The Outsiders are a tag team consisting of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. They first formed in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1996, and later teamed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX.
Hall and Nash were both good friends and part of the backstage wrestling group known as "The Kliq", which was used as part of their gimmick. When teaming with their fellow Kliq buddy, Syxx, they were known as the Wolfpac.
History[]
World Championship Wrestling[]
The Outsiders were formed in 1996 when Hall and Nash signed with World Championship Wrestling after leaving the World Wrestling Federation. In the storyline, Hall led an invasion, appearing on WCW programming and insinuating that he was doing so under orders from his WWF employers and warning that he would soon be joined by others. Their angle was the precursor to the heel turn of Hulk Hogan and the formation of the New World Order (nWo), a major wrestling storyline that dominated WCW programming for several years afterwards.
The Outsiders captured the WCW World Tag Team Championship six times, first winning them from Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) at Halloween Havoc in October 1996. They dropped the title to The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott Steiner) at the 1997 Souled Out event, only to have WCW President Eric Bischoff reverse the decision on the next night's edition of WCW Monday Nitro. A near repeat of these events occurred the next month when Hall and Nash lost to the team of Lex Luger and The Giant at SuperBrawl VII, with Bischoff again abusing his power and quickly returning the titles to The Outsiders. The Outsiders became the conerstones of the nWo and were popular with the fans despite being heels and feuding with babyfaces such as the Steiners and Lex Luger and the Giant.
In October 1997, fellow nWo and ex-Kliq member Syxx began substituting for a legitimately injured Nash, teaming with Hall to defend the titles on numerous occasions. This pairing eventually lost the title to The Steiner Brothers in on October 13, 1997. The Outsiders and Steiners traded the title back and forth at both televised and non-televised events until Scott Steiner turned on his brother, joining the nWo and giving the title to Hall and Nash.
In May 1998 The Outsiders team broke up due to dissension within the nWo, with Hall choosing to join nWo Hollywood and Nash joining with The Wolfpac, a name that the Outsiders and Syxx trio originally referred to themselves as in 1997. The split team faced each other once later in the year before coming back together in December 1999 to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship one more time. It did not last, however, as Hall legitimately no-showed an event, the title was stripped from them, and the team was dissolved.
World Wrestling Entertainment[]
In 2002, with the World Wrestling Federation owning WCW and its trademarks, The Outsiders and Hogan reformed as the nWo in a WWF ring. The reunion was short lived as Hogan turned face at WrestleMania X8, Nash was injured, and Hall was released from WWE shortly after their arrival.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[]
In late 2004 and early 2005, Hall and Nash teamed again, this time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as part of the Kings of Wrestling, but they were not allowed to use the name The Outsiders, as its copyright is now owned by the WWE. For weeks, vignettes were aired heralding the return of "The Outsiders" to wrestling. They made their debut by attacking Jeff Hardy with guitars during a NWA World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Jarrett. After the match, Nash cut a promo on how they were better than the entire TNA locker room and challenged anyone to oppose them. A.J. Styles accepted, but was beaten down by the new stable. Randy Savage then made his debut in TNA, entering the Impact Zone to face off with the heels.
On TNA Impact! the following week, Nash proclaimed the trio of himself, Hall, and Jarrett to be called "The Kings of Wrestling". The Kings wreaked havoc on multiple episodes of Impact! before being challenged and defeated by Savage, Styles and Hardy in a Six Man Tag Team Match at Turning Point. After the Six Man Tag Team Match, Savage was next in line for a title shot (having pinned the champ, Jarrett, in their previous encounter), but in light of him leaving the company, Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes appointed a three-way match at Final Resolution to achieve a number one contender to the NWA Title. The first two competitors announced were Diamond Dallas Page and Monty Brown. The third was Kevin Nash, Jarrett's ally in the Kings of Wrestling.
The group hit a period of friction, as Nash openly competed for the title shot at Final Resolution (losing when Page dumped him over the top rope) before earning a shot at Jarrett's NWA title at Against All Odds. After the pay-per-view, the Kings of Wrestling parted ways.
Hall resurfaced on the Impact! show prior to Genesis in 2007, teasing as Sting's partner for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship tag team match. At Turning Point, Hall and Nash were supposed to have their first tag team match together in a TNA ring since 2004, also teaming with Samoa Joe to take on the Angle Alliance but Hall was replaced in the match by Eric Young, who eventually won the match with his team. Hall told TNA Management he did not show at the event because of health problems.
Other appearances[]
Hall and Nash main evented Dream Stage Entertainment's May 8, 2004 Hustle 3 pay-per-view, losing to the team of Shinya Hashimoto and Naoya Ogawa.
On August 10, 2008 Nash and Hall teamed up again as The Outsiders at Bloodymania II to defeat The Thomaselli Brothers (Brandon and Vito Thomaselli). Nash also positioned himself as a member of the Juggalo World Order, which Hall was already a part of.
On March 21, 2009 the Outsiders teamed for Great Lakes Championship Wrestling against The New Age Outlaws in what was the first nWo vs DX match. Kevin Nash walked out on Scott Hall.
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked #40 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years in 2003
- Tag Team of the Year Award (1997)