The New World Order

The 'new world Order was a heel stable of wrestlers, originally in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later in the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was first formed on July 7, 1996 at the Bash at the Beach PPV. The group was created when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, two wrestlers who had recently come over to WCW from the WWF and labeled as "The Outsiders," aligned themselves with longtime fan favorite Hulk Hogan, who turned heel to join the new group.

The often-used idiosyncratic capitalization of the group's initialism, nWo, comes as a result of the logo that WCW created for the stable.

Creators
The nWo storyline was an idea WCW Executive Vice President Eric Bischoff came up with after attending a New Japan Pro Wrestling show. He wanted to do an invasion-type angle where WCW was (kayfabe) being sabotaged by another wrestling group (initially insinuated as being the WWF, since its founding members formerly wrestled there). The nWo was originally portrayed as a separate entity from WCW (often, propaganda-style vignettes and product commercials concerning the nWo were preceded by an "interruption in the feed", and a voice proclaiming, "The following announcement has been paid for by the New World Order").

Others, such as Scott Hall, chief WCW booker Terry Taylor, and his assistants Kevin Sullivan and Paul Orndorff all contributed their own ideas to the nWo concept. For instance, the logo was designed by Paul Orndorff, Scott Hall is credited with the group's trademark hand-signals, and Terry Taylor belatedly scrawled the group's most popular catchphrase, "When you're nWo, you're nWo 4 life," in one segment he scripted for WCW Monday Nitro in late 1996.

Original storyline
In 1996 both Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left the WWF to sign with WCW. Hall first appeared on WCW TV live on the Memorial Day 1996 edition of Monday Nitro emanating from Macon, Georgia, interrupting a match by walking down through the crowd into the ring. He delivered his famous "You Want A War?" speech, stating that he had a challenge for Eric Bischoff ("that Ken Doll lookalike"), Ted Turner ("Billionaire Ted"), "Macho Man" Randy Savage (the "Nacho Man"), and anyone else in WCW. Hall's derogatory nicknames for Turner and Savage in particular referred to the infamous skits done by the WWF mere months earlier in an effort to mock WCW. Later, as the show neared its end, Hall accosted Bischoff in the broadcast booth (Bischoff then served as the lead announcer for Nitro) and demanded that he tell Turner to recruit three of his very best wrestlers, as Hall and two others were going to be "taking over." This officially kicked off the nWo storyline.

The next week, Hall reappeared on Nitro five minutes before the end of the broadcast and again pestered Bischoff. Sting confronted Hall, and was rewarded with a toothpick in the face for his efforts. Sting retaliated by slapping Hall across the face, and in response Hall promised Sting a "little...no...BIG surprise" for the next week's show. This surprise ended up being Hall's good friend and former WWF Champion Kevin Nash, and in the weeks following Hall and Nash were collectively referred to as "The Outsiders." Both men took to showing up unexpectedly during Nitro broadcasts, usually jumping wrestlers backstage, distracting wrestlers by standing in the entranceways of arenas, or walking around in the audience, all the while waiting for WCW to answer their challenge.

At The Great American Bash '96, Bischoff (in his capacity as Executive Vice-President of WCW) invited The Outsiders to do an interview. He promised them a match at Bash at the Beach on July 7, but Hall inquired as to whether Bischoff had selected his three WCW wrestlers yet. After demanding, and receiving, confirmation that neither man was an employee of the WWF (an attempt to defuse the threat of a genuine lawsuit filed by the WWF), Bischoff replied in the affirmative. However, when Hall demanded that the wrestlers' identities be revealed, Bischoff claimed that he could not, instead telling The Outsiders to wait until the next night on Nitro. Unsatisfied with the response, Hall punched Bischoff in the stomach, and Nash powerbombed him right through the interview stage to the floor.

At Bash at the Beach, Hall and Nash were scheduled to team with their mystery partner against Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger. At the onset of the match, Hall and Nash came out without a third man. "Mean" Gene Okerlund came to the ring confused, demanding to know where their mystery partner was. They simply said he was in the building, but that they did not need him right then. Shortly into the match, Sting hit Nash with a Stinger Splash in the corner. However, Nash was holding Luger at the time, and the splash knocked Nash into Luger, thus crushing Luger in the corner. Luger was knocked to the outside, and paramedics came out and took him away, reducing the match to The Outsiders vs. Sting and Savage. As Hall and Nash took control of the match, Hulk Hogan came to the ring. After standing off with The Outsiders for a moment, he suddenly attacked Savage, thus revealing himself as the third man. In a post-match interview with Okerlund, Hogan claimed the reason for the turn was that he was tired of fans that had turned on him. Hogan labeled the new faction a "new world order of professional wrestling," beginning a feud between wrestlers loyal to WCW and the nWo. The fans in attendance were so outraged at Hogan's betrayal that they pelted the ring with debris, such as paper cups and plastic bottles, for the duration of his interview. One fan even jumped the security railing and tried to attack Hogan in the ring, but was quickly subdued by Hall, Nash, and arena security.

