Fantasy booking: the end of the NWO

[Sephiroth]

Hey, we've all thought of it. Here is my version:
It would start during the period when Hogan was feuding with DDP. It begins on an episode of Nitro, where a smug looking JJ Dillon announces US champion Goldberg as the new #1 contender for the world title held by Hulk Hogan. Eric Bischoff interrupts the segment to declare that, as the real man in charge, no one gets the #1 contender slot without his say so. Eric proclaims that if Goldberg wants a shot at Hogan's title he will have to defeat the ENTIRE New World Order to get it. This turns into a slow burn story where each week on Nitro Goldberg faces a different member of the NWO while Hogan continues to feud with DDP. First Goldberg faces the jobber members of the NWO-Vincent, Scott Norton, Stevie Ray, Bryan Adams, and Buff Bagwell. After being defeated each man vanishes off television, as though recovering from the beating they took from Goldberg. Each week the NWO comes out with its ranks growing smaller and smaller, and Eric Bischoff begins to act increasingly nervous. He sends higher up members of the NWO after Goldberg, such as Curt Henning, the Giant, and Scott Hall-but again, each man is defeated and Goldberg's path to the title grows clearer. Finally Bischoff declares a PPV match in which Goldberg will defend his US title against Scott Steiner in the semi-main event (the main event still being Hogan vs DDP). But once again, after his toughest competition yet, Goldberg emerges triumphant. Later that night as Hogan, Bischoff, and the Disciple try to gang up on DDP, Goldberg rushes to the ring for the save. Hogan and Bischoff abandon the ring, leaving the Disciple to be demolished by a Goldberg spear and a DDP diamond cutter. The heroes celebrate as Goldberg glares at Hogan and Bischoff on the floor.

Finally there is no where to run, and at the next PPV Goldberg at last faces Hogan for the title. The match goes back and forth for a while, but eventually the entire NWO re-appears, running to the ring to try to save Hogan. But before they can make it the NWO Wolfpack attack him, blocking their path. Goldberg delivers the spear and jackhammer and claims the title back for WCW as the crowd goes insane.

The next night on Nitro, Hogan takes the ring and berates the NWO, running them down and saying they "let him down" by not interfering in the match to help him keep the title. Finally the other members of the NWO have enough. Scott Hall takes the microphone and declares that in fact it was Hogan and Bischoff who let them down; Bischoff threw the NWO to the wolves by having them all face Golderg alone, and if it were not for the NWO Hogan never would have held the title as long as he did. Disgusted, Hall quits the NWO and walks away. Slowly every other member of the group remove their black and white t-shirts and follow Hall back up the aisle as Hogan and Bischoff stand in the ring pleading with them not to walk out. Only Scott Steiner remains loyal, staying by Hogan and Bischoff.

Later that same night, JJ Dillon announces the new #1 contender who will be the first to challenge the new champion, and that is-Sting. Upon hearing the announcement Lex Luger and Konnan rush to congratulate the Stinger and wish him luck-but Kevin Nash looks visibly less than enthused. Sting goes on a win streak for a few weeks on Nitro, building his momentum-but every time Nash seems less and less happy to see his Wolpack partner rising up the ranks. Finally Sting approaches Nash to ask what is wrong, why is he so sullen? Nash replies that since he was the one who ordered the Wolfpack to stop the NWO from interfering in the title match that HE should be the #1 contender. This leads to a mini-story lasting several weeks in which divisions grow in the Wolfpack as Nash grows and more bitter at Sting, while Luger and Konnan continue to be supportive. Finally the PPV match takes place-Sting and Golberg put on a spirited bout, and Sting appears on the verge of capturing the title-but Nash interferes, distracting him and allowing Golberg to hit the spear for the win. The next night Sting confronts Nash, and Luger and Konnan side with their friend, removing their Wolfpack shirts. The NWO, both black and white and red and black-is finished.

Not too long after, Nash and Scott Hall reconcile, reforming The Outsiders. They go on to feud with Hogan and Steiner, with both sides blaming each other for the slow dissolution of the NWO. Meanwhile, Goldberg-as champion, goes on to defend the title against a slew of new competition such as DDP, Flair, Luger, and eventually against new stars like Benoit and Booker T.

