Circuit Idea - WCW 1996: Rebooking The nWo

[LillaThrilla]

May 27, 1996: Scott Hall - last seen earlier the same month in WWF as Razor Ramon - shows up on Nitro and interrupts a match. He delievers his famous "You want a war?" speech and challenging the three best WCW wrestlers to a match. Two weeks later, Hall would be joined by Kevin Nash. The duo would be interviewed at Great American Bash in June by Eric Bischoff, to whom they denied WWF employment (for legal reasons) before powerbombed Bischoff through a stage. At Bash At The Beach in July, they faced Sting, Randy Savage, and Lex Luger with their third man as yet unrevealed. Late in the match, Hulk Hogan ran in to apparently help WCW only to legdrop Savage and reveal HE was the third man! Delivering another famous interview while being pelted with garbage, the New World Order was formed. Alledgely, Hogan as the third man wasn't set in stone till the PPV itself - Sting was seriously considered to be the defector.

More members joined, they fueded with the Horsemen and various other WCW wrestlers, and "bought" commercial space to show cut grainy, edgy promos. A fake Sting and War Games '96 lead to Sting's famous change in outfit and a year lurking in the rafters and pummelling people with baseball bats. The nWo got their own PPV (Souled Out in January 1997), won a team match at Uncensored '97 allowing them to challenge for any title at any time (a stipulation eventually forgotten), and ran roughshod over WCW with run-ins, group beatdowns, and spraypaintings of fallen wrestlers and the WCW Title (held by Hogan).

The peak of nWo angle should have been Starrcade '97: Sting at last faced Hogan. But things went awry with Nick Patrick botching a fast count and Bret Hart being involved. The nWo would split, fued, give us the infamous Fingerpoke Of Doom, reform, bloat in size, split again, reform again, and linger onward seemingly forever including a return in WWF due to Vince McMahon.

Somewhere the nWo angle - a great concept - went awry. Maybe it was the Fingerpoke, maybe it was Starrcade, maybe it was one member too many. Start from the beginning and do it your way. Hall and Nash must be the initial members of the group but everything else is up to you.

Shows: Monday Nitro (2 hours - live), WCW Saturday Night (2 hours - taped), monthly PPVs

Champions as of May 27, 1996

WCW World Heavyweight Title: The Giant
WCW World Tag Team Tiles: Sting & Lex Luger
WCW United States Title: Konnan
WCW TV Title: Lex Luger
WCW Cruiserweight Title: Dean Malenko

ROSTER
Sting
Arn Anderson
Cobra
Diamond Dallas Page
Marcus Alexander Bagwell
Bobby Eaton
Steve Regal
David Taylor
Ric Flair (w/ Elizabeth)
Ice Train
Stevie Ray
Booker T.
Brian Knobbs
Fit Finlay
Jerry Saggs
Mark Starr
Big Bubba Rogers
Kevin Sullivan
Steve Armstrong
Scott Armstrong
Meng
Alex Wright
Hulk Hogan
The Booty Man (w/ The Booty Babe)
Jim Duggin
Joey Maggs
John Tenta
Dick Slater
Randy Savage
Craig Pittman (w/ Teddy Long)
The Renegade
Kurosawa (Manabu Nakanishi)
Maxx Muscle
Disco Inferno
Mr. JL (Jerry Lynn under a mask)
V.K. Wallstreet
Eddie Guerrero
Chris Benoit (w/ Woman)
Dean Malenko
Scotty Riggs
Lex Luger
Scott Norton
The Giant
The Barbarian
Hugh Morrus
Rocco Rock
Johnny Grunge
Konnan
Chris Canyon
Brad Armstrong
Bobby Walker
Rick Steiner
Scott Steiner
Billy Kidman
Chip Minton
Joe Lopez
Rob Ruckus
Prince Iaukea
Kenny Kaos
Robbie Rage
Scott Hall
Kevin Nash
El Gato (Pat Tanaka under a mask)
Steve Doll
Mike Winner
The Mauler (Mike Enos)
Jacques Rougeau
Pierre Ouellet
Bunkhouse Buck
Cobra
The Gambler
Ricky Morton
Robert Gibson
Joe Gomez
Jim Powers

TEAMS & STABLES
Fire & Ice (Scott Norton & Ice Train)
The Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, & Chris Benoit)
The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash)
The Steiner Brothers (Scott & Rick)
The Armstrong Brothers (Brad, Steve, and Scott)
Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray)
The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock)
The American Males (Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scott Riggs)
The Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags & Brian Knobbs)
High Voltage (Kaos & Rage)
The Faces Of Fear (Barbarian & Meng)
The Amazing French Canadians (Jacques Rougeau & Pierre Ouellet)
The Blue Bloods ("Lord" Steve Regal, "Earl" Bobby Eaton, & "Squire" David Taylor - w/ Jeeves)
The Stud Stable (Jacques Rougeau, Pierre Ouellet, Dick Slater, Bunkhouse Buck, The Mauler - w/ Col. Rob Parker)
The Dungeon Of Doom (Kevin Sullivan, Meng, The Barbarian, Big Bubba Rogers, Konnan, & Hugh Morrus - w/ Jimmy Hart)
Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)

[JoshiQ]

I think this is a great idea if somebody can give it the time and thought it deserves. Here are the PPVs and Supercards so somebody doesn't have to look those up.

