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Pre-Show Stalwart
For those of you who have never heard of WCW, let alone never grew up around the era of the Monday Night Wars era from '95-'01,...
,...let's take ourselves to 1998 where after the WWF had WrestleMania XIV (14) as their most successful WM for the first time in several years with Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon with Mike Tyson playing a factor in the Austin/HBK/Vince feud.
With D-Generation X (DX) now being seen as a cool group of rebels that got over with the fans because of how cool they are, it was hinted that the Original NWO from '96-'98 needed to split into two sides. Plus, Hollywood Hogan and Kevin Nash couldn't get along for much of 1998 when Hogan was always having to use his Creative Control politics to always get his way, and Nash recently seeing his best friend, fellow Kliq buddy and Outsiders tag team partner Scott Hall go to rehab to deal with his ongoing alcoholism after Uncensored '98 where he had just lost his WCW Championship match against Sting, as well as Sean Waltman getting fired by FedEx due to his neck injury that kept him from working in-ring matches in late '97 and early '98.
And when I said rehab, I meant after all, it was the year 1998 in which Scott Hall's ongoing alcoholism was made public knowledge to wrestling fans for the first time ever.
Rumors had Hall and Nash going back to the WWF in '98 which could've happened now that Bret Hart and his family were no longer around in the WWF, and although only Owen remained, he was rightfully a victim of poor booking because there were too many problems backstage and creative-wise for wrestling promoters to deal with the Hart Family for people to give a damn about them.
And NWO Hollywood (Black & White) was supposed to be composed of just the old guys who people didn't care about by 1998, and NWO Wolfpac (Red & Black) were supposed to be composed of guys whose biggest strengths are great promo abilities, hence NWO Wolfpac were supposed to be WCW's version of D-Generation X.
In case a single wrestling fan or a single smark and a single mark don't know it, the original plans in terms of members for the NWO Hollywood/NWO Wolfpac were supposed to be:
NWO Hollywood: Hollwood Hogan, Randy Savage, The Giant, Bret Hart, Stevie Ray, Brian Adams, Vincent, Scott Norton (if there were no plans for Vicious & Delicious/Bagwell & Norton to continue as a tag team), The Disciple (aka Ed Leslie), Eric Bischoff, Miss Elizabeth and Horace Hogan
NWO Wolfpac: Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Konnan, Curt Hennig, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell (he was set to be NWO Wolfpac if he came back from his broken neck that sidelined him for much of 1998), Scott Norton (if there were plans for V&D to continue as a tag team, or have Norton go solo but not talk), Sting and Lex Luger.
Nobody noticed that Scott Hall and Scott Steiner were supposed to be NWO Wolfpac, but it seems like a questionable moot point since Hogan always got his way, and it worked, so Hall, Bagwell, Norton?, Hennig & Steiner were on NWO Hollywood, and Savage was NWO Wolfpac.
And many doubt Steiner being an NWO Wolfpac member in 1998 because he had just turned heel at SuperBrawl VIII against his own brother and former tag team partner Rick which meant The Outsiders pretty much won their feud with The Steiner Brothers for '97-'98.
Scott was supposed to have a feud in the works against his brother Rick in 1998, but WCW writers dragged the brother/brother feud and match to the point that people didn't care about either Steiner. Also, Scott being a Wolfpac member would've neutered all the plans on a brother/brother feud that people ultimately didn't care about anyway.
Plus, Scott Steiner was known to be injury prone at the worst of times, first in 1991 when he had a muscle tear that seriously derailed him as an athletic wrestler and it happened while he was still young and tag teaming with Rick.
Then in late 1996 when he was plagued with a back injury that forced him to the sidelines, and had to be written off in storylines by The Outsiders (Nash & Hall) and Syxx via being run off the road in a car accident. 1997 was when Scott Steiner was beginning to transition from the highly athletic workrate wrestler who was the innovator of the Frankensteiner move (which many cruiserweights use, although it's dubbed Hurricanrana) to the hulking musclebound who is only known for his hilarious promos.
The years of wear and tear from taxing out his body from high impact wrestling moves would've meant that Scott Steiner was 35, not getting any younger, and needed to extend his career longevity by changing his wrestling style since his '88-'97 wrestling style really wrecked his body, especially when every time Scott did the Frankensteiner to oncoming opponents from the ropes, Scott actually hit his head a lot from doing the Frankensteiner during those years.
That was why Scott started doing the Frankensteiner from the top rope, which may have been a high risk maneuver, but it was necessary once he was robbed of his vertical leap. Plus, Scott only does the Frankensteiner every once in a while, and he can't do any high impact moves with regularity any longer once he aged.
