History YMMV / NewWorldOrder

* ArcFatigue: The first year or two of the nWo was a peak time in wrestling, and there's probably no way it can ever be topped. The problem arose when the nWo became a black hole and collapsed into a super-dense object, sucking in more idiots to work for them and growing bigger. Eventually about 90% of the roster had been converted to nWo members. Then, of course, the nWo split into factions, and booking it all was like trying to solve a puzzle of blue sky.
%% ZCE * SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Both "Rockhouse" and the Wolfpac theme go without saying.

* EvilIsCool: They weren't just cool, they were one of the coolest things wrestling has ever seen. Kids went from denying that they watched wrestling to wearing nWo shirts to school. (Go flip any yearbook from 1997: nWo, [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin 3:16]], and [[Wrestling/DGenerationX DX]] shirts. Everybody had one or the other.) That the {{heel}}s were so irreverent was a big part of that. Having some of the best talkers in the business ([[Wrestling/HulkHogan Hogan]], Nash and [[Wrestling/ScottHall Hall]]) was another. Since that time, nearly all heels have tried to be cool.

** Rooting for "the bad guy" was cool. Being the "outsider" was cool. Everything the {{grunge}} era in music did spilled out into the rest of entertainment, and wrestling capitalized on that. The half-shoot, half-work promo incited enough heat that some fans were ripping up and throwing down their Hogan merchandise, and a few people were even crying. Still, according to live reports, approximately 25% of the fans were still cheering The Outsiders. Nash and Hall received a predominately babyface reaction when the show first began. And if you want a new weekly game to play, play "Spot the nWo T-shirt on the hard cam" when watching ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Raw]]''. There's '''always one'''. (We were distinctly told in '97 that if we're nWo, we're nWo for life, after all.)
** In the retellings, the Wolfpac was known to be stale and a ratings drain. The nWo Wolfpac sold so much merchandise that they were turned from an equally heel stable vying an EvilVsEvil power struggle with the nWo Hollywood into a genuinely babyface stable. Their popularity arguably exceeded that of the original [=nWo=]. At least a quarter of the audience was covered in Wolfpac merch and signs, and during the Nash[=/=]{{Wrestling/Goldberg}} match, the commentators had to no-sell very audible "Goldberg sucks" chants from Wolfpac fans. The crazy testament to how over Nash and the Wolfpac were at the time is that the crowd went nuts for Nash winning even with taser. It was only after the FingerpokeOfDoom that the Wolfpac lost all respect.
* ShockingSwerve: Wrestling/VinceRusso must have loved watching the NWO's WCW run, since they pretty much ''ran'' on this.:
** Hogan's turn
** Bischoff's turn
** [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Hennig]]'s turn
** [[Wrestling/BretHart Bret]]'s turn
** The split creating NWO Hollywood and NWO Wolfpac
** Hall turning on Nash
** {{Wrestling/Sting}} killing off two years of storyline development by joining the Wolfpac
** The Fingerpoke of Doom
** David Flair turning on [[Wrestling/RicFlair his father]]
** The reunion at the end of 1999

* ArcFatigue: The first year or two of the nWo was a peak time in wrestling, and there's probably no way it can ever be topped, but they never knew when to stop milking the cow. Eventually about 90% of the roster had been converted to nWo members. Then, of course, the nWo split into factions, and booking it all was like trying to solve a puzzle of blue sky.

