Was the NWO angle the best storyline ever?
 

I watched the NWO documentary on netflix last night and started thinking that it might just be the greatest wrestling angle in history. Two huge names, both former champions, show up on Nitro, the night after they were on a WWE PPV. Bischoff was brilliant in leading us the fans on to the fact that Vince had sent them to destroy WCW. "WCW! Where the big boys play! Well, we're not here to PLAY!"

Then, at Bash at the Beach in 96, everyone thought the Ousiders were gonna get destroyed by Luger, Sting, and Savage, but the opposite happened. Hall and Nash dominated only to have Hogan appear to a HUGE pop. Hogan marches down there, Hall and Nash clear out, and you think Hogan is gonna help his fallen brother Macho Man. BOOM oldskool legdrop right on Savages beard.

All the fallout with others joining, the awesome production of the black and white vignettes (they shot them like that to chop up Hogan's oldskool WWF style promos, to match them to Hall and Nash's freash, more shoot style promos), the simplicity of the shirts and logo, the fake gang signs, everything.

Everything about it was awesome.

So, was the NWO angle the best in prowrestling history.

I'd say yes.

Poor Mans Nexus

The best storyline ever? I can't say. Quality wise, i can think of several examples. Including Montreal Screwjob.

But it could certainly be the angle with the most positive impact. All in terms of getting an audience / making wrestling red-hot / profits?

I'd say NO.

mine would be Michael Hayes slamming the cage door on Kerry's head thus leading to Von Erichs vs Freebirds.

Freebirds when they first came into WCCW were seen as friends of the Von Erich's. So them turning on Kerry and the brothers was a huge huge deal at the time.

In a word, yes.

Basically made a rich man's TNA watchable, which is pretty remarkable

Yes, RDD

best part of the angle:

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YES

Nash throwing Rey like a lawn dart into the side of the production trailer is forever burned into my memory.

In my opinion, nWo storyline was only second to Vince/Austin.

Vince/Austin was the greatest storyline of all-time and was the lead storyline of the Attitude Era. The storyline helped spurn the highest ratings in wrestling history, while effectively shutting down the competition.

Vince/Austin also did not drag on, and they quit while they were ahead. The same cannot be said for the nWo.

Austins heel promo on Jake the Snake (at king of the ring 96?) was a very important moment for prowrestling.

"You talk about yr John 3:16......well, Austin 3:16 said I just whipped yr ass!!!!1!"

Yeah. Probably. The nWo was the best and worst thing to ever happen to wrestling.

Preferred Raven/Dreamer. The nWo was great up until they let everyone in and watered it down, split it up etc.

Through 1996 yes it was. In hindsight by the middle of 1997 it should have been time for WCW to start coming back and Sting/Hogan should've been the decisive end.

Only good part to come out of it after the middle of 1997 was the Wolfpac theme

I'm with Heyman on this.

NWO could have been the best ever, but there was no big payoff. It dragged on too long and got stale. Wolfpack freshened it up a bit, but we all know how that ended.

Austin/McMahon was just better executed.

Yes although it did drag on for way too long.

Either that or Hogan/Goldberg a year later.

Yeah prob. Only thing from before I started watching hat I ever went back to watch. The "but whose side is he on?" line on commentary when Hogan came out was shit though.

Look at the adjective!

Shut the fuck up

Actually yeah maybe Austin/Vince/Corporation might be better. Vince McMahon is the best character in wrestling history.

Can't blame them for dragging through 1997 when they were a ratings juggernaught and making millions. Hard to get someone to say oh well let's end this now.

Catch 22

No.

"The best angle" needs to end as perfectly as it started. The NWO angle started off perfectly, and hell, as a 9-year-old mark at the time, I was soaking it all up. But it dragged on for way too long. To the point that the NWO consisted of Horace Hogan, Vincent, Scott Norton, Bryan Adams and Stevie Ray. Yay.

Probably one of the best concepts of all time, and started off perfectly, but did it end as well as it started, absolutely not.

Lets not besmirch Scott Norton, there's never a reason for that.

No, because it never got the faces significantly over. Everybody jobbed to the nWo left right and center. There was never a real sense of comeuppance for the heels for dare opposing WCW. Heels are supposed to be un-selfish and do whatever they can to get the faces over in the end. There was no WCW victory just the nWo fading away. Hogan wouldn't allow it so no. It was not the greatest storyline in wrestling history.

It's not generalization Starrcade 1997 was botched. Sting should have won definitively. If it ended then it would have been a great story. Everybody then could go on and join WCW back up after getting punished for trying to take over WCW. Nobody would question why the nWo isn't around anymore so it wouldn't hang over the heads of the guys in the nWo all of their career.

Delusional CSL. Hogan got a clean 1-2-3 during the match. Match ruined. Ruined Bret's WCW run too because he tried to invalidate a perfectly executed 3 count and made him look like a fucking idiot.

I'm nWo 4 Lyfe so I'm gonna save you the reading and say yes.

I like the "Blame Bischoff" one more. Dude burned through money like no other.

Either Austin/Vince or Hogan/Andre.

Yes. The Sting/Hogan match is still to me felt like the "biggest conflict ever". Like the most hyped event ever. No other match before or since has come close.

The payoff of the match was pretty terrible, though. Everything up to the end of that match was glorious though.

I was only NWO for like... 2 years. That catchphrase is bullshit.

I agree with this with NWO and Bret Hart/Montreal as the second and third runner up.

Hogan vs Sting was such a great build up, and it had interesting side feuds leading up to it like Hogan vs Piper and Hogan vs Luger. People shit on Luger but he was white hot in the summer of 97.