In honor of the 30th anniversary of the formation of the nWo, WWE released behind the scenes footage of the original three members working on promo material.
It is fascinating to watch Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall workshop their material. At one point, Nash even questions if they’re still rolling or not.
The riffing is highlighted by Hogan referring to himself as the man who will become the first nWo Champion. We all know the visual of the defaced WCW World Title/Big Gold, but at this stage of the game it appears that Hogan considered renaming the title as well.
Nash has a great line about WCW wrestlers who refuse to join the nWo being unable to afford “the new Ken Griffeys” that are “$134 bucks” for their children. This line is a pretty good way to set the stakes for the conflict.
In a particularly Nash way, he basically lets you know a couple of things here…1) WCW is going out of business and 2) wrestlers are going to have to choose a side because of this. Him talking about the wrestlers paychecks is equally and old school mentality you used to see more of in wrestling, and something that fits Nash’s persona and real personality.
The absurdity of seeing Hogan get on his knees to impersonate Sting while Nash mocks Lex Luger’s physique. This is followed by Nash pretty clearly filming Hogan’s hind parts with the camcorder.
I’m not going to recap the whole thing, but there’s plenty of entertaining or just plain odd stuff there so I highly recommend giving it a look when you have a moment. The footage feels like some sort of fever dream a wrestling fan might have, but it’s important to remember they were able to create magic with these sessions.
It’s pretty well known that Hall and/or Nash thought Hogan’s turn wouldn’t work if he played it like the stereotypical old school heel shtick. Pivoting from that to what we got with the insanely cool nWo talking segments really helped light the fuse on an extremely hot storyline.
The WCW/nWo “hostile takeover” storyline kicked off one of the most magical times to be a wrestling fan, and I’m glad it’s being celebrated 30 years later. It’s a shame WCW never meaningfully paid it off (twice), but that’s a story for another day.
At times like these it’s also important to remember that when you’re nWo, you’re nWo 4 Life.
40+ years old and grew up on Saturdays at 6:05 on TBS and Joe Pedicino’s wrestling block in Atlanta, Georgia. Collects toys and talks all types of pop culture in a variety of places. Husband and father of 2.
The WE ARE IN CONTROL Eric Bischoff clip was possibly the best production work WCW ever did
Hogan doing the Toni Montana 😆