When the NWO formed
 

Who was the World Champion? Did Hogan turn when he was champ?

Big Show(then known as The Giant) was the champ at the time Hogan turned. Giant won from Ric Flair on Nitro in May of '96, Hogan won in August that year at Hog Wild.

What was going on in the world title scene during this time? Who were all the feuds and what not?

Yea but whose side is he on?

After Hogan won the belt, he feuded with Savage and then with Piper to end 96. He retained the belt at Havoc 96 when he beat Savage. The belt was not on the line when Piper beat Hogan at Starrcade 96.

With that many 80s WWF wrestlers headlining they def needed Hall and Nash..

I don't know why but there were very few World Title matches on WCW PPV during the first year of the nWo run:

Hogan-Giant at Hog Wild in August 1996
Hogan-Savage at Halloween Havoc in October 1996
Hogan-Giant at Souled Out in January 1997
Hogan-Piper at SuperBrawl in February 1997
Hogan-Luger at Road Wild in August 1997
Hogan-Sting at Starrcade in December 1997

Just 6 World Title PPV matches in 17 PPVs.

They had Hogan vs. Piper main eventing Starrcade 1996 but in a non-title match and again they main evented Halloween Havoc 1997 in a non-title Steel Cage match. A PPV Steel Cage Match where the title wasn't on the line? Doesn't make sense. I don't remember if there was some sort of storyline to explain why the title wasn't on the line.

The Starrcade 96 main event was a huge mess, because they hadn't really been straight-forward at all about whether the match was non-title or not.
They made it seem like it was for the title. Everyone thought it was. Then Piper didn't win the belt and everyone scratched their heads.

Then came the Starrcade 97 title match. Then the Starrcade 98 match. Such a legacy they leave.

Actually, Bret Hart was supposed to be the third man at Bash At The Beach, but instead signed a 20-year contract with WWF. So, Hogan was the logical choice.