So that's how I would have done it. Wrap up the NWO and start a new era.

[thegame415]

Ill try to make this short -

Hogan loses to Sting at Starrcade. He blames the rest of the NWO for his loss, but Nash sticks up for everyone. Nash believes Hogan lost what the idea of the NWO is, and instead uses it to keep the title.

Nash costs Hogan his rematch at Superbrawl, and the NWO is divided into two. The White and Black are led by Hogan and Savage, while Nash and Hall lead the white and black. Giant eventually joins the black and white.

They feud all spring and summer, until Fall Brawl, when the loser of the War Games has to disband. Hall costs white and black the match, and Hogan gains control. He wins the title from Sting at Halloween Havoc, and defends it in the main event of Starrcade at against Goldberg. Also at the show is the match between Hall and Nash.

Hogan announces his contract ends on th first of the year, and he's going to leave th champ. The rest of the NWO comes out, but leaves Hogan to fend for himself during the match, where he gets pummeled and loses to Goldberg. Nash goes over Hall, and the NWO is disbanded. Hogan returns in the Summer of 1999 as a part timer in the red and yellow.

[SOR]

I'll make mine short as well.

- Goldberg loses at Starrcade 1998 the exact same way he did (Minus Disco Inferno and Bam Bam)

- Goldberg is sent to jail the night of his big main event and is replaced by Hogan.

- Fingerpoke Of Doom (Yes, I think it was a good idea)

- Hogan beats Nash and is now champion. Show ends with Goldberg getting beat down.

- Goldberg challenges Hogan a few weeks down the track but Hogan says Goldberg doesn't deserve a shot next and needs to go up against the nWo to prove himself.

- Throughout the 1999 year Goldberg goes through the nWo B-Team disbanding them and going after nWo Elite. He tears through the competition beating Luger, Bagwell, Steiner, Hall, Nash etc. At this point it would be around October and Goldberg would challenge Hogan. Hogan says no but a baby face authority figure says at Starrcade it's Goldberg Vs Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Title.

- Assorted training packages throughout the month. Hogan doesn't defend the title at the November Pay Per View but Goldberg teams with a top face such as Sting, Bret or Flair in the main event. They manage a victory over Hall and Nash.

- In the lead up to Starrcade Hulk gets more and more worried because his stable has crumbled at the hands of Goldberg and his title is in jeopardy. Goldberg continues winning matches as Hogan avoids Goldberg every way possible. They eventually sign a contract in the lead up to Starrcade where the entire nWo beats down Goldberg showing a united front once more.

- In the main event of Starrcade 1999, Goldberg defeats Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The nWo are unable to help him due to being hurt from their prior match which probably would have been Lex Luger and The Outsiders Vs Buff Bagwell, Ric Flair and Sting.

- The night after Starrcade Hollywood calls out the authority figure and begs for another title shot. The authority figure says he can't risk the nWo having the World Heavyweight Title again so the challenger for Souled Out 2000 will be Jeff Jarrett and not anyone from the nWo.

- Main Event of Souled Out Goldberg obviously beats Jarrett clean.

- The night after Hogan flips out because he still can't get his title shot. He says he wants one shot and will do whatever it takes to get it. Your baby face authority figure says Hogan can have a shot if it's inside a Cage at Superbrawl. Hogan agrees but the authority figure also says if Hogan loses the nWo must disband. Hollywood is confident and agrees with that as well.

- Superbrawl 2000 rolls around. Goldberg Vs Hogan in a Steel Cage for the WCW World Heavyweight Title. Goldberg wins clean after 20 minutes and the nWo is done for good. Hogan disappears until around June-July and the nWo never reforms again, thanks to Goldberg.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Everything's the same up to and including the Finger Poke.

The next week opens with the nWo elite showing up, and their dressing room is wrecked, with the entire B-team layed out and "Who's Next?" spraypainted on the wall.

There are a few vignettes through the night of the Elite being paranoid, then they come out for a main event interview, the nWo start off confident, how Goldberg hasn't touched them, just the black and white, and they have the belt so there's nothing to worry about, Goldberg's music hits, he runs down to the ring at top speed, all the nWo escape and leave through the crowd except Disco Inferno, who gets beat down, Speared out of his boots, 3 Jackhammers, put through a table.

