On This Day in Pro Wrestling History… 30 Years Ago on 5/27/96, Scott Hall Returns to WCW to Begin the New World Order (NWO) Storyline
On this day in pro wrestling history… 30 years ago, Scott Hall made his return to World Championship Wrestling on WCW Monday Nitro to begin the New World Order (NWO) storyline that changed the trajectory of pro wrestling forever. From Hall’s return, WCW began to completely dominate the pro wrestling industry and by wide margins from television viewership, Pay Per View buys, attendance, merchandise, and cultural relevance. Eric Bischoff was Executive Producer of WCW while Bill Shaw was the executive at Turner who helped Eric manage the company better and facilitate resources from Ted Turner and eventually Time Warner.
Before May 27th, 1996, WCW was doing OK but they strongly rehashing WWE’s storylines of the past with the older stars they acquired, especially Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage. In fact for Hulk Hogan, WCW fans were booing him because it was the same old WWE red & yellow act. Meanwhile, other bad storylines and feuds involved the Dungeon of Doom, which was a total collection of misfits that the likes of a tired babyface Hulk Hogan had to feud with. While the Dungeon did provide a brand new young star with “The Giant” (Paul Wight, later Big Show), that stable was mostly a JOKE. If you watch Uncensored 1996, you’ll see a collection of BAD ideas coming together with the “Doomsday Cage” main event. That was the last we saw of the red & yellow babyface Hulk Hogan until he’d later resurface with the NWO in July…
While WCW Nitro was a great idea, the storylines and the older wrestlers pushed weren’t. So, Eric Bischoff took charge and wanted to incorporate “reality-based” storylines. Eric, through his partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling, observed how they were drawing massive crowds and that was mainly due to the fans feeling a part of storylines that felt very real. New Japan also had a hostile takeover storyline that Eric enjoyed. This influence was massive and the gears began to turn in Eric’s head how to improve WCW after the disastrous Uncensored 1996 Pay Per View.
As luck would have it, two key WWE wrestlers were becoming Free Agents and just one week apart. Scott Hall, who played Razor Ramon in WWE, felt that his pay had plateaued and wanted more guaranteed money and higher percentages of merchandise sales. Vince McMahon refused, so Hall began discussing the idea of returning to WCW through his longtime friend Diamond Dallas Page. Through DDP as the intermediary, Hall received a verbal offer from Eric Bischoff which provided substantial amount of guaranteed money PLUS working much fewer dates than the rigorous WWE schedule. Hall’s buddy Kevin Nash, who was playing Diesel for the WWE, was also getting burned out from the WWE schedule, looked at Hall’s offer and was shocked… Nash then inquired what he could get, as his contract was set to expire 1 week after Hall’s.
Scott Hall signed with WCW and gave his 90 day notice. Nash didn’t want to leave for WCW, as he had fond memories of being “Oz” and “Vinnie Vegas”, among other bad gimmicks and storylines, but the “straw that broke the camel’s back” was Bret Hart being petty over a finish of a match before Wrestlemania 12. Nash immediately signed with WCW, too, and thus Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were set to return to WCW. On their way out, Nash put over Undertaker and Shawn Michaels while the WWE drug tested Scott Hall and the result made him miss Wrestlemania 12. Then, Hall and Nash wrestled their last matches at Madison Square Garden where the pair, plus their 2 other clique buddies Shawn Michaels and Triple H, saluted the crowd known as the “Curtain Call”.
After that MSG event, Hall was free to begin working with WCW and that was on May 27, 1996 in Macon, GA. Hall laughed, saying he went from working in MSG the night before to working in Macon, GA. However, the ironic thing is that both events created long impacts on the business forever. The “Curtain Call” salute broke script and caused someone like Triple H to get depushed, causing Steve Austin to win King of the Ring 1996 in his place and Austin unleashed with the “Austin 3:16” promo. Hall’s return to WCW, though, changed wrestling forever from a creative and business standpoint which every wrestler, today, needs to be thankful for.
”You know who I am, but you don’t know why I am here.”
Scott Hall’s return to WCW was genius on the 5/27/1996 edition of WCW Nitro. Steve Doll and the “Mauler” Mike Enos were having an undercard match. Then, from the crowd, Scott Hall was seen walking down the steps in the aisle way and the crowd seriously erupts. After all, in their minds, he was still working with WWE because nothing was officially announced by WCW that Hall had joined the company. Hall was dressed in blue jeans with a blue jean vest, nothing indicating that he was Razor Ramon. However, he didn’t call himself Scott Hall. He just grabbed a microphone and entered the ring to cut a promo without attacking the wrestlers.