So Steiner being a Wolfpac member in '98, that would've meant his 1998 heel turn could be all for nothing, and he would've had to revert back to his high impact wrestling moveset. That would've spelled a recipe for disaster and his career would've been over long ago, so he would've been a poor fit for the Wolfpac. Plus, Scott being a heel made him one of pro wrestling's key heels rather than continuing to risk his body with high impact moves if he continued his career as a face.
And for Scott Norton, I can only see him being a member of the NWO Wolfpac if Buff Bagwell continued to be by his side. Bagwell was very decent on the mic, since he would've been able to hide Norton's lack of promo skills. Vicious and Delicious would've been the clear cut tag team of the NWO Wolfpac, since Nash was the #1 guy, and Hall would've been the U.S. Championship contender frequently as the #2 guy of the Wolfpac.
Speaking of Buff Bagwell, as he was sidelined with a broken neck for much of 1998, rumors had him joining the Wolfpac once he returned to the ring or was rushed back solely for strict promo work.
As for Hall, the reason why Hogan wanted Scott Hall on his side of the NWO was because Hogan wanted a cool guy on his side, since guys like Brian Adams, Scott Norton, The Disciple, Vincent, Horace Hogan and Stevie Ray can't even cut a halfway decent promo if their lives depended on promos, so Hogan fans can't really blame him for wanting to beef up his side of the NWO.
I think The Outsiders should've stayed together as members of the NWO Wolfpac since they were the cool heels who can get cheered like faces whereas Hogan was merely a pure heel who was old news by 1998.
And I think it's a BIG MISTAKE for Hollywood Hogan to demand for Scott Hall to be a member of the NWO Hollywood faction, all because Hogan wanted a cool guy in his side of the NWO instead of Nash's NWO. If anything, couldn't Hogan have relied on himself, Randy Savage and The Giant as the only decent mic talkers in NWO Hollywood instead.
Now that the original plans revolving around the NWO Hollywood/NWO Wolfpac members have been revealed to IWC circles, let me know if you are in either agreement or disagreement in terms of NWO members from either NWO Hollywood or NWO Wolfpac, regarding the likes of Hogan, Savage, Hall, Nash, Hennig, Konnan, Bagwell, Steiner or Norton.
,...let's take ourselves to 1998 where after the WWF had WrestleMania XIV (14) as their most successful WM for the first time in several years with Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon with Mike Tyson playing a factor in the Austin/HBK/Vince feud.
With D-Generation X (DX) now being seen as a cool group of rebels that got over with the fans because of how cool they are, it was hinted that the Original NWO from '96-'98 needed to split into two sides. Plus, Hollywood Hogan and Kevin Nash couldn't get along for much of 1998 when Hogan was always having to use his Creative Control politics to always get his way, and Nash recently seeing his best friend, fellow Kliq buddy and Outsiders tag team partner Scott Hall go to rehab to deal with his ongoing alcoholism after Uncensored '98 where he had just lost his WCW Championship match against Sting, as well as Sean Waltman getting fired by FedEx due to his neck injury that kept him from working in-ring matches in late '97 and early '98.
And when I said rehab, I meant after all, it was the year 1998 in which Scott Hall's ongoing alcoholism was made public knowledge to wrestling fans for the first time ever.
Rumors had Hall and Nash going back to the WWF in '98 which could've happened now that Bret Hart and his family were no longer around in the WWF, and although only Owen remained, he was rightfully a victim of poor booking because there were too many problems backstage and creative-wise for wrestling promoters to deal with the Hart Family for people to give a damn about them.
And NWO Hollywood (Black & White) was supposed to be composed of just the old guys who people didn't care about by 1998, and NWO Wolfpac (Red & Black) were supposed to be composed of guys whose biggest strengths are great promo abilities, hence NWO Wolfpac were supposed to be WCW's version of D-Generation X.
In case a single wrestling fan or a single smark and a single mark don't know it, the original plans in terms of members for the NWO Hollywood/NWO Wolfpac were supposed to be:
NWO Hollywood: Hollwood Hogan, Randy Savage, The Giant, Bret Hart, Stevie Ray, Brian Adams, Vincent, Scott Norton (if there were no plans for Vicious & Delicious/Bagwell & Norton to continue as a tag team), The Disciple (aka Ed Leslie), Eric Bischoff, Miss Elizabeth and Horace Hogan
NWO Wolfpac: Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Konnan, Curt Hennig, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell (he was set to be NWO Wolfpac if he came back from his broken neck that sidelined him for much of 1998), Scott Norton (if there were plans for V&D to continue as a tag team, or have Norton go solo but not talk), Sting and Lex Luger.