* VillainDecay:
** Go check out ''Souled Out'' '97. It's one of the most bizarre things ever seen in wrestling. In Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's book, he complained about this particular match: Eddie was trying to get over as a heel, but the finish to this match, in which he managed to snatch victory, [[HazyFeelTurn made it seem like he was a face]], since a non-nWo heel on an nWo show is technically a face. However, he went back to his heel character the following night.
** Want to know why the nWo became a trite gimmick in 1999? Because Stevie Ray and [[Wrestling/{{Virgil}} Vincent]] were feuding for leadership of nWo Black and White.
** They were very homogenized in WWE. The feeling of invasion is what made them work, and that feeling simply did not exist with Wrestling/VinceMcmahon personally bringing them in. One of their first backstage segments was walking around greeting everyone. Not much of an invading force. Nash would also complain how it was basically dead in the water as soon as Hulk walked out the very first day, got all teary-eyed, and thanked the fans for accepting him back, the exact opposite of his "these fans can stick it, brother!" promo at ''Bash at the Beach'' '96. [[http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wwe-rumors-nwo-kevin-nash-return.jpg Notice how all of their gear was changed to heavily feature the nWo logo?]] They were treated like a normal stable instead of a hostile takeover group. As it turns out, there is much more money in Hogan as a nostalgia babyface: By the time they appeared in Milwaukee, they were over with the crowd, and it was hard for them to get heat. All the fans could see was Razor Ramon, Diesel, and Hulk Hogan. They couldn't hate them.
** Nash agreed to return to wrestling so long as [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] made Immortal look like a legitimately dominating force (so the Main Event Mafia, which was originally planned to be brought back to face them, would be on near-equal ground and the feud would mean something). The week before Nash left the company, TNA filmed an angle where Crimson planted "Janice" ({{Wrestling/Abyss}}'s nail-enhanced 2×4) into the back of Abyss (then serving as Immortal's muscle). Nash saw no point in returning when Immortal looked weaker and weaker with each passing week. After that, it just became an excuse for Garett Bischoff to [[HeelFaceTurn turn face]] and feud with his old man.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The first ''Souled Out''. The commentary team were provided by the nWo, a disembodied voice buried all the {{face}}s, and the matches were called by their corrupt referee Nick Patrick. It was so obviously a predetermined victory that the fans didn't react much one way or the other. Frankly, it was so out-of-the-ordinary that it kind of creeped them out a little bit. In an nWo documentary made years later, Wrestling/Kevin Nash agreed that, in retrospect, that PPV showed some of the limitations they'd ran into and that the nWo was going to run its course fairly soon.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The first ''Souled Out''. The commentary team was provided by the nWo, a disembodied voice buried all the {{face}}s, and the matches were called by their corrupt referee Nick Patrick. It was so obviously a predetermined victory that the fans didn't react much one way or the other. Frankly, it was so out-of-the-ordinary that it kind of creeped them out a little bit. In an nWo documentary made years later, Wrestling/Kevin Nash agreed that, in retrospect, that PPV showed some of the limitations they'd ran into and that the nWo was going to run its course fairly soon.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Both "Rockhouse" and the Wolfpac theme go without saying.

* EarWorm: The nWo, Wolfpac, and nWo Japan themes. Lampshaded by Nash.
--> '''Kevin Nash:''' Cue the porno music!

** In the retellings, the Wolfpac was known to be stale and a ratings drain. The nWo Wolfpac sold so much merchandise that they were turned from an equally heel stable vying an EvilVsEvil power struggle with the nWo Hollywood into a genuinely babyface stable. Their popularity arguably exceeded that of the original [=nWo=]. At least a quarter of the audience was covered in Wolfpac merch and signs, and during the Nash/{{Wrestling/Goldberg}} match, the commentators had to no-sell very audible "Goldberg sucks" chants from Wolfpac fans. The crazy testament to how over Nash and the Wolfpac were at the time is that the crowd went nuts for Nash winning even with taser. It was only after the FingerpokeOfDoom that the Wolfpac lost all respect.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The first ''Souled Out''. The commentary team was provided by the nWo, a disembodied voice buried all the faces, and the matches were called by their corrupt referee Nick Patrick. It was so obviously a predetermined victory that the fans didn't react much one way or the other. Frankly, it was so out-of-the-ordinary that it kind of creeped them out a little bit. In an nWo documentary made years later, Kevin Nash agreed that, in retrospect, that PPV showed some of the limitations they'd ran into and that the nWo was going to run its course fairly soon.

* EvilIsCool: They weren't just cool, they were one of the coolest things wrestling has ever seen. Kids went from denying that they watched wrestling to wearing nWo shirts to school. (Go flip any yearbook from 1997: nWo, 3:16, and DX shirts. Everybody had one or the other.) That the heels were so irreverent was a big part of that. Having some of the best talkers in the business (Hogan, Nash and Hall) was another. Since that time, nearly all heels have tried to be cool.
* FridgeLogic: It wasn't just about "We want to beat everybody up, win all the titles, make a lot of money and have everything revolve around us." They were trying to take over World Championship Wrestling, which was owned by Time-Warner. Why would a company keep people who wanted to do this around? It really kicked in once Bischoff turned heel, since he was the Executive Vice President. Why would someone try to take over a company he was already running?