Shortly after, the WWF filed a lawsuit, alleging that the New World Order storyline implied that Hall and Nash were invaders sent by Vince McMahon to destroy WCW, despite the fact that Bischoff asked Nash point-blank on camera at the Great American Bash, "Are you employed by the WWF?" to which Nash emphatically replied, "No." Another reason for the lawsuit was that the WWF claimed Scott Hall acted in a manner too similar to the "Razor Ramon" character, which was owned by the WWF. The lawsuit would drag on for several years before being settled out of court. In court documents, the WWF alleged that "TBS proposed interpromotional matches in order to associate WCW with WWF" before the New World Order angle was created. 

The newly formed nWo would begin appearing on Monday Nitro, causing mayhem and attacking WCW wrestlers. In an infamous incident, Kevin Nash picked up Rey Misterio Jr. and threw him head-first into a WCW production truck. The nWo took the first step in its takeover attempt of WCW when Hulk Hogan defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant on August 10, 1996, at WCW Hog Wild. In the first of two famous moments after the match, Hall and Nash held the World Championship belt aloft while Hogan spray painted the letters "NWO" on it; the belt would appear in this fashion for most of the next year while Hogan was world champion. In the second moment, Hogan's long time friend Ed Leslie presented Hogan with a birthday cake. Hogan hugged him, then signaled Hall and Nash to attack Leslie, stating "business is business."

In the following weeks, as WCW was preparing its War Games team, it seemed that long time WCW supporter Sting had been negotiating with the nWo. During an episode of Nitro, Sting's voice was heard coming from the nWo's limousine. When Lex Luger went out to the parking lot to investigate, he was blindsided and attacked by "Sting." At Fall Brawl 1996, "Team nWo" defeated "Team WCW" in the WarGames match. The match featured two Stings; one on each side. The "real" Sting appeared only briefly to fight on behalf of WCW, while nWo "Sting" captured the decision, forcing Lex Luger to submit to the Scorpion Death Lock. This proved that the real Sting had not joined the nWo after all. After the match, Sting declared that because nobody trusted him, he would not aid WCW in the war against the nWo.

The victory signaled an increased focus in WCW on the nWo, and new members soon were added to the stable, including Ted DiBiase (who was allegedly "financing" the group, an allusion to his "Million Dollar Man" gimmick in the WWF), Vincent (as "head of security"), Syxx, and The Giant. Referee Nick Patrick became the group's official referee following a series of matches in which he clearly showed favoritism to nWo members. "Macho Man" Randy Savage took the lead in the battle against the nWo, motivated by his former wife/manager Miss Elizabeth's joining of the group, but in the end he lost to Hogan in a WCW World Title match on October 27, 1996, at Halloween Havoc; Savage then disappeared from WCW for a short time. The same night, Hall and Nash defeated Harlem Heat for the WCW World Tag Team Titles. At the conclusion of the event, Roddy Piper made a surprise appearance and confronted Hogan in the ring.

Meanwhile, WCW did not recognize nWo wrestlers as being employed by WCW (except Hogan and The Outsiders, who held WCW title belts), therefore they were not allowed to compete with WCW wrestlers. In response, the nWo would have a segment on WCW Saturday Night, dubbed nWo Saturday Night, where they would wrestle jobbers in an empty arena.

Piper was responsible for the on-air exposure of WCW President Eric Bischoff as a member of the nWo, one of the reasons the stable had such incredible clout. After being revealed as an nWo member, Eric Bischoff gave everyone in the locker room an ultimatum: Join the nWo or become a target of the group. Marcus Alexander Bagwell was one of the first to join, turning on his American Males tag team partner, Scotty Riggs, and renaming himself "Buff" Bagwell. Others to join the nWo would be Scott Norton, Big Bubba Rogers, and V.K. Wallstreet. Japanese wrestler Masahiro Chono would also join the group, and served as leader of nWo Japan, a branch of the stable in New Japan Pro Wrestling. At around this time, nWo wrestlers began wrestling on Monday Nitro.

On November 24, 1996, The Giant won the 60-man battle royal at World War 3, earning a title match against Hogan. On December 29, 1996, at Starrcade Roddy Piper defeated Hulk Hogan in a non-title match using the sleeperhold. The next night, The Giant was booted from the nWo after refusing to chokeslam Piper in an nWo assault.

Toward the end of the year, on an episode of Monday Nitro, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash introduced Kyle Petty, from NASCAR, as an auxiliary member of the group, as Petty was driving the nWo racing car on the Busch Series circuit. This resulted in a few updates through 1997 on WCW television about the nWo racing car, but little else came of the development. Partway through 1997, an angle was run where the Steiner Brothers vandalized the nWo car at a racetrack, scaring off (kayfabe) Petty, and replacing him with another driver, driving a WCW-sponsored car for the same race team.

Meanwhile, Sting began appearing in the rafters during WCW Monday Nitro, sporting a new look complete with black-and-white make-up, and a black trenchcoat. He would often be seen during nWo matches.