So now you just have the nWo as Hogan, Nash, Lugar, Steiner and Bagwell.

From there it becomes Hogan trying to duck Goldberg, each month another member falls, SuperBrawl it's Bagwell, Uncensored Lugar, Spring Stampede Steiner, Slamboree Nash, then finally at The Great American Bash, Goldberg gets the belt back when DDP, Sting, Booker T and Ric Flair surround the ring and stop the nWo interferring.

The night afterwards, the WCW team have a celebration in the ring, but they point out the nWo have lost the belt before, it's time to end things. They make an offer, War Games at Bash at the Beach, nWo wins they finally get control of WCW, if they lose they disband.

So, 3 years after it started, the nWo is defeated when, after Goldberg enters the match last, everyone deserts Hulk, Stinger Splash, Diamond Cutter, Ax Kick, Jackhammer, Flair slaps on the Figure 4, all of the others put a foot on Hogan's chest and the nWo is gone.

[Aceorton]

THE ANGLE

- Starting in the fall of '97, Savage, Nash and Hall all seem to experience ebbing and flowing discontent with Hogan's nWo leadership.

- Post-Starrcade, during the period where the WCW title is vacant and they're building toward the Sting-Hogan rematches, there's a massive ambush/beatdown angle where Sting is taken out of the picture with a kayfabe back injury for a projected six months or more. With Sting no longer threatening, the group seems to have gotten past its internal problems and is now stronger than ever. Hogan will just be awarded the title back automatically, right? No one is going to stop the nWo, right?

- BUT THEN ... J.J. Dillon announces a replacement challenger has come forward to face Hogan for the vacant title at SuperBrawl ... and it's a member of the nWo. Hogan flips out. A visibly upset Eric Bischoff confirms it's true and that he doesn't know which nWo member it is. The contract protects the other wrestler's identity until the show. Bischoff swears he has Turner's best lawyers working on the situation.

- Cue week after week of increasing distrust among nWo members. They all start to suspect each other of being the opportunist rat who's gunning for the title. Savage is considered the most likely culprit at first, but then he signs to face Luger at SuperBrawl, meaning he couldn't possibly also compete against Hogan that night. Nash, Hall, Giant, Steiner, Hennig, Bagwell -- even lower-tier guys like Norton and Stevie Ray -- are all suspected. Everyone's pointing fingers and making loaded comments. Specific rivalries start to form because of this. Hall and Nash openly question the Giant's loyalty but quietly seem to suspect it's each other. Hennig thinks it's Steiner. Steiner and Bagwell think it's Hennig. Savage thinks it's the young buck Norton. Giant thinks it's Nash. The lower guys mostly still think it's Savage. The tension is thick.

- Finally SuperBrawl comes. Hogan, consumed by paranoia, has a team of "neutral" hired bodyguards in riot gear and has banned the nWo from joining him. He enters first. As Michael Buffer prepares to announce the opponent, nWo members start making their way to ringside, each planning to stop the "traitor" they believe is about to be introduced. Naturally, all hell breaks loose and they all begin attacking each other. There's 15 straight minutes of utter chair-swinging carnage where the nWO eats itself alive, right there live on PPV. By the end of it, no one is left standing except Hogan, freaking out in the ring, still waiting for his opponent, who turns out to be ...

- Goldberg. Massive swerve. He plows through the bodyguards, and with the nWo in no state to come to Hogan's aid, he hits the spear and jackhammer and takes the belt.

- The even bigger reveal: Bischoff was behind it all, working with Dillon and WCW. He realized at a certain point that he'd made an unspeakable mistake siding with Hogan and the nWO and had been working for months to find a way to bring the group down even as he appeared to be their No. 1 enabler. He and Dillon and the "Turner lawyers" also have established new restrictions, enforcable by immediate termination, that prevent any nWo members from publicly associating with each other going forward. In effect, the nWo is dead.

THE AFTERMATH

- All of the bitter infighting among nWO members translates into continuing feuds over who caused the group to fall apart.