And that’s the genius of Hall’s return… It’s the subtleties that made it perfect. According to Scott Hall, it was Larry Zbyszko, who was announcing at the time with WCW (also there ringside with Tony Shiavone as it happened) that advised Hall to not attack the wrestlers. Just grab a mic and start talking… This made it seem real and random, as both Doll and the Mauler were complete baffled as to why Scott Hall entered the ring and began talking. This SOLD the possibility of it being a “shoot”, as if a real WWE wrestler was invading WCW.
Then, Scott’s own words iced it… Here is exactly what he said on 5/27/96:
“Hey, you people, you know who I am. But you don’t know why I’m here. Where is Billionaire Ted? Where is the Nacho Man? That punk can’t even get in the building. Me? I go wherever I want, WHENEVER I want. And where oh where is Scheme Gene? ’cause I got a scoop for you. When that Ken Doll look-a-like, when that weatherman wannabe comes out here later tonight, I got a challenge for him, for Billionaire Ted, for the Nacho Man, and for anybody else in uh WCW, huh huh huh. You wanna go to war? You want a war? You’re gonna get one!”
That seems like a short promo, but Hall’s delivery and tone did more with these words than expected. He literally acted like he was a rogue agent of WWE and was invading WCW. That opening phrase of “you know who I am, but you don’t know why I am here” is perfectly said and sent chills down the spines of most wrestling fans. Why is this WWE wrestler here? And then by bring up the “Nacho Man”, “Scheme Gene”, and “Billionaire Ted”, it creates the impression that he’s here to get revenge on behalf of WWE. Making fun of Eric Bischoff, aka “Ken Doll look-a-like” and “weatherman wannabe” further ices that Hall is there to get revenge on behalf of the WWE.
From the start, though, Hall alludes to a “challenge”. “I got a challenge for him”, which Hall would later reiterate at the end of WCW Nitro on 5/27/96.
Wrestling fans in high schools, colleges, and the early elements of the internet were buzzing. “Wait, is the WWE invading WCW?!?”
See, I remember in the early days of the internet seeing scoops about Razor and Diesel leaving for WCW. Back in 1996, I would go to libraries, schools, or friend’s houses who had the early dial-up internets to pull insider stories. However, Scott Hall appearing randomly on WCW Nitro and being totally nameless created doubt, even in the “smart” fans’ minds. Why? Because Scott Hall was THAT DAMN GOOD and convincing. Hall set the tone for the first promo on 5/27/96 and said the perfect words, especially the “you know why I am here, but you don’t know why I am here” phrase. Then, Hall is intimidating towards Eric Bischoff and threatening towards him during those end-of-Nitro segments.
The following week, June 3, 1996, Hall didn’t appear at all during the show until the very end. At the end of Nitro, Hall appears again at the announcer’s table and is intimidating Eric Bischoff. This time, however, Eric had back-up in the form of Sting who actually slapped Scott Hall. Immediately, and this is key, the POLICE stormed the set and kept the two apart from fighting. Hall then promises a “BIG SURPRISE” for the following week.
On the following Nitro on June 10, 1996, Scott Hall didn’t appear until the very end, once again, and is there to confront Eric Bischoff (love Bobby Heenan running away and getting out of there). Eric tries to talk down Scott, asking “where is the big surprise” and Hall points behind him with a BIG smile on Hall’s face. All of the sudden, Kevin Nash appears. Surprise 100% delivered! Now, WCW has both Razor and Diesel “invading”. Holy cow! They reiterate the challenge and Kevin Nash questions things about the adjective of “play”. Eric states that he needs to stop by the Turner offices and work out the details for this 3 on 3 challenge and would have answers at the Great American Bash 1996 WCW Pay Per View on June 16, 1996. Eric invites both Hall and Nash to appear at such event.