1997
In January 1997, the nWo held their own Pay-Per-View event, titled Souled Out. In the main event, Hogan faced The Giant, with the match ending in a no-contest, due to biased officiating by Nick Patrick. Nash and Hall lost their tag titles to the Steiner Brothers, but the next night, Bischoff gave the belts back to the nWo, claiming that Randy Anderson, who ran in to referee the match after Nick Patrick was knocked out, was not a sanctioned referee for the event. On February 23, 1997 at SuperBrawl VII, Roddy Piper would receive another match with Hulk Hogan. Hogan defeated Piper when Randy Savage returned and turned on Piper, joining the nWo. The nWo's power was apparent, but it would soon come to a halt. On the March 3, 1997 Nitro, Harvey Schiller, the President of Turner Sports and Bischoff's superior, made an appearance and suspended Bischoff for abusing his powers. He then informed Big Bubba Rogers and V.K. Wallstreet that they could not be members of the nWo under the terms of their WCW contract. Hence, a match was made for March 16, 1997 at Uncensored. The match consisted of 3 teams: Team WCW, consisting of Lex Luger, Rick & Scott Steiner (Rick was attacked before the match and never made it to the ring), and The Giant; Team Horsemen consisting of Roddy Piper, Jeff Jarrett, Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael; and Team nWo consisting of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Randy Savage. Team nWo won the match, and because of the pre-match stipulations, they could now challenge for any WCW title whenever and wherever they wished. After the match Sting descended from the ceiling and attacked the nWo with a baseball bat, making it apparent that he was not siding with Hogan and company, even though he had previously allowed Hogan to embrace him in the center of the ring on an earlier episode on Nitro.

Because Hulk Hogan was concerned about his image and his newfound friendship with new nWo member Dennis Rodman, Kevin Nash grew concerned that the focus of the nWo was slipping away from total domination of WCW. There was a brief confrontation between Hogan and Nash, but they never came to blows; instead they settled up, and the nWo seemed stronger than ever. Throughout the spring of 1997, Hogan stayed in the background as The Outsiders and Syxx feuded with the Four Horsemen. Randy Savage was also involved in a major feud with "Diamond" Dallas Page at this time, featuring memorable matches at Spring Stampede and The Great American Bash. In the following weeks, former Dungeon of Doom member Konnan and Japanese stars The Great Muta and Hiroyoshi Tenzan would join the nWo. Muta and Tenzan would make sporadic appearances with the nWo in the United States, but were prominent members of nWo Japan in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Both Nick Patrick and Ted Dibiase quit the nWo after being disgusted by Kevin Nash's assault on Rick Steiner on April 6, 1997, at Spring Stampede. Patrick returned to being an honest referee, while DiBiase joined up with nWo foes The Steiner Brothers and managed them for a short time when they held the Tag Team titles.

After Lex Luger and The Giant defeated Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, Luger received a title shot against Hogan on August 4, 1997 on Monday Nitro. Hogan submitted to Luger's finishing hold, the Human Torture Rack, dropping the title that he had held onto for nearly one year. In the aftermath, it seemed that the nWo was in disarray. However, Hogan would regain the title five days later at Road Wild. All seemed well again within the nWo.

The focus of the nWo then switched back to the Four Horsemen. When long-time Horseman Arn Anderson announced his retirement in an emotional speech on Monday Nitro on August 25, 1997 he offered his spot as Horsemen "enforcer" to the newly-arrived Curt Hennig. Hennig replied: "It would be an honor". One week later, the nWo would come out on live TV dressed as the Four Horsemen and downgrade and embarrass Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. Kevin Nash, dressed as Arn, would make references to alcoholism and Arn's age. Syxx, dressed as Flair, mocked his age and mannerisms. Backstage, Flair and Anderson were rumored to be genuinely upset at the parody. This led to the WarGames match on September 14, 1997 at Fall Brawl. Team nWo (Kevin Nash, Syxx, Konnan, and Buff Bagwell) defeated Team Horsemen (Flair, Benoit, McMichael, and Hennig) when Hennig turned on the Horsemen and joined the nWo. Steve McMichael submitted in order to stop the nWo from beating on Flair; after the match, Hennig slammed the door of the steel cage on Flair's head as he lay prone. This led to Hennig feuding with Flair, and also led to the return of Roddy Piper. Hogan would face Piper in a steel cage match on October 26, 1997 at Halloween Havoc. Piper won the match, but was beaten badly by Randy Savage and Hogan after the match.

Meanwhile, WCW executive James J. Dillon, began offering Sting nWo opponents in order to get him to help WCW in the war. Sting refused, only wanting one man: Hulk Hogan.

On November 10, 1997 the nWo came to the ring wearing Canadian flags, singing "O Canada," and making references to Bret Hart and the Montreal Screwjob, which had taken place the night before. This led to speculation that Bret Hart would soon be joining the nWo. The next week, Rick Rude joined the nWo live on Nitro, while also appearing on a pre-taped episode of WWF RAW is WAR on the same night. He went on to badmouth the WWF and express sympathy with Bret Hart for the Screwjob. He also made hostile references to Sting, whom he held a grudge against for ending his career three years earlier during a match in Japan.

On November 23, 1997 Scott Hall won the 60 man Battle Royal at World War 3. This win earned him a WCW Title shot in the future.