Nobody noticed that Scott Hall and Scott Steiner were supposed to be NWO Wolfpac, but it seems like a questionable moot point since Hogan always got his way, and it worked, so Hall, Bagwell, Norton?, Hennig & Steiner were on NWO Hollywood, and Savage was NWO Wolfpac.
And many doubt Steiner being an NWO Wolfpac member in 1998 because he had just turned heel at SuperBrawl VIII against his own brother and former tag team partner Rick which meant The Outsiders pretty much won their feud with The Steiner Brothers for '97-'98.
Scott was supposed to have a feud in the works against his brother Rick in 1998, but WCW writers dragged the brother/brother feud and match to the point that people didn't care about either Steiner. Also, Scott being a Wolfpac member would've neutered all the plans on a brother/brother feud that people ultimately didn't care about anyway.
Plus, Scott Steiner was known to be injury prone at the worst of times, first in 1991 when he had a muscle tear that seriously derailed him as an athletic wrestler and it happened while he was still young and tag teaming with Rick.
Then in late 1996 when he was plagued with a back injury that forced him to the sidelines, and had to be written off in storylines by The Outsiders (Nash & Hall) and Syxx via being run off the road in a car accident. 1997 was when Scott Steiner was beginning to transition from the highly athletic workrate wrestler who was the innovator of the Frankensteiner move (which many cruiserweights use, although it's dubbed Hurricanrana) to the hulking musclebound who is only known for his hilarious promos.
The years of wear and tear from taxing out his body from high impact wrestling moves would've meant that Scott Steiner was 35, not getting any younger, and needed to extend his career longevity by changing his wrestling style since his '88-'97 wrestling style really wrecked his body, especially when every time Scott did the Frankensteiner to oncoming opponents from the ropes, Scott actually hit his head a lot from doing the Frankensteiner during those years.
That was why Scott started doing the Frankensteiner from the top rope, which may have been a high risk maneuver, but it was necessary once he was robbed of his vertical leap. Plus, Scott only does the Frankensteiner every once in a while, and he can't do any high impact moves with regularity any longer once he aged.
So Steiner being a Wolfpac member in '98, that would've meant his 1998 heel turn could be all for nothing, and he would've had to revert back to his high impact wrestling moveset. That would've spelled a recipe for disaster and his career would've been over long ago, so he would've been a poor fit for the Wolfpac. Plus, Scott being a heel made him one of pro wrestling's key heels rather than continuing to risk his body with high impact moves if he continued his career as a face.
And for Scott Norton, I can only see him being a member of the NWO Wolfpac if Buff Bagwell continued to be by his side. Bagwell was very decent on the mic, since he would've been able to hide Norton's lack of promo skills. Vicious and Delicious would've been the clear cut tag team of the NWO Wolfpac, since Nash was the #1 guy, and Hall would've been the U.S. Championship contender frequently as the #2 guy of the Wolfpac.
Speaking of Buff Bagwell, as he was sidelined with a broken neck for much of 1998, rumors had him joining the Wolfpac once he returned to the ring or was rushed back solely for strict promo work.
As for Hall, the reason why Hogan wanted Scott Hall on his side of the NWO was because Hogan wanted a cool guy on his side, since guys like Brian Adams, Scott Norton, The Disciple, Vincent, Horace Hogan and Stevie Ray can't even cut a halfway decent promo if their lives depended on promos, so Hogan fans can't really blame him for wanting to beef up his side of the NWO.
I think The Outsiders should've stayed together as members of the NWO Wolfpac since they were the cool heels who can get cheered like faces whereas Hogan was merely a pure heel who was old news by 1998.
And I think it's a BIG MISTAKE for Hollywood Hogan to demand for Scott Hall to be a member of the NWO Hollywood faction, all because Hogan wanted a cool guy in his side of the NWO instead of Nash's NWO. If anything, couldn't Hogan have relied on himself, Randy Savage and The Giant as the only decent mic talkers in NWO Hollywood instead.
Now that the original plans revolving around the NWO Hollywood/NWO Wolfpac members have been revealed to IWC circles, let me know if you are in either agreement or disagreement in terms of NWO members from either NWO Hollywood or NWO Wolfpac, regarding the likes of Hogan, Savage, Hall, Nash, Hennig, Konnan, Bagwell, Steiner or Norton.