'Tis True.
Now then, let's establish the context of the matter first. When I say succeed, I mean among the mainstream media. Read; I mean among those who had absolutely no clue regarding the situation. Sure, the IWC was entirely capable and knew that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were under contract with the WWE. We may have all known that; The Mainstream Media, however, did not. Hell, for all the mainstream knew, you had these two interlopers (Would have been more funny if they went with that name, instead of Outsiders) who were part of another company, sent to sabotage the other. So remember this point throughout the entire thread; when I say succeeded, I mean financially. I mean in terms of gaining viewers to watch their shows, merchandise sales which went through the fucking roof, and butts in the seats, to paraphrase Tony Schiavonte there, as Hulk Hogan liked to call him. When we're talking about the IWC, you really can't factor in our knowledge of what was going on to the success of the angle, because quite frankly, Eric didn't care if he knew the IWC was aware of Hall and Nash's contracts. As long as he could get the news out that The Outsiders were a part of the WCW, and were potentially sent by Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff had succeeded. Because, quite frankly, the mainstream media are morons as it pertains to professional wrestling.
Now, let's also get this out of the way... Yes, I'm aware that Eric Bischoff blatantly asked Hall and Nash if they were part of the WWE. Mere pandering for the potential lawsuit, if anything. The only reason Eric Bischoff threw that in there was to cover his ass when Jerry McLevitt came calling with a copyright infringement lawsuit. Of course, that would come anyway, but nevertheless, Bischoff only put that out there to cover his ass. Aside from that one statement, every thing about that angle implied at the very least, that Hall and Nash were sent by Vince. Besides that, if we all remember correctly, what was the most memorable thing about that promo? Hmm... I don't know. Could it have been the powerbomb through a fucking table? Why, yes, of course it was the powerbomb of Eric Bischoff through the god damn table! As a matter of fact, let's watch that exact same promo I'm talking about right now....
Yeah, because that wasn't anything like their on screen chracters in the WWE. I guess we should "carve it up" to sheer coincidence, right? You know, like a Razor?
Anyway, realistically, did you really remember anything after the powerbomb? That was such a shocking moment at the time, that quite frankly, didn't it make everything else you saw seem.... forgotten? I argue, and still do, that there was clear intent there. Bischoff needed something to cover his ass in court, by saying he said on screen they did not work for the WWE. All of which meant absolute bumblefuck after he was powerbombed through a fucking table, because that was the moment to remember after that interview. If you were to ask 100 people about what they remembered from that promo, I'd say 95 of them would say they remember the powerbomb, and nothing more.
Now then, let's be honest here; what was the appeal of signing Scott Hall and Kevin Nash? Seriously, what about these two men made it so appealing to have them on roster? Was it their cut-rate work in the ring? Yeah... Try again, junior. The fact of the matter is, Kevin Nash may be the worst worker that was WWE Champion. Scott Hall was a pretty good worker, but nothing more than that. He surely wasn't as good a worker as Sting, as Savage, as Flair, as Anderson, you can go one for days and name better workers that were in WCW at the time. Were they so attractive because they were superstars? Well, yes, off the backs of the WWE. But let's be honest; neither of these men were Shawn, Bret, or The Undertaker, when it comes to star power. Maybe Razor, at best, was the the fifth biggest superstar in the company at the time, and Diesel may have been the fourth biggest. Again, it's a good signing, but not exactly one that warranted the money Eric threw at these men. Razor had always been a mid card champion, and nothing more. People can debate whether he deserved more than that, but all we have was that he was the Intercontinental Champion in the WWE, and that was as big as his star power was. Diesel was probably more of a star, which again, gets kind of crippled by the fact that he was worth fuck all in the ring. Were they so attractive to Eric for their mic skills? Eh, no. Razor Ramon was always great on the mic... In character. And sheerly in character. Scott Hall by himself was pretty average on the mic, and always relied on that little crutch of his, that Tony Montana accent. Which, mind you, was crafted where again? That's right, The WWE. Diesel, while a smart man, never really put it to good use. Must I point out this little golden piece of treasure.