Bret Hart made his WCW debut on the December 15, 1997 edition of Nitro. Instead of joining the nWo, however, he agreed to be the special referee in the match pitting Larry Zbyszko against the nWo's Eric Bischoff. The winner of the match would gain control of WCW Monday Nitro.

Meanwhile, frustrated by Sting's constant psychological games, Hogan finally agreed to face Sting and put the WCW title on the line. Sting vs. Hogan and Bischoff vs. Zbyszko were booked for Starrcade, which WCW called the biggest PPV event in the business. On the Monday before Starrcade, the nWo staged a complete takeover of WCW Monday Nitro; the act was somewhat symbolic, as the show was emanating from Macon, Georgia, the same city in which Scott Hall had first appeared in WCW in May 1996. The nWo tore down the set and ran off commentators Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay. They then replaced all WCW logos with the nWo logo, and turned Nitro into nWo Monday Nitro. It seemed as if the nWo was poised to take full control after a year and a half of fighting WCW. (This event was intended as a legit test run for a permanent changeover of Nitro to an nWo-centric show, with the soon-debuting Thunder becoming the WCW-centric prime-time show. However, due to abysmal ratings following the twenty-plus minutes of the conversion of the set on live television, the plan for an nWo weekly show was quietly dropped, with the only evidence being the occasional nWo Monday Nitro t-shirt being worn by an nWo member.)

At Starrcade on December 28, 1997 Zbyszko defeated Bischoff by disqualification after Scott Hall interfered. This gave full control of Nitro to WCW. In the main event, Sting defeated Hogan to become the WCW champion. Hogan had originally pinned Sting, but confusion arose when Bret Hart appeared at ringside and accused referee and former nWo member Nick Patrick of making a fast count, claiming "it would never happen again." Hart laid out Patrick and ordered the match to continue with himself as the referee. Hogan then submitted to Sting's Scorpion Death Lock.

After 13 months of inactivity, Sting had finally stood up for WCW and ended Hogan's reign atop the company. WCW now had full control of Nitro, and it seemed that the nWo would fall apart at the seams.

1998
Because of the controversy surrounding Sting's title win, James J. Dillon vacated the title on January 8, 1998 on the inaugural episode of WCW Thunder and announced a title match between Sting and Hogan to take place at SuperBrawl VIII. This prompted Sting to finally speak after 16 months, telling Dillon "You have no guts!" before turning to Hogan and declaring him a "dead man". Meanwhile, Dusty Rhodes, former WWF star Brian Adams, and Hogan's best friend Ed Leslie (now known as The Disciple) all joined the nWo.

Soon, problems began to arise between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Savage had attempted to defeat Lex Luger on numerous occasions, but lost because of botched interference from fellow nWo members, including Hogan. This led to heated arguments between Savage and Hogan, and there were near physical confrontations between Savage and Nash. On February 22, 1998, at SuperBrawl VIII, Sting defeated Hogan to win the vacated world title. On the same card, Scott Steiner turned on his brother Rick and joined the nWo. Randy Savage would then make his intentions clear: He didn't need the nWo's help, and now that Hogan had dropped the ball, he would defeat Sting to take the WCW title back to the nWo. Hogan & Savage would try to one-up each other on episodes of Nitro and WCW Thunder. On March 15, 1998, at Uncensored, Savage and Hogan attempted to settle their differences in a steel cage match. The match ended in a no contest. On the same card, Scott Hall received his title shot against Sting, but lost the match. Randy Savage would then state to Hogan that there were certain members of the nWo who were plotting to throw him out of the group.

After nWo member Sean Waltman (Syxx) was released from his contract, Kevin Nash confronted Hogan and Bischoff. Hulk Hogan stated that Waltman "couldn't cut the mustard".

The differences within the nWo were becoming more apparent. Randy Savage and Kevin Nash were suddenly realizing that Hogan was only looking out for himself, and the nWo was secondary. Kevin Nash sided with Savage after Hogan had interfered in a number of Sting/Nash matches, not wanting to have to face Nash to take back his title. Kevin Nash supported Savage in his quest to defeat Sting, but also agreed to team with Hogan against the returning Roddy Piper and The Giant in a Bat Match. Nash made it clear, however, that he would just as soon use the bat on Hogan. On April 19, 1998, at Spring Stampede, Hogan & Nash defeated Piper and The Giant. After the match, Hogan assaulted Kevin Nash. Randy Savage beat Sting to become WCW world champion with help from Nash on the same night. The next night on Nitro, Hogan would challenge Savage for the title.

During the match, interference by both Kevin Nash and Bret Hart played a major role. Nash powerbombed Hogan, but when Bret Hart laid Hogan's body over Randy Savage, Hogan won and walked away with the title. This signaled the split of the nWo into two factions. On May 4, 1998, Kevin Nash and Randy Savage appeared wearing black shirts with a red nWo logo, as opposed to the familiar white logo. They called themselves nWo Wolfpac, and were joined soon after by Konnan, Miss Elizabeth, Curt Hennig, and Rick Rude. Hogan's side were the original Black & White, also known as nWo Hollywood: Eric Bischoff, Scott Steiner, Scott Norton, Vincent, The Disciple, and Brian Adams. Bret Hart seemed to be siding with Hogan, but was never officially named an nWo member. nWo members Scott Hall & Buff Bagwell were out of action at this time, and their alliances were not yet known.