At WCW Great American Bash 1996, Eric first asks the duo if they “still work for WWE?” to which both Hall and Nash answer “no”. But if you watch closely, they blow through the question and act like the question doesn’t matter. This is key to keep the fans believing, because after all, there’s a mystery 3rd man now hyped and it’s a fact that WCW is now enjoying Razor and Diesel in their promotion. In my opinion, though, what saved any doubt to the storyline was the third man… Bischoff then said he had 3 wrestlers for their match, but wouldn’t give away the names. That angered Hall and he punched Bischoff in the stomach and then Nash powerbombed Bischoff through the table platforms near the stage.
Folks, this was June of 1996… Unless you watched ECW, you didn’t see people getting thrown through tables back then. These days on RAW, Smackdown, Dynamite, or any PLE/PPVs, it’s actually uncommon for a wrestler to NOT get slammed through a table. Hence why anyone getting thrown through a table isn’t remembered or lacks impact. Back during June 1996, you never saw wrestlers going through tables, LET ALONE a freakin’ announcer or non-wrestler.
Look at the subtlety of the 4 weeks that we’ve described… Hall, alone, appears twice on the 5/27 Nitro. First time, he says “you know who I am but you don’t know why I am here” and then harasses Eric at the end of Nitro. He’s already alluding to a special challenge, too. Then on 6/3, Hall only appears at the very end to threaten Bischoff again, but Sting is there to confront and slap Hall. Hall promises “big surprise” and delivers that on the next week on 6/10 with Kevin Nash returning to WCW as Hall’s buddy. Then, just 6 days later at the Great American Bash, Hall and Nash attack Bischoff.
4 weeks of a slow build… And folks, it only gets better from there.
Now, we have the threat of the 3rd man while Hall & Nash are physical threats to the entire WCW roster. For example, there was one night when Hall and Nash stormed the ring with baseball bats and the wrestlers performing were protected by an entire police force ready to draw their own pistols. It was THAT intense!
Hall and Nash set the table for the great storyline, but the pressure was now on to secure a great reveal for the third man.
Throughout 1996, Eric Bischoff asked Hulk Hogan about possibly turning heel. Hogan’s response was usually “try to live a mile in my boots, brother” because he’s been a babyface for so long, did lots of charity work with kids, and was relied upon for appearing at corporate events. Plus, Hogan was trying to still make movies and TV shows. With Hogan initially not interested in being the third man, Sting was reportedly sought to be that guy. After all, Sting was the loyal WCW worker and he’s been a babyface since joining WCW during 1987 per the UWF merger with NWA Mid-Atlantic. It could have been shocking, BUT by having Hulk Hogan as the third man, it kept the “WWE invasion” feeling alive. Plus, like Sting, Hulk Hogan has been a babyface for a long time, too, so thus a heel turn would be shocking too.
As Hulk Hogan saw what Hall and Nash were doing weekly, his interest in turning heel grew. Then, he decided and became the third man at the July 7, 1996 WCW Bash at the Beach Pay Per View. WCW selected Macho Man Randy Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger to face Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and the 3rd man who didn’t appear with Hall & Nash when the match started. Immediately, that set the tone of MAYBE Sting, Macho, or Lex being the third man ESPECIALLY when Lex Luger got injured early in the match. Great storytelling, but it allowed the match to become 2 on 2 versus 3 on 2…
Back then, Hulk Hogan was suspected as being the third man, but many had doubts that WCW would do that because again, Hogan as a babyface was a gravy train of merchandise. Plus, we didn’t see Hogan since the WCW Uncensored 1996 PPV debacle that happened on March 24, 1996. Thus, it was still a mystery as to who the third man was and even the dirt sheets struggled to accurately predict who it could be. For example, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that Mabel (later Viscera) was “in discussions” with WCW to be “considered” to be the third man. While I’m not here to pile on Dave, I’m just using it as an example of how good WCW created doubt that it would be Hulk Hogan.
Towards the end of the Bash at the Beach 1996 main event, we had a moment where Macho/Sting appeared to get the upper hand but then Kevin Nash delivered a distracted nutshot to Randy Savage. At that very moment, Hulk Hogan arrived to a massive pop, with cheering fans thinking he would just be a substitute for the injured Lex Luger. Hogan was dressed in full red and yellow colors, too, though he didn’t have the trademark handlebar mustache, too which I felt was odd when I watched it live. Still, after seeing over 10 years of red & yellow Hulkamania, nobody believed the heel turn was coming.
