In September 1995, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) launched WCW Monday Nitro, a weekly wrestling show that competed head-to-head with WWF’s flagship program, WWF’s Monday Night Raw. On paper, this kicked off the “Monday Night Wars,” that period of the late 1990s when pro wrestling became a television juggernaut. But things didn’t really heat up until May of the following year. Advertisem*nt
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Luckily for Bischoff, the chips were falling in his favor. Four-time Intercontinental Champion and one of the most popular performers on the WWF roster, Scott Hall, recently had his WWF contract expire. The Bad Guy was now WCW-bound.While Hall had found success in the WWF as Razor Ramon, he was never positioned as the “top guy” in the company. The opportunity to reach a new level of stardom in WCW—and to make more (guaranteed) money while working fewer dates—was simply too good to pass up. Advertisem*nt
The concept of Hall’s first storyline was that he was “invading” WCW from the WWF. Not using his name, playing entrance music for him, or even having him wrestle in a match on that first night were strokes of creative genius. It was a simple, well-executed concept that pro wrestling companies have tried to replicate for years without the same level of success.It’s also worth mentioning that all of this was happening while the internet was still in its infancy. Without the spoiler-ridden “dirt sheets” of today, Hall’s WCW debut was a surprise to fans, giving an already massive moment an even greater impact.A few weeks later, Hall’s partner in crime at the WWF, Kevin Nash, also jumped ship to WCW. The duo, dubbed “The Outsiders,” began a “hostile takeover” storyline that provided the centerpiece around which the entire Nitro show revolved. What followed in the next few months was not only a high point for WCW creatively but also the start of the 1990s “wrestling boom.”After weeks of teasing a “third man,” the trio was finally completed in July. Jaws all across the country dropped as “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan revealed himself as a founding member of professional wrestling’s newest phenomenon, the New World Order (nWo).
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Hogan had been in WCW for a few years and was doing his traditional “Hulkamania” character. Rather than the standing ovations of years past, however, Hogan’s Marty Stu persona had begun to draw boos from a mid-90s audience who craved an edge to their idols.Though it risked decades of work honing his image as a shining hero, Hogan took the plunge, reinventing himself as a “bad guy” and changing the trajectory of WCW forever.Together, Hall, Nash, and Hogan would run roughshod over WCW—both on-screen and behind the scenes—for the next few years. Hogan’s creative control clause in his contract gave him the power to ensure that he, and the nWo, were always near the top of the card. Sadly, the nWo’s seemingly limitless popularity would eventually sour as the group overstayed its welcome, stifling WCW’s creative plans entirely by the middle of 1998. Advertisem*nt
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