* MisBlamed: A common story about Hogan's FaceHeelTurn at ''Bash at the Beach'' 1996 is how, when Hogan came out, Bobby Heenan said "Whose side is he on?", basically risking "spoiling" it. However, if you were familiar at all with Heenan on commentary, that was exactly what you'd expect Heenan to say in that situation. Heenan's character had never trusted Hogan, so he's dubious, which is ludicrous until somehow it isn't. There was no backstage heat on Heenan after the fact. Wrestling/TonySchiavone talked about it on an episode of his podcast and basically said the same thing. Schiavone also said that the announcers were kept in the dark, so the reactions were all genuine.
* OlderThanTheyThink: Most fans know about the nWo being based on a New Japan angle stuff, but not the USWA stuff. According to ''Last Word on Sports'', the concept of a company-wide feud actually originated in a [[http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/06/04/nwo-18-part-ii-new-world-origin/ Memphis storyline.]] Additionally, WWE did test runs of some of their Attitude Era-characters in USWA in Memphis. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV0fiknn6ws this]] series for more.

** Rooting for "the bad guy" was cool. Being the "outsider" was cool. Everything the {{grunge}} era in music did spilled out into the rest of entertainment, and wrestling capitalized on that. The half-shoot, half-work promo incited enough heat that some fans were ripping up and throwing down their Hogan merchandise, and a few people were even crying. Still, according to live reports, approximately 25% of the fans were still cheering The Outsiders. Nash and Hall received a predominately babyface reaction when the show first began. And if you want a new weekly game to play, play "Spot the nWo T-shirt on the hard cam" when watching ''Raw''. There's '''always one'''. (We were distinctly told in '97 that if we're nWo, we're nWo for life, after all.)
** In the retellings, the Wolfpac was known to be stale and a ratings drain. The nWo Wolfpac sold so much merchandise that they were turned from an equally heel stable vying an EvilVsEvil power struggle with the nWo Hollywood into a genuinely babyface stable. Their popularity arguably exceeded that of the original [=nWo=]. At least a quarter of the audience was covered in Wolfpac merch and signs, and during the Nash[=/=]Goldberg match, the commentators had to no-sell very audible "Goldberg sucks" chants from Wolfpac fans. The crazy testament to how over Nash and the Wolfpac were at the time is that the crowd went nuts for Nash winning even with taser. It was only after the FingerpokeOfDoom that the Wolfpac lost all respect.

** Hennig's turn
** Bret's turn

** Sting killing off two years of storyline development by joining the Wolfpac
** The FingerpokeOfDoom
** David Flair turning on his father

** They were very homogenized in WWE. The feeling of invasion is what made them work, and that feeling simply did not exist with Vince personally bringing them in. One of their first backstage segments was walking around greeting everyone. Not much of an invading force. Nash would also complain how it was basically dead in the water as soon as Hulk walked out the very first day, got all teary-eyed, and thanked the fans for accepting him back, the exact opposite of his "these fans can stick it, brother!" promo at ''Bash at the Beach'' '96. [[http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wwe-rumors-nwo-kevin-nash-return.jpg Notice how all of their gear was changed to heavily feature the nWo logo?]] They were treated like a normal stable instead of a hostile takeover group. As it turns out, there is much more money in Hogan as a nostalgia babyface: By the time they appeared in Milwaukee, they were over with the crowd, and it was hard for them to get heat. All the fans could see was Razor Ramon, Diesel, and Hulk Hogan. They couldn't hate them.
** Nash agreed to return to wrestling so long as TNA made Immortal look like a legitimately dominating force (so the Main Event Mafia, which was originally planned to be brought back to face them, would be on near-equal ground and the feud would mean something). The week before Nash left the company, TNA filmed an angle where Crimson planted "Janice" (Abyss's nail-enhanced 2×4) into the back of Abyss (then serving as Immortal's muscle). Nash saw no point in returning when Immortal looked weaker and weaker with each passing week. After that, it just became an excuse for Garett Bischoff to turn face and feud with his old man.