And then, Hogan dropped the leg on Randy Savage. JAWS DROPPED. And then another legdrop. Hogan tosses out poor referee Randy Anderson to ice that heel turn and then drops another legdrop on Savage. Kevin Nash has advised that the referee was supposed to count Hogan pinning Macho, but in my opinion, Hogan tossing out the referee and having Scott Hall counting the 1, 2, 3 is the better heel move to taunt WCW and make Hogan look like a better newly turned heel.
And then Hogan KILLS IT with a heel promo that rips fans and WCW HARD. Best promo that Hulk Hogan ever cut and he got the fans so riled up that they began throwing trash and beverages into the ring (poor Mean Gene was busted open from it!). Eric Bischoff had Hogan say the phrase “New World Order”, which was a PERFECT stable name. After all, there were threats that top countries in the world would band together and create a large authority over everyone on the planet. People panicked when President George H.W. Bush was actually quoted talking about the “New World Order”.
So here we are through July 1996… Perfect slow build introducing Scott Hall, then revealing Kevin Nash, attacking Bischoff, posing a real physical threat to WCW wrestlers, and then revealing the 3rd WITH the perfect stable name of “New World Order” with an abbreviation that rolls perfectly off the tongue in “NWO” (which my Microsoft Word always autocorrects as “now”). Eric Bischoff worked with Disney’s graphic design staff to create the PERFECT New World Order logo and then pulled the PERFECT theme music from the Turner library from an artist named Frank Shelley. It’s literally different Jimi Hendrix songs merged together and works perfectly for NWO’s black & white commercial segments.
Hulk Hogan would defeat the Giant at WCW Road Wild 1996 for the WCW World Title and afterward, Hogan spraypainted “NWO” on the title. Perfection!
In the coming weeks and months, the NWO added a few more members. Ted Dibiase was a free agent and joined WCW. It was thought that he was the “money man” behind the NWO, which made perfect sense. Sean Waltman appeared and joined the NWO as “Syxx”, a play on Motley Crue’s bassist and being the 6th member. Waltman was 6th after Dibiase joined and The Giant (Paul Wight, later Big Show) turned and joined the NWO with the idea of “if you can’t beat them, join them”. Personally, I didn’t like the Giant addition to the NWO, BUT it created the fear that ANYBODY from the WCW roster could join. Plus, Giant turning was on WCW Nitro… Thus, keeping the allusion that Nitro was “must watch” and the fear that more WCW wrestlers would defect.
Then you had 2 of the wrestlers from that Bash at the Beach 1996 match, Sting and Macho Man Randy Savage. NWO, through Fall Brawl 1996, tried to make it like Sting joined the NWO but he didn’t… It was a bogus Sting and after Fall Brawl 1996, when many WCW wrestlers doubted Sting’s allegiance, he said the “thing about Sting these days is that nothing’s for sure”, and walked away from the NWO stable who wanted sting to join their group. For over 1 year, Sting would hang out in the rafters and become Crow Sting. PERFECT evolution for his character.
With Macho, he was the perfect foe for Hogan at WCW Halloween Havoc 1996 because you could do the REVERSE Mega Powers colliding story! Of course, Macho couldn’t win against the strength in numbers, but the fact that the story led into Macho vs. Hogan was perfection again. Macho also took the approach of “can’t beat them, join them” and he was the perfect foil for Diamond Dallas Page throughout 1997, a real Scott Hall and Kevin Nash buddy who turned them down to join their group. Those Macho vs. DDP matches were epic.
After Hogan defeated Macho at Halloween Havoc 1996, Hogan was celebrating when bagpipes played… HOLY COW, ”Rowdy” Roddy Piper just joined WCW to confront Hulk Hogan. Again, we have another great feud but in REVERSE with Hogan now as a heel and Roddy Piper as a babyface. “I’m the only one that you’ve never been able to beat” phrase crushed Hogan hard as a quote by Piper.
Through Halloween Havoc 1996, the rest of WCW was also cooking. You had a STACKED Tag Team division with peak Steiners and Harlem Heat. The Cruiserweight Division was LOADED Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Ultimo Dragon, and many others. TV Title had many contenders and was well defended. U.S. Title had many contenders and was well defended. In addition to signing Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Roddy Piper, Eric Bischoff raided ECW, Mexico, and Japan for talent and added incredible depth of wrestlers. Those 2-hour WCW Nitro shows moved smoothly because the roster suddenly became great and the action was exciting.