Not exactly Nash's brightest moment on the mic. As for being draws? That will let out the largest pfffft from me since I blatantly stole the joke from Uncle Sam three months ago. Nash was one of the worst drawing champions, and Hall may never really have had a chance to prove he was a draw by himself.
So, out of all of the major points for signing a wrestler, and why they make a good addition to their roster, Hall and Nash have vastly underperformed in all four categories. And God knows I didn't even mention the habit of shit stirring these two boys had. So what made them so attractive? Why, that they could represent the WWE, of course. For years, those in the know, and those not even in the know were looking for a promotion war VS. WWE and WCW. Of course, we all knew it wasn't happening, but the marks of the media, and those who just didn't know any better, really believed this could legitimately happen. In spite of the fact that it really wasn't good business, people really did buy that a promotion war could eventually happen. So, Eric Bischoff, playing off that desire, signed these two guys, without divulging to the audience that they were actually signed. For weeks, they played "Outsiders" who wanted a "war". Of course, they were never reallt outsiders, but that was all that was needed. Once they let that be known, The nWo gimmick was off to the races. Bischoff left for everyone to assume they came from the WWE, and that everything they saw was legitimate. It wasn't so much he told everyone they were part of the WWE, it was that he did not not tell them that Vince sent them, and gave a little wink for the emphasis. He let everyone talk about it, and once that happened, he saw fit to sign every ex WWE wrestler he could find, or put every ex WWE member that was already on roster, into his lineup. of course, it wasn't the WWE, right?
I think the evidence is before you, and we can all come to the same conclusion. The reason that the nWo succeeded was because Eric Bischoff piggybacked off the two characters from WWE he just signed, and without outright saying it, made us all believe that the WWE was invading their promotion. The WWE, more than anything, is responsible for the nWo getting over.
Now then, let's establish the context of the matter first. When I say succeed, I mean among the mainstream media. Read; I mean among those who had absolutely no clue regarding the situation. Sure, the IWC was entirely capable and knew that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were under contract with the WWE. We may have all known that; The Mainstream Media, however, did not. Hell, for all the mainstream knew, you had these two interlopers (Would have been more funny if they went with that name, instead of Outsiders) who were part of another company, sent to sabotage the other. So remember this point throughout the entire thread; when I say succeeded, I mean financially. I mean in terms of gaining viewers to watch their shows, merchandise sales which went through the fucking roof, and butts in the seats, to paraphrase Tony Schiavonte there, as Hulk Hogan liked to call him. When we're talking about the IWC, you really can't factor in our knowledge of what was going on to the success of the angle, because quite frankly, Eric didn't care if he knew the IWC was aware of Hall and Nash's contracts. As long as he could get the news out that The Outsiders were a part of the WCW, and were potentially sent by Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff had succeeded. Because, quite frankly, the mainstream media are morons as it pertains to professional wrestling.
Now, let's also get this out of the way... Yes, I'm aware that Eric Bischoff blatantly asked Hall and Nash if they were part of the WWE. Mere pandering for the potential lawsuit, if anything. The only reason Eric Bischoff threw that in there was to cover his ass when Jerry McLevitt came calling with a copyright infringement lawsuit. Of course, that would come anyway, but nevertheless, Bischoff only put that out there to cover his ass. Aside from that one statement, every thing about that angle implied at the very least, that Hall and Nash were sent by Vince. Besides that, if we all remember correctly, what was the most memorable thing about that promo? Hmm... I don't know. Could it have been the powerbomb through a fucking table? Why, yes, of course it was the powerbomb of Eric Bischoff through the god damn table! As a matter of fact, let's watch that exact same promo I'm talking about right now....
[YOUTUBE]MKlBXnEkAAw[/YOUTUBE]
Yeah, because that wasn't anything like their on screen chracters in the WWE. I guess we should "carve it up" to sheer coincidence, right? You know, like a Razor?