On May 17, 1998, at Slamboree, Scott Hall would return wearing the red & black, and joined his partner Kevin Nash in a scheduled tag-team title defense against Sting and The Giant, who had recently rejoined the nWo on Hogan's side (making Sting his unwilling partner in the match, which had been signed prior to Giant's defection back to the nWo). During the match, Scott Hall turned on Nash and joined nWo Hollywood. After his match with Roddy Piper on the same night, Randy Savage was forced to leave wrestling due to knee injuries and would not be seen again for nearly a year. On May 25, 1998, Lex Luger joined the nWo Wolfpac, stating "it just feels right", and asked Sting to do the same. On June 1, 1998, Sting also joined the nWo Wolfpac. On June 14, 1998, Curt Hennig and Rick Rude jumped back to nWo Hollywood after attacking Konnan and causing him to lose a match to Bill Goldberg. On July 6, 1998, Hulk Hogan lost his world title to Bill Goldberg after Scott Hall failed to stop Goldberg in an earlier match. During the summer of 1998, Hogan & Eric Bischoff would feud with the likes of Jay Leno and Karl Malone, while Kevin Nash attempted to gain revenge on Scott Hall.

The nWo Wolfpac became hugely popular amongst wrestling fans in the summer of 1998 while continuing their battle with nWo Hollywood. Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan had his own battle to deal with in the form of The Warrior, who returned to wrestling on an August edition of WCW Monday Nitro. Warrior would form his own faction dubbed the One Warrior Nation, which included himself and former nWo member The Disciple.

On October 25, 1998, at Halloween Havoc, Scott Hall defeated Kevin Nash by count out. Hulk Hogan defeated The Warrior when Hogan's nephew, Horace, interfered and joined nWo Hollywood. Bret Hart defeated Wolfpac member Sting, putting him out of action for about 6 months.

On November 22, 1998, at World War 3, nWo Hollywood attacked Scott Hall and kicked him out of the group for disrespecting Hogan and Bischoff a few weeks earlier. Kevin Nash went on to win the 60 man battle royal and earned a WCW World Title shot. On the Thanksgiving episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, nWo Hollywood leader Hulk Hogan announced his retirement from professional wrestling. Scott Steiner would go on to assume the leadership role in the nWo Hollywood faction.

During that same month, Harlem Heat's Stevie Ray, who had previously flirted with the possibility of becoming a member of the nWo, officially joined nWo Hollywood after turning on Booker T.

On December 27, 1998, at Starrcade, nWo Wolfpac leader Kevin Nash won the WCW World Heavyweight Title by defeating Bill Goldberg when Scott Hall interfered and used a stun gun on Goldberg. Nash, however, did not see the attack and pinned Goldberg. The next night on Monday Nitro, Randy Savage returned wearing an nWo black-and-white t-shirt, but instead helped Ric Flair defeat Eric Bischoff in a match to determine the WCW presidency. This match also marked The Giant's final appearance in a WCW ring, which ended when Savage crotched him on the ropes and clotheslined him out of the ring.

1999
On the January 4, 1999 episode of Nitro Goldberg was scheduled to have a championship rematch with Nash. A false imprisonment instigated by the nWo would remove Goldberg from the match, causing the match to be replaced with Nash vs. the returning Hulk Hogan. In the match, which has been called the "Fingerpoke of Doom" by fans, after the bell rang to begin the bout, Hogan poked Nash in the chest, after which Nash fell to the mat until Hogan was able to get the pin and win the match. The conspiracy led to a reorganization of the nWo, with the nWo elite (Hogan, Nash, Hall, Buff Bagwell, Scott Steiner, Lex Luger and Miss Elizabeth) reunited under the Wolfpac label, while the undercard wrestlers in the nWo continued in the "black and white" faction. This short-lived group was sardonically labeled the nWo B-Team by fans and commentators.

The end of the nWo in WCW
By mid 1999, the nWo had disappeared. In late 1999, the nWo came back for one more run as the silver and black (rather than black and white). This version was also referred to as "nWo 2000" and the word "new" in "new World order" logo was underlined to emphasise that this was a new version of the group. Consisting of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, and the Harris twins (Don and Ron). Several fitness models(Tylene Buck, April Hunter, Kim Kanner, Midajah and Pamela Paulshock) were brought in who would come to ringside with the group only to be ordered to the back by Jeff Jarrett. This nWo lasted into early 2000, but soon faded away, in great part due to the injury and retirement of Bret "The Hitman" Hart, the leader of the group. By this point, not only the nWo, but the entire WCW, had lapsed into what seemed to be an inevitable and permanent decline, constantly bettered by the WWF and relegated to a permanent second-place status, a situation many longtime WCW fans blamed in part on WCW management having stayed with the nWo storyline for entirely too long. The lead heel group in WCW was eventually replaced by The New Blood.