* MisBlamed: A common story about Hogan's FaceHeelTurn at ''Bast at the Beach 1996'' is how, when Hogan came out, Bobby Heenan said "Whose side is he on?", basically risking "spoiling" it. However, if you were familiar at all with Heenan on commentary, that was exactly what you'd expect Heenan to say in that situation. Heenan's character had never trusted Hogan, so he's dubious, which is ludicrous until somehow it isn't. There was no backstage heat on Heenan after the fact. Wrestling/TonySchiavone talked about it on an episode of his podcast and basically said the same thing. Schiavone also said that the announcers were kept in the dark, so the reactions were all genuine.

** They were very homogenized in WWE. The feeling of invasion is what made them work, and that feeling simply did not exist with Vince personally bringing them in. One of their first backstage segments was walking around greeting everyone. Not much of an invading force. Nash would also complain how it was basically dead in the water as soon as Hulk walked out the very first day, got all teary-eyed, and thanked the fans for accepting him back, the exact opposite of his "these fans can stick it, brother!" promo at ''Bast at the Beach '96''. [[http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wwe-rumors-nwo-kevin-nash-return.jpg Notice how all of their gear was changed to heavily feature the nWo logo?]] They were treated like a normal stable instead of a hostile takeover group. As it turns out, there is much more money in Hogan as a nostalgia babyface: By the time they appeared in Milwaukee, they were over with the crowd, and it was hard for them to get heat. All the fans could see was Razor Ramon, Diesel, and Hulk Hogan. They couldn't hate them.

* CreatorsPet:
** When the Outsiders went backstage and terrorized the WCW talent with baseball bats, Bischoff probably thought back then, "I think we really have something here." What they got was two WWE guys with little league bats who could beat the crap out of the entire WCW locker room.
** In the ''Rise and Fall of WCW'' documentary, Big Show admitted that--while it was no fun to be part of this group--it was the only way they could get ahead of the rest of the roster, and get some sort of a push. Bischoff even had ideas of having an nWo spinoff show and such. They thought they could milk that cow forever.

** When the Outsiders went backstage and terrorized the WCW talent with baseball bats, Bischoff probably thought back then, "I think we really have something here." What they got was two WWE guys with little league bats could beat the crap out of the entire WCW locker room.

* CreatorsPet: When the Outsiders went backstage and terrorized the WCW talent with baseball bats, Bischoff probably thought back then, "I think we really have something here." What they got was two WWE guys with little league bats could beat the crap out of the entire WCW locker room.
** Bischoff even had ideas of having an nWo spinoff show and such. They thought they could milk that cow forever.
** In the ''Rise and Fall of WCW'' documentary, Big Show admitted that--while it was no fun to be part of this group--it was the only way they could get ahead of the rest of the roster, and get some sort of a push.

** "Rockhouse" was a mix of assorted Wrestling/JimiHendrix songs, most obviously "Hey Joe".

* ViralMarketing: The random emergence of The Outsiders led many fans (and even a few industry pundits) to believe Hall and Nash were actually sent by Vince [=McMahon=] to "invade" WCW--a belief which made people interested in WCW's product.

* IKnewIt: Given all the time [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]] had been feuding with Hulk Hogan, he wasn't about to let his FaceHeelTurn pass without comment...
-->'''Heenan:''' I've been telling you people what a scumbag this man is for the past 15 years, and [[CassandraTruth did any of you listen? NO!]]

* ViralMarketing: The random emergence of The Outsiders led many fans (and even a few industry pundits) to believe Hall and Nash were actually sent by Vince [=McMahon=] to "invade" WCW--a belief which made people interested in WCW's product.

** In the ''Rise and Fall of WCW'' documentary, Big Show admitted that--while it was no fun to be part of this group--it was the only way they can get ahead on the rest of the roster, and get some sort of a push.