Anyway, realistically, did you really remember anything after the powerbomb? That was such a shocking moment at the time, that quite frankly, didn't it make everything else you saw seem.... forgotten? I argue, and still do, that there was clear intent there. Bischoff needed something to cover his ass in court, by saying he said on screen they did not work for the WWE. All of which meant absolute bumblefuck after he was powerbombed through a fucking table, because that was the moment to remember after that interview. If you were to ask 100 people about what they remembered from that promo, I'd say 95 of them would say they remember the powerbomb, and nothing more.
Now then, let's be honest here; what was the appeal of signing Scott Hall and Kevin Nash? Seriously, what about these two men made it so appealing to have them on roster? Was it their cut-rate work in the ring? Yeah... Try again, junior. The fact of the matter is, Kevin Nash may be the worst worker that was WWE Champion. Scott Hall was a pretty good worker, but nothing more than that. He surely wasn't as good a worker as Sting, as Savage, as Flair, as Anderson, you can go one for days and name better workers that were in WCW at the time. Were they so attractive because they were superstars? Well, yes, off the backs of the WWE. But let's be honest; neither of these men were Shawn, Bret, or The Undertaker, when it comes to star power. Maybe Razor, at best, was the the fifth biggest superstar in the company at the time, and Diesel may have been the fourth biggest. Again, it's a good signing, but not exactly one that warranted the money Eric threw at these men. Razor had always been a mid card champion, and nothing more. People can debate whether he deserved more than that, but all we have was that he was the Intercontinental Champion in the WWE, and that was as big as his star power was. Diesel was probably more of a star, which again, gets kind of crippled by the fact that he was worth fuck all in the ring. Were they so attractive to Eric for their mic skills? Eh, no. Razor Ramon was always great on the mic... In character. And sheerly in character. Scott Hall by himself was pretty average on the mic, and always relied on that little crutch of his, that Tony Montana accent. Which, mind you, was crafted where again? That's right, The WWE. Diesel, while a smart man, never really put it to good use. Must I point out this little golden piece of treasure.
[YOUTUBE]-ZNOrKud4s0[/YOUTUBE]
Not exactly Nash's brightest moment on the mic. As for being draws? That will let out the largest pfffft from me since I blatantly stole the joke from Uncle Sam three months ago. Nash was one of the worst drawing champions, and Hall may never really have had a chance to prove he was a draw by himself.
So, out of all of the major points for signing a wrestler, and why they make a good addition to their roster, Hall and Nash have vastly underperformed in all four categories. And God knows I didn't even mention the habit of shit stirring these two boys had. So what made them so attractive? Why, that they could represent the WWE, of course. For years, those in the know, and those not even in the know were looking for a promotion war VS. WWE and WCW. Of course, we all knew it wasn't happening, but the marks of the media, and those who just didn't know any better, really believed this could legitimately happen. In spite of the fact that it really wasn't good business, people really did buy that a promotion war could eventually happen. So, Eric Bischoff, playing off that desire, signed these two guys, without divulging to the audience that they were actually signed. For weeks, they played "Outsiders" who wanted a "war". Of course, they were never reallt outsiders, but that was all that was needed. Once they let that be known, The nWo gimmick was off to the races. Bischoff left for everyone to assume they came from the WWE, and that everything they saw was legitimate. It wasn't so much he told everyone they were part of the WWE, it was that he did not not tell them that Vince sent them, and gave a little wink for the emphasis. He let everyone talk about it, and once that happened, he saw fit to sign every ex WWE wrestler he could find, or put every ex WWE member that was already on roster, into his lineup. of course, it wasn't the WWE, right?
I think the evidence is before you, and we can all come to the same conclusion. The reason that the nWo succeeded was because Eric Bischoff piggybacked off the two characters from WWE he just signed, and without outright saying it, made us all believe that the WWE was invading their promotion. The WWE, more than anything, is responsible for the nWo getting over.