Re-emergence in WWF/E
After the WWF bought WCW in 2001, Vince McMahon brought in Hogan, Hall and Nash as the nWo, at the No Way Out PPV on February 17, 2002. In this storyline, the nWo was brought in as McMahon's allies in an attempt to "kill" the WWF so that McMahon would not have to share power with new WWF "co-owner" Ric Flair. However, Hogan left the group after he lost his WrestleMania X8 match with The Rock and was assaulted after that match by Hall and Nash. Hogan's comeback to the WWF after 8 years had fans cheering him, more than even The Rock. As a result, he turned face and began feuding with Hall and Nash, with The Rock at his side. Hall and Nash brought in two nWo members afterwards, X-Pac (formerly known as Syxx, who was also a former nWo member whilst in WCW), on March 21, 2002, at SmackDown! in Ottawa, Ontario and The Big Show (formerly known as The Giant), on April 22, 2002.

The nWo reunion in the WWF would not last long, however. Hall was released in May due to drinking problems during a UK tour. Flair later became a semi-member of the nWo after turning on Stone Cold Steve Austin. As owner of RAW, Flair set up a lumberjack match with Austin against the newest member of the nWo, which turned out to be Booker T. Booker had just finished a silly skit with Goldust minutes earlier, where he had been wearing a lumberjack costume and fake beard, all but destroying his "tough" momentum going into the match. Nash introduced Shawn Michaels into the nWo on June 3, 2002. Michaels then "kicked" Booker out of the nWo (he literally hit Booker with his Sweet Chin Music) one week later.

Abruptly, the nWo was (kayfabe) disbanded by McMahon on July 15, 2002, after he regained full control of WWE from Ric Flair. The final nail in the nWo coffin was X-Pac (legitly) fainting on July 15, 2002 before the show and Nash tearing a quadriceps muscle during a match one week prior to the disbanding, taking him out of action for several months. Ironically, the nWo disbanded on the same night that Eric Bischoff, the man who was often credited for creating the nWo, made his debut in WWE as the general manager of RAW. At the time of the nWo's demise, Michaels was offering Triple H membership in the nWo.

Members
Each of the following wrestlers have, at some point, been a member of some official incarnation of the New World Order:

New World Order (nWo)

 * Hollywood Hogan
 * Kevin Nash
 * Scott Hall
 * Ted DiBiase
 * The Giant
 * Vincent
 * Syxx
 * Buff Bagwell
 * Eric Bischoff
 * Miss Elizabeth
 * nWo Sting
 * Curt Hennig
 * Rick Rude
 * Konnan
 * Nick Patrick (the nWo referee)
 * Dennis Rodman
 * V.K. Wallstreet
 * Big Bubba Rogers
 * "Macho Man" Randy Savage
 * Scott Norton
 * Masahiro Chono
 * The Disciple
 * Kyle Pretty (drove the nWo race car)
 * Scott Steiner
 * Brian Adams
 * Dusty Rhodes
 * Louie Spicolli*

nWo Japan

 * The Great Muta
 * Masahiro Chono
 * Hiroyoshi Tenzan
 * Satoshi Kojima
 * Hiro Saito
 * AKIRA
 * Tatsutoshi Goto
 * Michiyoshi Ohara
 * Big Bubba
 * Scott Norton
 * Michael Wallstreet
 * Louie Spicolli
 * Big Titan

nWo Hollywood

 * Hollywood Hogan
 * The Giant
 * Eric Bischoff
 * Vincent
 * Scott Norton
 * Buff Bagwell
 * Miss Elizabeth
 * Dennis Rodman
 * Scott Steiner
 * Brian Adams
 * Dusty Rhodes
 * The Disciple
 * Stevie Ray
 * Horace Hogan
 * Scott Hall
 * Curt Hennig
 * Rick Rude
 * Bret Hart*
 * Kyle Petty (Drove the nWo NASCAR Busch Series Car)

nWo Wolfpac

 * Kevin Nash
 * Randy Savage
 * Sting
 * Lex Luger
 * Konnan
 * Scott Hall
 * Curt Hennig
 * Rick Rude

nWo "Elite"
Also known as "nWo Reunion"
 * Hollywood Hogan
 * Kevin Nash
 * Scott Hall
 * Buff Bagwell
 * Scott Steiner
 * Lex Luger
 * Miss Elizabeth
 * Eric Bischoff
 * Disco Inferno
 * David Flair

nWo "B–Team"
(also known as 'nWo Black & White')
 * Scott Norton
 * Stevie Ray
 * Vincent
 * Horace Hogan
 * Brian Adams

nWo 2000
(also known as 'nWo Silver')
 * Kevin Nash
 * Scott Hall
 * Bret Hart
 * Jeff Jarrett
 * Scott Steiner
 * Ron Harris
 * Don Harris

WWE Incarnations
There were many incarnations of the nWo in WWE which included:

1st incarnation
 * Hulk Hogan - kicked out after turning face.
 * Kevin Nash
 * Scott Hall