* CreatorsPet: When the Outsiders went backstage and terrorized the WCW talent with baseball bats, Bischoff probably thought back then, "I think we really have something here." What they got was two WWE guys with little league bats could beat the crap out of the entire WCW locker room. In the ''Rise and Fall of WCW'' documentary, Big Show admitted that--while it was no fun to be part of this group--it was the only way they can get ahead on the rest of the roster, and get some sort of a push. Bischoff even had ideas of having an nWo spinoff show and such. They thought they could milk that cow forever.

* EvilIsCool: They weren't just cool, they were one of the coolest things wrestling has ever seen. Kids went from denying that they watched wrestling to wearing nWo shirts to school. (Go flip any yearbook from 1997: nWo, 3:16, and DX shirts. Everybody had one or the other.) That the heels were so irreverent was a big part of that. Having some of the best talkers in the business (Hogan, Nash and Hall) was another. Since that time, nearly all heels since then have tried to be cool.

* DeaderThanDisco: They were revolutionary, sure, but clips and talking heads seem to be their legacy now. One theory is that the nWo was regurgitated so many times that when it finally hit WWE, it was neat for 5 minutes before people dissected it. People enjoyed the DX reunions much more, since they only got to see HBK and Triple H together for a year each time before Michaels retired.

* MisBlamed: A common story about Hogan's FaceHeelTurn at ''Bast at the Beach 1996'' is how, when Hogan came out, Bobby Heenan said "Whose side is he on?", basically risking "spoiling" it. However, if you were familiar at all with Heenan on commentary, that was exactly what you'd expect Heenan to say in that situation. Heenan's character had never trusted Hogan, so he's dubious, which is ludicrous until somehow it isn't. There was no backstage heat on Heenan after the fact. Schiavone talked about it on an episode of his podcast and basically said the same thing. Schiavone also said that the announcers were kept in the dark, so the reactions were all genuine.

** In the retellings, the Wolfpac was known to be stale and a ratings drain. The nWo Wolfpac sold so much merchandise that they were turned from an equally heel stable vying an EvilVsEvil power struggle with the nWo Hollywood into a genuinely babyface stable. Their popularity arguably exceeded that of the original [=nWo=]. At least a quarter of the audience was covered in Wolfpac merch and signs, and during the Nash[=/=]Goldberg match, the commentators had to no-sell very audible "Goldberg sucks" chants from Wolfpac fans. The crazy testament to how over Nash and the Wolfpac were at the time is that the crowd went nuts for Nash winning even with taser.

* CreatorsPet: When the Outsiders went backstage and terrorized the WCW talent with baseball bats, Bischoff probably thought back then, "I think we really have something here." What they got was two WWE guys with little league bats could beat the crap out of the entire WCW locker room. In the ''Rise and Fall of WCW'' documentary, Big Show admitted that--while it was really sad to be part of this group--it was the only way they can get ahead on the rest of the roster, and get some sort of a push. Bischoff even had ideas of having an nWo spinoff show and such. They thought they could milk that cow forever.

* EvilIsCool: They weren't just cool, they were one of the coolest things wrestling has ever seen. Kids went from denying that they watched wrestling to wearing nWo shirts to school. (Go flip any yearbook from 1997: nWo, 3:16, and DX shirts. Everybody had one or the other.) That the heels were so irreverent was a big part of that. Having some of the best talkers in the business (Hogan, Nash and Hall) was another. Since that time, nearly all heels since then have tried to be cool. For context, Larry Zbyszko never strove to play a cool or even likeable person. That is the opposite of what a heel was supposed to be. Hall and Nash helped change that. Listen to that crowd during the match with Goldberg at ''Starrcade 1998''. Nash was the babyface.

* ArcFatigue: The first year or two of the nWo was a peak time in wrestling, and there's probably no way it can ever be topped. As wrestling will do, they ruined it. Eventually about 90% of the roster had been converted to nWo members Neegan-style. Then, of course, the nWo split into factions, and booking it all was like trying to solve a puzzle of blue sky.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Both Rockhouse and the Wolfpac theme go without saying.
* CreatorsPet: When the Outsiders went backstage and terrorized the WCW talent with baseball bats, Bischoff probably realized right then, "''I think we really have something here."'' What they got was two WWE guys with little league bats could beat the crap out of the entire WCW locker room. In the ''Rise And Fall of WCW'' documentary, Big Show admitted that--while it was really sad to be part of this group--it was the only way they can get ahead on the rest of the roster, and get some sort of a push. Bischoff even had ideas of having an nWo spinoff show and such. They thought they could milk that cow forever.

