nWo Planning...

[Xero]

I was watching the Diesel/Michaels match from In Your House 4/96 and something stood out to me. After the match, Michaels did Hogan's pose and Hall's pose, which, looking back, almost seemed like he was referencing the yet to come nWo.

My question is, how long was it planned for Hogan to be a part of the nWo? This was around the time they were going to WCW, but I think I heard that someone out of the three wasn't supposed to be in it and it was a later decision.

[CSL]

<font color=white>Pretty sure I heard something about somebody else doing it (Sting maybe?) and then he said no/booking was changed and Hogan took the spot.</font>

[FourFifty]

Pretty sure I heard something about somebody else doing it (Sting maybe?) and then he said no/booking was changed and Hogan took the spot.

They did have Sting lined up for it if Hogan didn't want it.
Months before the nWo came to play Eric asked Hogan about turning heel. At first Hogan said no. After he saw the Outsiders he said yes.
Hogan was unsure, so Eric lined up Sting, just in case Hogan backed out. It wasn't until Hogan showed up at the building for that show that everyone knew what was going on.

Credit- Eric Bichoff's book.

[The One]

Actually, the initial hope was that Michaels would head over to WCW and be the final member of the nWo. However Michaels stayed with WWE, and for some reason WCW decided it couldn't just be two men, it's needed a third, so Sting was then lined up for it with Hogan of course taking helm in the end.

[Loose Cannon]

yea, pretty much what everyone said. real glad they chose Hogan as the heel and Sting as the hero

[hb2k]

What Michaels did wasn't really nWo related, it was more just a message. At the end of the match he looks directly at the hard camera and mouths the words "You want a big boy to play with?" (WCW's catchphrase was "where they big boys play"), and then mocked Hogan's pose. The Hall pose was probably more unintentional as he was just fired up.

Are you sure Michaels was the one you're thinking of as being an nWo member, because he was locked under contract that entire time and was the champ. The longstanding rumor was always that Bret was the one they wanted, but they never actually negotiated. Lex Luger was the first candidate for the role of third man playing off his arrival on the first Nitro to play up that the WWF always had their eye on Nitro from the start, before the decision was made for Hogan to take the role.

[Xero]

What Michaels did wasn't really nWo related, it was more just a message. At the end of the match he looks directly at the hard camera and mouths the words "You want a big boy to play with?" (WCW's catchphrase was "where they big boys play"), and then mocked Hogan's pose. The Hall pose was probably more unintentional as he was just fired up.
Yeah, I figured it was just a sort of taunt to WCW, I just found it interesting that it happened to incorporate Hall and Hogan and he was just in the ring with Nash.

[Impact!]

Are you sure Michaels was the one you're thinking of as being an nWo member, because he was locked under contract that entire time and was the champ. The longstanding rumor was always that Bret was the one they wanted, but they never actually negotiated. Lex Luger was the first candidate for the role of third man playing off his arrival on the first Nitro to play up that the WWF always had their eye on Nitro from the start, before the decision was made for Hogan to take the role.
For some reason I thought they were after the British Bulldog :?:

[thedamndest]

After the match, Michaels did Hogan's pose and Hall's pose, which, looking back, almost seemed like he was referencing the yet to come nWo.

Shawn Michaels knows Jesus, and therefore, knew ALL ABOUT THE NWO. End of story.

[hb2k]

For some reason I thought they were after the British Bulldog

Bulldog was the guy they wanted to be the fourth member, not third. But Bulldog instead signed a five year contract with WWE, so they had The Giant join. I still don't know why.

[Rob]

They wanted Bret Hart first. When they couldn't get him, they wanted Davey Boy Smith and couldn't get him. They thought about a few other WWF names like Jeff Jarrett and Roddy Piper but it's never been confirmed they got offered a a deal. Bret and Davey definately did though.

As for the Hogan part, it was in the Wrestling Observer for maybe 3 weeks before that Hogan was gonna be the 3rd guy.

[owenbrown]

I wonder what would have happened had Triple H gone back to WCW after being the lone man punished after the infamous MSG incident with the Clique? We know he was the only one truly buried in the aftermath since Michaels was WWF champ at the time(so he wasn't gonna jump unless they had a way to take the belt off of him first) and Nash/Hall(Syxx/X-Pac soon after) were going to WCW. Would he have joined the nWo as well and have any impact at all?

[Xero]

Since he was in with the Kliq (http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g122/sandman3g/Wrestling/nwohand.jpg), I would imagine he would have had a fairly big part in the nWo.

[The MAC]

that hand gesture is for the wolfpack..right? if its for the kliq then its pretty wierd cuz I saw bret hart doing that as he stood next to kevin Nash

[Xero]

On-screen, it was originally the nWo sign. I'm pretty sure they adopted it (as opposed to the other way around) from the Kliq.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

On-screen, it was originally the nWo sign. I'm pretty sure they adopted it (as opposed to the other way around) from the Kliq.

Yeah I'm pretty sure Nash/HBK started it in WWF, pre-nWo

[Xero]

I love at WrestleMania 13, when Michaels made his entrance, he gives the Kliq hand sign and covers it with his jacket as if to shield it from Vince.

[hb2k]

And Nash the next night on Nitro doing it right into the camera and saying "Right back at ya HBK!"

[Xero]

LOL, nice.