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20 years later: The birth of the NWO

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During the 1980’s, Hulk Hogan was on top of the wrestling world.

He was the figurehead of the “1980’s professional wrestling boom” in which wrestling no longer was just two guys (or ladies) in a ring fighting, but an entertainment spectacle. Hogan was the one who was the perfect role model for kids, possessed charisma and charm, and was at the center of some of the biggest moments in wrestling.

But on July 7th, 1996, while wrestling for World Championship Wrestling, one of the most shocking things happened: Hogan turned bad.

The setting was WCW’s “Bash at the Beach”, their big summer pay-per-view. Around this time, former World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) wrestlers Kevin Nash and Scott Hall had left the company to join WCW.

During the Bash at the Beach pay-per-view, the main event was a six-man tag-team match between the team of Lex Luger, Sting and Randy “Macho Man” Savage, and the team of Hall, Nash, and their “third man”. However, the third man hadn’t shown up yet, so Hall and Nash fought against the odds.

As the match went on, Luger was carried away from the ring on a stretcher. Later, both Sting and Savage were down. Hall and Nash appeared to have the match in their own favor. Then, all of a sudden, dressed in the red and yellow, Hogan came to the rescue.

Except… he didn’t.

Hogan dropped his famous leg drop on Savage, viciously beating him down, as the thousands of fans in attendance and millions across the world saw their hero turn bad. Trash was thrown into the ring, slurs were shouted, and a fan even attempted to get in the ring to attack Hogan. During the interview, Hogan exclaimed, “Well, the first thing you gotta realize, brother, is this right here is the future of wrestling! You can call this the new world order of wrestling, brother!”

WCW announcer Tony Schiavone signed off the PPV broadcast by saying, “Hulk Hogan, you can go to hell.”

The heel turn of Hogan was the brainchild of Eric Bischoff, but it was a risky thought. Turning such a profitable face like Hogan could have spelled disaster for WCW. Instead, it catapulted them over the rival WWF, as the Monday Night Wars raged on.

However, over the years, the stable (with added wrestlers) became dated, confused, and downright uninteresting.

WWE later had their own incarnation of the NWO, met with little success.

Now, 20 years later, all three of the original members are in the WWE Hall of Fame, legends in the wrestling industry, and innovators for taking part in one of the most talked about stables in history.

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