2nd incarnation
 * Scott Hall - Released after an incident on a plane trip from Europe.
 * X-Pac - Replaced Hulk Hogan after Hogan was kicked out of the group.
 * The Big Show - Joined after turning on his tag partner, Steve Austin, in a match with the nWo.
 * Booker T - Joined after Ric Flair announced him to be the newest member. Kicked out (literally) by Shawn Michaels.
 * Kevin Nash - Returned from injury as the leader of the nWo.
 * Shawn Michaels

Unofficial members
 * Vince McMahon - Brought the nWo into the WWF and appeared on their side in the feuds against Rock and Austin that went up to WrestleMania X8. He had little to do with the group after that time, although after Kevin Nash's injury, McMahon came to the ring on the following RAW for an interview to the nWo theme song and entrance lights. He said he was doing so to give nWo fans a send-off for the group as, with Flair no longer owning any portion of the WWE and McMahon again in total control of his company, they were "no longer needed". Also, although not played up during the WWE tenure of the group, a 1996 lawsuit between the WWF and WCW alleged that WCW was portraying the nWo as being masterminded by Vince McMahon. McMahon even hinted at this during the prelude to the 2001 WCW Invasion, when he mentioned "certain superstars" aiding him in defeating WCW.
 * Ric Flair - After making his second-to-latest heel run by turning on Austin, Flair began helping the nWo and vice versa. Flair even made Booker T a member, but Flair was never mentioned to be part of the group.
 * Goldust - During nWo's 3rd incarnation, Goldust signed a petition to join the nWo. He began wearing black-and-white make-up and wearing the nWo shirt. He also began hanging around the group, especially Booker T. The nWo hated Goldust but Kevin Nash gave him a chance to join, saying if he could beat X-Pac, he would replace him on the team. Goldust lost the match.
 * Triple H - Prior to the nWo's demise, Shawn Michaels was trying to get Triple H to join the 4th incarnation of the group. Also, at King Of The Ring in 2002, The nWo ran into Triple H before his WWE title match and offered to help him if he needed it, which Triple H refused. Three of his best friends, Michaels, Kevin Nash and X-Pac, were in the group and embraced him when he ran into them at King Of The Ring.
 * Bret Hart - Though a certified member of the "nWo 2000" incarnation, Hart's membership in the 1997 nWo and 1998 "Hollywood" versions is not easy to categorize. In late 1997, the nWo announced that Hart was joining them, and he was even introduced on Nitro as an "nWo member" selected to referee a match at Starrcade. However, Hart helped WCW wrestlers at Starrcade and declared himself a WCW wrestler. Later, Hart turned heel and helped Hulk Hogan in his feud with the Macho Man and Roddy Piper. Hart never officially declared his membership with the nWo, and appeared only to be supporting Hulk Hogan. Off-camera, in Hart's weekly newspaper column, he discussed wanting revenge at Hogan's departure from the WWF in 1993, which prevented a championship match between the two for that company's World Title; from that perspective, his siding with Hogan was the execution of that plan. However, a match between the two never occurred and Hart was shown to be a member of the nWo Hollywood team at the 1998 Fall Brawl.
 * Diamond Dallas Page - During the Hollywood/Wolfpac split in 1998, Kevin Nash issued multiple invitations for DDP to join WCW mainstays Lex Luger and Sting on the nWo Wolfpac team, given DDP and the Wolfpac's mutual distrust for Hulk Hogan and the nWo Hollywood. DDP flirted with the idea for weeks and appeared to be ready to join the nWo Wolfpac when he was attacked from behind by Hogan, setting up the series of tag team matches between them and assorted celebrities (Jay Leno, Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone, all of whom wrestled for WCW that summer).
 * The Nasty Boys - shortly after the formation of the nWo, The Nasty Boys were seen backstage associated with the nWo. However, they were never officially inducted, as they "didn't have official nWo colors" and were never given group t-shirts, a fact Hulk Hogan pointed out to them before ordering a beat-down against them by the rest of the nWo.
 * Bobby Heenan - Bobby "The Brain" begged for a job after the nWo took over a broadcast of Nitro. This was shortly before the 1997 Starrcade event that saw WCW win a match to guarantee control of Monday Nitro, effectively ending any future for "nWo Monday Nitro" and ensuring that Heenan remained on the WCW broadcast team.
 * Barry Windham - Windham was never an official member, but appeared to be a "hired hand" who helped the nWo and Curt Hennig.

Spinoffs and parodies

 * bWo (Blue World Order)
 * Stevie Richards', Nova's and The Blue Meanie's answer to the nWo in ECW, the group was a parody of the nWo, and its primary colors were blue and white. Stevie was "Big Stevie Cool" (a parody of Nash's nickname "Big Daddy Cool"), Meanie was "Da Blue Guy" (a parody of Hall's nickname "Da Bad Guy"), and Nova was "Hollywood Nova" (a parody of Hogan's new nickname, "Hollywood Hogan"). Members of the Japanese faction Kaientai-DX (Dick Togo, Men's Teioh and TAKA Michinoku) were briefly associated with the group. (Note; When the bWo, along with the rest of ECW, made a guest appearance on Monday Night Raw, Vince McMahon was reluctant to say what the bWo was a parody of, claiming on air that the nWo was a "clothing line".) On July 7th, 2005, the bWo reunited once again this time to confront JBL.  The bWo's last appearance was on July 24, 2005, in the undercard of the WWE's Great American Bash PPV in a match against The Mexicools (Juventud Guerrera, Super Crazy, and Psicosis).


