nWo's Cageside Evaluation

What you loved:

1. The Concept - Two stars jump ship to WCW and team up with Hulk Hogan, who finally turns heel at Bash at the Beach. The thought of a wrestling company being invaded by a group of credible stars was beyond awesome!
2. Hogan/Hall/Nash - The founding members, and the best formation of the group. These guys had great chemistry, and were incredibly entertaining to watch.
3. Best Stable Ever - They were number two in our cSs greatest stable tournament, and many of you felt they were the best ever in wrestling.
4. Gimmick - They had a cool logo and colors. Their vignettes were cool. Their entrance music was cool. Oh yea, they...
5. Made Wrestling Cool - This is appropriate with WrestleMania just happening, suddenly everyone digs wrestling, and it's all over the Internet. When the nWo was in its prime, wrestling was at an all-time high where it seemed like everyone watched every single week. I cannot count the number of people who owned an nWo shirt when I was in high school at the time.
   

Best comment goes to JasonGL:

"They were the epitome of cool to me. They were must see TV at that time and the storyline was outstanding, making fans think they really were invading WCW. Nitro and the NWO’s actions were always unpredictable. As soon as I hear that music and see that logo, nostalgia takes over me and I mark out like I’m 10 again."

__________________________________________________________

What you loathed:

1. Bloated - The stable was fine at first, but then everyone wanted in on the group. I mean, when you have Horace Hogan and Vincent joining, shit is going downhill for sure. Not to mention all the reformations they had that just were never as great as the first.
2. Booking - It seems like after awhile they had no long-term booking for the group. Starrcade 1997, nWo Souled Out, and again just too many people joining and leaving. It was a bad mix of ego and chaos.
3. In-Ring - Matches were not great, many broke down into big brawls or guys just getting spray-painted. The group was filled with average workers so quality of matches suffered.
4. Finger-poke of Doom - This is down the road a bit (1999), but I'll add it since the nWo was very much involved and partly led to the demise of WCW. This event was just downright embarrassing, and if I was a paying fan, I would have been beyond pissed.
   
5. WWE Run - Some of you felt it was a way to squeeze blood out of a stone, and WWE trying to get that last little bit out of the "nWo" name. Yet again it started kind of cool (remember Vince McMahon talking to the mirror, spinning around in his chair, with "nWo" on the back? Awesome!), but yeah, it ended terribly

Best comment comes from The Shockmaster:

"Early in the 1992 Vice Presidential debate, Ross Perot’s running mate (war hero Admiral James Stockdale) bluntly answered a question about a controversial topic, adding an emphatic "PERIOD" at the end. He got an unexpectedly strong positive reaction from the audience, but he was a political novice who had no idea how to work a crowd, didn’t know how to keep the momentum going, and simply repeated "PERIOD" after a few awkward seconds. Things went off the rails for him from there, because he simply wasn’t prepared. WCW was Admiral Stockdale, the Monday Night Wars were the 1992 VP debate, and the nWo was the emphatic answer that seemed so promising at first but ended up just being indicative of how over-their-heads they were."

On to the poll! With 255 votes, The nWo's average score is 4.2

Thanks, Cagesiders! Tomorrow's pick might make you pull your hair out.

Until then!