PPVs and Supercards:

Clash of the Champions XXXII (1/23/96)
Superbrawl VI (2/11/96)
Uncensored (3/24/96)
Slamboree (5/19/96)
Great American Bash (6/16/96)
Bash at the Beach (7/7/96)
Hog Wild (8/10/96)
Clash of the Champions XXXIII (8/15/96)
Fall Brawl (9/15/96)
Halloween Havoc (10/27/96)
World War 3 (11/24/96)
Starrcade (12/29/96)

[LillaThrilla]

Thanks Coop for the PPV list.

Just to add that Souled Out debuted in Jan '97.

Also, Horsemen were only 3 at this point because of Pillman's wacky departure. Mongo joined as the 4th in June at GAB after being bribed with a briefcase of cash to turn on Kevin Greene. Not only can some doing this circuit do a better NWO but also pick a Horseman that doesn't suck.

[Crpls]

There's really no reason to rebook the nWo; the biggest problem with the nWo is that it lasted way, way longer than it should've. In fact, that's the only thing the WWF did right about the invasion... it didn't go on too long.

[LillaThrilla]

YouTubing I was reminded of another interesting thing about WCW in '96: not only can you pick a better Horseman than Mongo but there was some guy who jobbed a few times on WCW {Pro} under the ring name Damon Striker. He wouldn't get a WWF developmental contract until the following year, which gave him the Edge he needed to go on to wrestling stardom.

[JoshiQ]

Jun 30, 2010 21:00:38 GMT -5 LillaThrilla said:

YouTubing I was reminded of another interesting thing about WCW in '96: not only can you pick a better Horseman than Mongo but there was some guy who jobbed a few times on WCW {Pro} under the ring name Damon Striker. He wouldn't get a WWF developmental contract until the following year, which gave him the Edge he needed to go on to wrestling stardom.

I seriously think this whole circuit idea could be a lot of fun. If I wasn't already doing 1992 I'd try it.

[Crpls]

Mongo-Goldberg was a feud for all times.

[tommybrownell]

Funny thing about Goldberg...

Everyone talks about how WCW screwed up his push...but the rise of Goldberg runs REALLY closely with the decline in WCW's ratings. In fact, I believe WWF started winning the Monday Night Wars again within a couple of weeks of Goldberg winning his first title.

I was a huge WCW guy, so I was paying attention to this stuff back in the day...=P

[tommybrownell]

Jun 30, 2010 21:00:38 GMT -5 LillaThrilla said:

YouTubing I was reminded of another interesting thing about WCW in '96: not only can you pick a better Horseman than Mongo but there was some guy who jobbed a few times on WCW {Pro} under the ring name Damon Striker. He wouldn't get a WWF developmental contract until the following year, which gave him the Edge he needed to go on to wrestling stardom.

It's not like he was some instant star, though...Edge pretty well sucked for years before he finally got any good, and it was much longer before he went from "good" to "main event".

Too bad he's past his prime already.

[JoshiQ]

I actually didn't hate McMichael as a Horseman. Sure, there were a lot better options, but it wasn't as horrible as some people make it out to be.

I think the fall of WCW had a lot more to do with how the main event was being booked at the time and less with Goldberg winning the US Title. I know you weren't saying the fall of WCW was Goldberg's fault, but he would have helped keep the ratings close if they'd have used him correctly.

[tommybrownell]

I'm not saying it was his FAULT...I am saying that I believe that Goldberg was not nearly the phenomenon that history tries to paint him as.

If you cannot sell a move and lose the occasional match and still stay over, you're not that great. Even Undertaker lays down once in a while.

[LillaThrilla]

Edge has his fans and perhaps only a limited legacy but I think the timing of having him on WCWSN as a jobber then slowly elevating him over time is a neat background aspect to a WCW '96 circuit. It's not the focus of the circuit per se but I find it to be a neat background cameo / easter egg type of thing.

Likewise, if you start WWF '96 (the King Hunter scenario - writeup coming soon!) besides the main event issues of HHH and Austin (and Ultimate Warrior not being fired a month later, if you're inclined to use him) you also have the Hardy Boys as jobbers and the debut of Rocky Maivia that fall at Survivor Series. The centerpiece of my WCW '97 circuit is an alternate take on Sting-Hogan at Starrcade, Bret Hart's arrival in WCW, and the fate of the nWo...but in the background is the early days of Goldberg's streak.

As for Goldberg's star caliber: he had his merits but the decision to give away the Goldberg-Hogan match on Nitro to pop a rating was serious mistake. Yet even if WCW did start to lose the ratings at this point it is as much the fault of Stone Cold being red hot and other crappy booking by WCW. Goldberg's streak ended in dumb fashion, the nWo kept going on and on, Fingerpoke Of Doom, etc etc. Goldberg was no savior but a moderately talented green wrestler is almost never going to be able to carry a company in a national ratings war almost singlehanded.