* DeaderThanDisco: They were revolutionary, sure, but clips and talking heads seem to be their legacy now. One theory is that the nWo was regurgitated so many times that when it finally hit WWE, it was neat for 5 minutes before people dissected it. People enjoyed the DX reunion much more, since they only got to see HBK and Haitch together for a year before Michaels retired.
* EvilIsCool: They weren't just cool, they were one of the coolest things wrestling has ever seen. Kids went from denying that they watched wrestling to wearing nWo shirts to school. (Go flip any yearbook from 1997: nWo, 3:16, and DX shirts. Everybody had one or the other.) That the heels were so irreverent was a big part of that. Having some of the best talkers in the business (Hogan, Nash and Hall) was another. Since that time, nearly all heels since then have tried to be cool. For context, Larry Zbyszko never strove to play a cool or even likeable person. That is the opposite of what a heel was supposed to be. Hall & Nash helped change that. Listen to that crowd during the match with Goldberg. Nash was the babyface.

-->'''Heenan''': "I've been telling you people what a scumbag this man is for the past 15 years, and [[CassandraTruth did any of you listen? NO!]]"
* MemeticMutation: New World Organization, brother!
* [[{{Misblamed}} Mis-blaimed]]: Heenan "spoiling" the heel turn is revisionist history. If you were familiar at all with Brain on commentary, that was exactly what you'd expect Heenan to say in that situation. Schiavone talked about it on the most recent episode of his podcast and basically said the same thing. Heenan's character had never trusted Hogan, so he's dubious, which is ludicrous until somehow it isn't. There was no backstage heat on Heenan after the fact. Schiavone also said that the announcers were kept in the dark, so the reactions were all genuine.
* OlderThanTheyThink: Most fans know about the New Japan stuff, but not the USWA stuff. According to ''Last Word on Sports'', the concept of a company-wide feud actually originated in a [[http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/06/04/nwo-18-part-ii-new-world-origin/ Memphis storyline.]] Additionally, WWE did test runs of some of their Attitude Era-characters in Memphis. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV0fiknn6ws this]] series for more.

** Rooting for "the bad guy" was cool. Being the "outsider" was cool. Everything the {{grunge}} era in music did spilled out into the rest of entertainment, and wrestling capitalized on that. The half-shoot, half-work promo incited enough heat that some fans were ripping up and throwing down their Hogan merchandise, and a few people were even crying. Still, according to live reports, approximately 25% of the fans were still cheering The Outsiders. Nash and Hall received a predominately babyface reaction when the show first began. And if you want a new weekly game to play, play "Spot the nWo shirt on the hard cam" when watching ''Raw''. There's '''always one'''. (We were distinctly told in '97 that if we're nWo, we're nWo FOR LIFE, after all.)
** In the retellings, the Wolfpac was known to be stale and a ratings drain. The [=nWo=] Wolfpac sold so much merchandise that they were turned into a babyface stable. Their popularity arguably exceeded that of the original [=nWo=]. At least a quarter of the audience was covered in Wolfpac merch and signs, and during the Nash[=/=]Goldberg match, the commentators had to no-sell very audible "Goldberg sucks" chants from Wolfpac fans. The crazy testament to how over Nash and the Wolfpac were at the time is that the crowd went nuts for Nash winning even with taser.

** "Rockhouse" of assorted Wrestling/JimiHendrix songs, most obviously "Hey Joe".
** The "Wolfpac Theme" of "Burn" by a little-known rap group called Militia.

