How WWE Should Have Booked the NWO
Contents
- The NWO is one of the most iconic factions in wrestling history
- WWE has failed to capitalize on the NWO’s legacy
- WWE should have booked the NWO as a dominant force
- The NWO should have been booked as a credible threat
- The NWO should have been allowed to run wild
- The NWO should have been given more airtime
- The NWO should have been used to put over young talent
WWE has been teasing the return of the NWO for weeks now, and fans are finally getting what they want. But how should WWE have booked the NWO’s return?
The NWO is one of the most iconic factions in wrestling history
The NWO is one of the most iconic factions in wrestling history. Their run in the late 90s was nothing short of spectacular, and they are often credited with single-handedly saving WCW.
However, WWE has never been able to recreate the magic of the NWO, in large part due to poor booking. In this article, we will take a look at how WWE should have booked the NWO if they wanted to recreate their success.
The NWO should have been booked as an unstoppable force.
When the NWO first debuted in WCW, they were an unstoppable force. They ran roughshod over anyone who got in their way, and it quickly became clear that they were the most dominant faction in wrestling history.
Unfortunately, WWE has never been able to replicate this success. The closest they came was when Triple H formed Evolution, but even that fell flat due to poor booking. If WWE had booked the NWO as an unstoppable force from day one, they could have had a similar level of success.
The NWO should have been booked as heels from day one.
Another major mistake that WWE made with the NWO was that they tried to book them as babyfaces for far too long. The fact is that the NWO were always heels, and that’s what made them so successful.
It wasn’t until Hulk Hogan turned heel at Bash at the Beach 1996 that the NWO really took off, and even then it took a few months for them to truly find their footing. If WWE had just accepted from day one that the NWO were heels, they could have saved themselves a lot of pain down the line.
WWE has failed to capitalize on the NWO’s legacy
In 1996, the New World Order invaded WWE. It was a shocking moment that changed the course of WWE history. The NWO were renegades, outcasts, and rebels. They were everything that WWE wasn’t. And they were wildly popular.
For the next few years, the NWO dominated WWE. They were the top heel stable in the company and helped to create some of the most iconic moments in WWE history. But then, abruptly, the NWO was gone. They disappeared from TV, stopped being mentioned on commentary, and were largely forgotten about by WWE.
What went wrong? Why did WWE fail to capitalize on the legacy of the NWO? There are a few reasons…
1) The NWO was never truly integrated into WWE’s storylines.
The NWO always felt like outsiders in WWE. They were never fully embraced by WWE’s storylines or characters. The NWO never really meshed with the rest of WWE’s universe and they always felt like they existed in their own little bubble.
2) The NWO lacked direction after Hulk Hogan turned babyface.
Hulk Hogan was the leader of the NWO and their most popular member. But in 1998, Hogan turned babyface and left the stable. This threw the NWO into disarray and they never recovered from Hogan’s departure. Without Hogan, the NWO lacked a clear leader and direction.
3) WWE never created new stars within the NWO.
The original members of the NWO (Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash) were already established stars when they joined WWE. But WWE never cultivated new stars within the stable itself. The closest they came was with X-Pac, but he wasn’t pushed as a top star and only held midcard titles during his time in the NWO.
WWE should have booked the NWO as a dominant force
The New World Order should have been booked as an unstoppable force in WWE. They should have been billed as the most dominant faction in wrestling history, and they should have been able to back it up in the ring. Instead, WWE booked them as a joke, and they were never taken seriously as a threat.
The NWO should have been booked as a credible threat
The NWO should have been booked as a credible threat to WWE’s authority from the very beginning. Instead, they were portrayed as a group of bumbling idiots who couldn’t get anything right. This immediately made them a laughing stock, and it was hard to take them seriously as a result.
The NWO should have been allowed to run wild
In 1996, WWE made a huge mistake when they stopped the New World Order from running wild. The stable was white hot at the time and could have continued to dominate WWE programming for years to come. Instead, WWE chose to neuter the NWO and turn them into a comedy act. This was a huge missed opportunity and the NWO never fully recovered.
The NWO should have been given more airtime
While the NWO is one of the most iconic factions in wrestling history, they were not used correctly by WWE. The NWO should have been given more air time on WWE television. The faction was only featured on television for a few months before they were relegated to pay-per-view events. The NWO should have been given a longer storyline on WWE television.
The NWO should have been used to put over young talent
The NWO should have been used to put over young talent, such as The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Triple H. By doing this, WWE would have created new stars that could have helped carry the company into the new millennium.