On July 7, 1996, the wrestling industry changed forever. During the Hostile Takeover match at Bash At The Beach, Hulk Hogan was revealed to be the mysterious third man of the nWo. Hogan went from being the biggest babyface the sport has ever seen to the biggest heel ever with one giant leg drop.
Related: 10 Funniest Moments Of The nWo
The moment helped catapult WCW to must-see TV during the height of the Monday Night Wars. In the years since, the New World Order has influenced nearly every takeover angle and stable in general. With so many classic moments - good, bad, or ugly, it’s hard to remember them all.
8 Ted DiBiase Was Supposed To Be The Mouthpiece
Shortly after Hogan, Hall, and Nash began to make their mark, Ted DiBiase showed up in the crowd on Nitro. He held up several fingers indicating new members were coming. Not only was he one of them, but the millionaire was supposed to be the mouthpiece for the nWo. Those three didn’t need much of a mouthpiece, to begin with, but when Bischoff revealed himself as the brains behind the brawn, it eliminated the need for DiBiase as the stable didn’t need two managerial roles.
7 Disco Inferno Was A Member
Glenn Gilberti might be the most underrated performer in WCW history. Similar to the outdated Honky Tonk Man gimmick during the late '80s, Disco took what was an outdated “man out of time” gimmick and got it over with the fans.
Related: Never Turn Your Back: nWo Wolfpac Was An Underrated Stable (& WCW Ruined Them)
He was able to get the audience to buy into his goofy antics, particularly when he started running around with an nWo shirt on, telling anyone who would listen that “Kevin Nash says I’m in the Wolfpac.”
6 Bognar & Jacobs Got Hall & Nash Raises
When and how Scott Hall and Kevin Nash debuted on Nitro, it really did shock the wrestling world. In a world where there was little to no internet, not a lot of fans or even employees of both companies had any information of what was really going on. So, when evil heel Jim Ross came onto Raw and announced that “Razor Ramon” and “Diesel” were coming back to WWE, the WCW brass, who was reportedly in the room with Hall and Nash at the time renegotiated contracts with them both despite both of them explaining they had no idea what was going on. When Rick Titan and Glenn Jacobs appeared as the characters on WWE TV, Hall and Nash were made richer and WCW brass had egg on their faces.
5 NWO Japan
Over the years, Eric Bischoff has said he got the inspiration for the nWo from watching a similar invasion angle take place in New Japan. Perhaps in homage or in trying to have more of a global footprint, Bischoff brokered a deal with New Japan to have the nWo form a faction for NJPW. Led by Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta, the group was made up of several New Japan guys and consistently peppered with nWo America members who were on tour, most notably Scott Norton - one of the best gaijin wrestlers of all time.
4 The Tonight Show With Eric Bischoff
One of the biggest (and strangest) moments in WCW history was when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff tangled with DDP and…Jay Leno of all people. The big match took place as part of the 1998 Road Wild event. During the build-up to the event, Leno, who at the time was a popular late-night talk show actually let Bischoff take over hosting duties for an episode to really sell the angle.
3 Police Were Called To Stop Them
In the early days of the nWo, Hall and Nash showed up to Nitro in Orlando to do some serious damage. This is the episode where Nash famously heaved Rey Mysterio into a production truck.
Related: 10 Things About The nWo That Made No Sense
The conflict looked so realistic that people who lived nearby and were watching TV at home actually called the police to head down to Nitro and make some arrests, which was exactly the kind of heat the nWo needed.
2 Dusty Rhodes Joined Up
Between all of his booking ideas, classic matches, and lovable charisma, Dusty Rhodes in a lot of ways was the heart and soul of WCW. He was one of the most well-respected legends on the WCW roster. But he showed his really old-school heel colors at Souled Out 1998. He accompanied Larry Zbysko to his match with Scott Hall. During the match, it seemed as if Dusty inadvertently delivered the Bionic Elbow to the Living Legend until he revealed an nWo shirt, spouting that the nWo was all about tradition.
1 The Giant Joined & Was Turned On…Twice
It didn’t make sense then and doesn’t make much sense now. But for all the flack that The Big Show and WWE get for the number of turns Big Show had in his career, he had plenty in WCW as well. The Giant debuted wanting to end Hulkamania. Then he lost the title to Hulk and the nWo at Hog Wild '96. He would join up with them shortly after only to be ousted from the group after winning World War 3 and not giving up his title shot. He eventually rejoined the group only to be ousted again in a match again by Kevin Nash. Seemingly neither WCW nor WWE ever really knew how to effectively book the big man.