In my opinion, Halloween Havoc 1996 is the PEAK of WCW. Yes, they’d go on to have a very successful 1997 year and keep business growing throughout 1998… But they crashed HARD after July of 1998 to become high in debt and ready to be sold by March 2001.
During November 1996, big mistake #1 was made. NWO was thought to be bankrolled by Ted Dibiase. Nope, Eric Bischoff was revealed to have joined the NWO and was using his access to Turner/Time Warner resources to bankroll them. Thus, that negated Ted Dibiase and his relevance to the group. Bischoff joining the NWO created long-term issues because as an NWO member, he had every personal incentive to keep the NWO strong. Hence why they were overbearing throughout 1997 and why Bischoff placated the career of Hulk Hogan even further. It was in Eric’s best interests as a television character to keep the NWO strong and he often did that by keeping Hulk Hogan strong. Hence the BOTCHED Starrcade 1997 finish, getting the title back around Hogan’s waist during the Spring of 1998, and then the title back around Hogan’s waist during January 1999. All the while, pushing the NWO group hard throughout 1998 and creating the supergroup NWO to start 1999.
And then signing any older WWE wrestler to the WCW roster to join the NWO and to further keep the group strong. The Curt Hennig signing was the worst, as he was a PERFECT person to wrestle and be respected within the Four Horsemen group. Then, Hennig turned and joined the NWO… But what did that group actually do for him and his career? Many of the wrestlers within the NWO signed massive extensions to remain prominent with the group, as did many in opposition to the NWO (Sting, Luger).
The expenses kept growing from there… Adding WCW Thunder and giving it an expensive set. The Tonight Show parody set, I’m told, was very expensive. The new 1999 WCW logo and set were massive expenses incurred.
The effective manager that Eric Bischoff was through 1996 was dissolved as he became personally impaired by an inflated ego and desire to be a TV star as a member of the NWO. Fewer eggs were placed in the managerial basket, while more eggs were placed in the creative of HIS character and keeping Hogan/NWO strong. Suddenly, things that were carefully looked at during 1996 weren’t watch over thanks to an impaired manager of the company. Storylines were done on the fly, new wrestlers were constantly brought in, and everything was too pro-NWO and pro-Hogan. The creative was so impaired that it rushed a very green Bill Goldberg to the top but then had nothing for him to do afterward. Then, wrestlers could join the creative team and that muddied things up.
Blows my mind that the same man who gave us 1996 WCW could also give us botched Starrcade 1997, all of the crap in 1998, and the fingerpoke and terrible NWO reunion of 1999. What happened to this guy? No matter who followed what happened in WCW during 1998 through mid-1999, WCW was destined to fail due to the high expenses and the upcoming AOL/Time Warner merger that needed cash and NOT expenses to immediately crumble throughout the 21st Century. You can blame Vince Russo all you want, but WCW was “dead already” through mid-1999 thanks to LOSING the fans’s trust and from EXPENSIVE WCW contracts in place with guaranteed money.
Go rewatch WCW from late May 1996 through late October 1996. It’s PERFECTION, all started by the tone and words that Scott Hall said 30 years ago from this day.
I don’t want to bash Bischoff too much here… After all, what he did during 1996 that kept momentum going during 1997-1998 caused MUCH NEEDED CHANGE in the industry. WWE got a much needed kick in the arse and creatively overhauled their entire company while empowering new people to add their ideas to improve WWE (Russo, Ross, and Cornette). Wrestlers were getting paid much better than ever and with guaranteed money versus having to earn every single penny (killed lots of wrestlers working injured and being on pills). The Monday Night Wars drew more corporate money and merchandise opportunities into the fold. PERMANENT changes that pushed more money into the promotions.
Trust me, the WWE that you see today wasn’t the WWE that existed 30 years ago. WWE during May 1996 SUCKED with Shawn Michaels as the WWE babyface champion. WCW came along, shocked the world with the NWO storyline, and caused WWE to re-think what they were doing and EVOLVE.
And it all started when Scott Hall returned to WCW and made his Nitro debut by saying “you know who I am, but you don’t know why I am here”. What a great time!
RIP Scott Hall… And thank you to DDP for not only helping Hall join WCW, but for keeping him alive for another 10 years for all of us to enjoy the “bad guy”. Hey yo!
Watch this great Scott Hall moment, 30 years ago on 5/27/96, for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcAfnVxEYo
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