** Go check out ''Souled Out'' '97. It's one of the most bizarre things ever seen in wrestling. In Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's book, he complained about this particular match: Eddie was trying to get over as a heel, but the finish to this match [[HazyFeelTurn made it seem like he was a face]], since a non-nWo heel on an nWo show is technically a face. However, he went back to his heel character the following night.
** Want to know why the nWo became a trite gimmick in 1999? Because Stevie Ray and [[{{Wrestling/Virgil}} Vincent]] were feuding for leadership of nWo Black & White.
** They were very homogenized in WWE. The feeling of invasion is what made them work, and that feeling simply did not exist with Vince personally bringing them in. (One of their first backstage segments was walking around greeting everyone. Not much of an invading force. Nash also complain how it was basically dead in the water as soon as Hulk walked out the very first day, got all teary-eyed, and thanked the fans for accepting him back.) [[http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/wwe-rumors-nwo-kevin-nash-return.jpg Notice how all of their gear was changed to heavily feature the nWo logo?]] They were treated like a normal stable instead of a hostile takeover group. As it turns out, there is much more money in Hogan as a nostalgia babyface: By the time they appeared in Milwaukee, they were over with the crowd, and it was hard for them to get heat. All the fans could see was Razor Ramon, Diesel, and Hulk Hogan. They couldn't hate them.
** Nash agreed to return to wrestling so long as TNA made Immortal look like a legitimately dominating force (so the Main Event Mafia would be on near-equal ground and the feud would mean something). The week before Nash left the company, TNA filmed an angle where Crimson planted "Janice" (Abyss's nail-enhanced 2×4) into the back of Abyss (then serving as Immortal's muscle). Nash saw no point in returning when Immortal looked weaker and weaker with each passing week. After that, it just became an excuse for Garett Bischoff to turn face and feud with his old man.

* CreatorsPet: When the Outsiders went backstage and terrorized the WCW talent with baseball bats, Bischoff probably realized right then, "''I think we really have something here."'' What they got was two WWE guys with little league bats could beat the crap out of the entire WCW locker room. In the ''Rise And Fall of WCW'' documentary, Big Show admitted that--while it was really sad to be part of this group--it was the only way they can get ahead on the rest of the roster, and get some sort of a push. Bischoff even had ideas of having an nWo spinoff show and such. They thought they could milk that cow forever. (It's funny how Bullet Club is going in the same direction.)

* OlderThanTheyThink: Most fans know about the nWo stuff, but not the USWA stuff. According to ''Last Word on Sports'', the concept of a company-wide feud actually originated in a [[http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/06/04/nwo-18-part-ii-new-world-origin/ Memphis storyline.]] Additionally, WWE did test runs of some of their Attitude Era-characters in Memphis. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV0fiknn6ws this]] series for more.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The first ''Souled Out''. The commentary team was an nWo provided team who buried all the faces, all the matches were refereed by their corrupt referee Nick Patrick, and it was so obviously a predetermined victory that the fans didn't react much one way or the other. Franky, it was so out of the ordinary that it kind of creeped them out a little bit. In an nWo documentary made years later, Kevin Nash agreed that, in retrospect, that PPV showed some of the limitations they'd ran into and that the nWo was going to run its course fairly soon.
* DeaderThanDisco: They were revolutionary, sure, but clips and talking heads seem to be their legacy now. One theory is that the nWo was regurgitated so many times that when it finally hit WWE, it was neat for 5 minutes before people dissected it. People enjoyed the DX reunion much more, since they only got to see HBK and Haitch pull shenanigans together for a year or so before Michaels retired.

** In the retellings, the Wolfpac was known to be stale and a ratings drain. The [=nWo=] Wolfpac sold so much merchandise that they were turned into a babyface stable. Their popularity arguably exceeded that of the original [=nWo=]. At least a quarter of the audience was covered in Wolfpac merch and signs, and during the Nash[=/=]Goldberg match, the commentators had to no-sell very audible "Goldberg sucks" chants from Wolfpac fans. The crazy testament to how over Nash and the Wolfpack were at the time is that the crowd went nuts for Nash winning even with taser.

** Go check out ''Souled Out'' '97. It's one of the most bizarre things ever seen in wrestling. In Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's book, he complained about this particular match: Eddie was trying to get over as a heel, but the finish to this match [[HazyFeelTurn made it seem like he was a face]]. since a non-nWo heel on an nWo show is technically a face. However, he went back to his heel character the following night.