 * LWO (Latino World Order)
 * After Eddie Guerrero's spat with WCW head Eric Bischoff, a real-life conflict that was turned into a storyline, Eddie formed the Latino World Order, or "LWO" for short. The group consisted of almost every major Mexican wrestler on the WCW roster. Their colors were green, white and red, the same colors as the Mexican flag. Their main feud was with Rey Mysterio Jr., who was reluctant to join the LWO, and Billy Kidman, his off-and-on American tag team partner. The group shortly folded in early 1999 after Guerrero's car accident on New Years, when the nWo Wolfpac forced them to disband. All complied except Mysterio, who would then enter a feud with The Outsiders.


 * oWn (One Warrior Nation)
 * The Warrior's group, the One Warrior Nation, reversed the nWo acronym when the Warrior made his WCW debut. The newer faction only grew to have two members - the other being Hollywood Hulk Hogan's associate and real-life friend The Disciple, who Warrior supposedly brainwashed. The oWn was basically forgotten about after Warrior could not come to terms with WCW over pay and was later released to never be heard from once again.


 * dMp
 * An evil group of wrestlers in the manga Ultimate Muscle, whose main team member was called Kevin Mask, a play on Kevin Nash's name. dMp meaning Destruction, Mayhem and Pain


 * D-Generation X
 * Many wrestling fans still argue whether DX was a parody, a rip-off, or an answer to the nWo. Most fans realize however that Hall, Nash and the members of DX are all real life friends and are a part of their self-named group "The Clique". Made up of Triple H, Chyna, Shawn Michaels, Rick Rude, X-Pac, and The New Age Outlaws in the WWF, they attempted to out-nWo the nWo, mooning other wrestlers, jumping opponents from behind, yelling their catchphrase "Suck It!" while doing their famous cross-handed Crotch Chop, and even showing up at WCW shows to harass people standing in line for tickets. One incident that almost caused a lawsuit happened when DX told people in line for Nitro tickets that the show was sold out, and that they should leave. Another "sketch" showed the DX members, dressed in camo gear, "invading" WCW offices, demanding to see Ted Turner and generally making pests of themselves.
 * When TNA pulled a similar stunt on WWE years later, WWE threatened to sue to prevent TNA from showing any of the footage on their TV show. In late 2004, WWE came to Universal Studios (where TNA tapes their shows) to shoot a Royal Rumble commercial. Tracy Brooks along with Shane Douglas, Abyss, and the 3Live Kru came to greet the WWE wrestlers with milk & cookies. Ron Killings took some mahi-mahi off the catering table. WWE threatened to sue if TNA showed any of that footage. Throughout December's Turning Point PPV, TNA aired parody segments with people pretending to be Triple H and Vince McMahon. Interesting bits include Tracy bringing milk & cookies into the room, and a midget kicking "McMahon" in the groin. Before showing the real footage, Mike Tenay remarked (not word-for-word): "Here's the footage that WWE doesn't want you to see. It's not like we drove a tank up to their headquarters in Stamford". (An obvious dig at the DX invasion of the CNN building). The actual footage blurred out all the WWE wrestlers, but one of the wrestlers that was easy to identify despite being blurred out was Rey Mysterio (he wasn't wearing his mask) who is very good friends with Konnan of the 3Live Kru. No suit was filed by WWE.


 * pWo (Pussy World Order)
 * A splinter faction of Women's Extreme Wrestling (aka "Women's Erotic Wrestling"), an all female promotion located in Philadelphia. The pWo was the first major push into x-rated storylines for WEW, and saw several adult film actresses - Taylor St. Clair, Angelica Sin, Keri Windsor and Aria - "invade" WEW. Stephanie Bellars AKA George Frankenstein was later added to this group


 * The Kings of Wrestling
 * The Kings of Wrestling (often shortened to KOW) was a short-lived stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling featuring former nWo members Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. Forming in November 2004, the KOW performed several actions similar to those done by the nWo, including shocking heel turns, random match interruptions, and taking over the locker room. However, the group had more of an Elvis Presley-like theme and wardrobe, and didn't look like an nWo type group on the surface. The KOW quietly disbanded in early 2005 after Nash turned on Jarrett and Hall was fired due to alcohol and personal issues.


 * Dynamite World Order
 * The Dynamite World Order was a group formed in 1996 by wrestlers who had quit the Slammers Wrestling Federation. Led by future Xtreme Pro Wrestling superstar "Dynamite D" Darren McMillan, they - in a non-scripted incident - stormed the ring at a Slammers Wrestling Federation and proceeded to run down the SWF and its promoter, Verne Langdon. The incident had a major role in leading to the formation of Xtreme Pro Wrestling.