash and Savage out, Hulk Hogan (then a top face in WCW), who had not been seen on WCW television for several weeks, made a surprise return run-in.

• The 3rd man

After chasing off Hall and Nash, Hogan then shocked the crowd by legdropping the fallen Savage in the center of the ring. After neutralizing Sting, who attempted to save the day, Hogan then threw the referee out of the ring and legdropped Savage one more time while Hall and Nash counted three.

After Savage was then carried out of the ring, the fans began showing their displeasure with the now-turned-heel Hogan by throwing cups, garbage, and other assorted debris into the ring. One fan even jumped over the guardrail in an attempt to attack Hogan but was intercepted by Hall and Nash and whisked away by WCW security.

• nWo (New World Order)

After all this, Okerlund returned to the ring demanding answers from Hogan. Hogan cemented his heel turn by saying that he was tired of the fans that had turned on him despite everything he had done for them over the last 2 years in WCW, that Hall and Nash were the two people that he wanted as his friends, that he was bored with the way his career had turned out, and that together, the 3 of them would take over WCW and destroy everything in their path in the process. In his post-match interview Hogan dubbed the 3 men as"the new world order of wrestling", and the name stuck. Thus, the nWo was borned.

Links:

1) The Outsiders arrives in WCW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0M8hsvF1po (Thanks to FuturePro90)

2) Bash at the beach 1996 (Hostile takeover match)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfQ3IH-TWVI (Thanks to gamerAT84)