- Bret Hart enters the angle. He's offended that Bischoff chose Goldberg and not him as the challenger for the nWo's endgame and plays up the "I'm the guy in the white hat here to save the day" stuff. He starts going after the "degenerates" in WCW one by one (including an intense war with the Flock where he tries to "save" some of the guys from Raven's influence). By the summer, he's a tweener/heel and the No. 1 contender to face Goldberg, right around the time Sting is re-entering the picture. This turns into a three-way feud over the title.

- Hogan finds he can't beat Goldberg on his own and that he has no friends anywhere, which starts a sad Sgt. Slaughter-type atonement storyline where he hits rock bottom. He's eventually befriended by some young lower-card guys (Chavo, Evan Karagias, Lodi, etc.) who remember the old Hogan and give him a chance to be a role model again. He eases into a mentor/manager role as these guys move up the card.

[ronnie2hotty]

not too detailed, but some simple highlights that still follow some continuity of the original history:

- Sting beats Hogan clean at Starcade 97
- Sting defeats Hogan, even with attempts of outside interference in the rematch
- Hogan blames other NWO members, causing tensions
- NWO still splits, Hogan and Macho are black and white, Hall and Nash are Wolfpack
- Goldberg still continues his rise
- Sting defends World title throughout spring against various members of NWO black and white and other members of WCW, including Bret Hart, DDP, and Scott Hall, who has since turned on the Wolfpack
- A loose bond is formed between Sting and Wolfpack due to them both fighting against the black and white, with Luger constantly trying to get Sting to join.
- Savage wins World title in four way match involving Sting, Bret Hart, and DDP.
- Sting officially joins Wolfpack
- Hogan comes off of one of his many vacations he's known to take only to be jealous of Savage having the world title.
- Screwy NWO clustermess match on Nitro, Hogan win World title in tag team match involving himself and Savage vs. Nash and Sting in a match where the winner of the fall wins the World title.
- Goldberg vs. Hogan happens at Road Wild.. Hogan wins by pinfall after various amounts of interfearance (as a fan this would have pissed me off, but we HAVE to build for a bigger payoff in the end).
- Fall Brawl Wargames: Team NWO: Hogan, Savage, Hall, and Stevie Ray vs. Team Wolfpack: Nash, Sting, Luger, and Konnan vs. Team WCW: Goldberg, Hart, Ric Flair, and Booker T... WCW wins when Goldberg makes Stevie Ray quit.. story of match is Hogan avoiding Goldberg most of match.
- Goldberg wins WW3 battle royal and sets up title match at Starcade.
- Goldberg wins clean at Starcade 98.
- After Starcade, NWO reforms with sole purpose to get rid of Goldberg. Sting does not want to be a part of new reformation. Slowly, most of the B-team is kicked out of NWO.
- Fall Brawl 99: winner take all wargames, NWO: Hogan, Nash, Hall and Steiner vs. WCW: Goldberg, Hart, Benoit, Sting. WCW wins.
- Bret Hart and Goldberg then become next big feud. Bret can turn on Goldberg the night after Fall Brawl, claiming he did the lion's share of the work to help eradicate WCW of the NWO but gets none of the credit. Hall and Nash continue in tag division. Hogan can return to red and yellow for a possible nostalgia run later the next year.

[Square]

The only way that the NWO could have ended properly in my opinion is the retirement of Hogan. You break off the dead weight and have people turn on the NWO and leave leaving only Hall,Nash and Hogan to which Hall walks out on them and then Hogan retires leaving Nash the lone wolf of the NWO. Have Nash do the loner without a care gimmick as the aftermath of the NWO and have him feud with Sting for the ultimate imagry

[HMARK Center]

I've mentioned this idea before, but going back to around Spring of 1998...

Hollywood Hogan is the champion, but the nWo is broken in two (as it happened). Hogan resents this; he feels that he was the force that gave the Outsiders legitimacy as a real destructive force to be reckoned with. For crying out loud, it was Hogan who even coined the "nWo" name (well...ok, he did kind of say "New World Organization" at first, but still). But Nash, Hall, Savage, even Hennig have all abandoned him now, angry at the lengths Hogan would go to in order to retain the World Title. Now that he has his former running buddies to worry about, along with WCW challengers like Sting, Luger, DDP, Flair, and up and comers like Goldberg, Hogan begins to doubt everyone around him: Steiner, Bagwell, Norton, Giant, even Eric Bischoff. He's been hurt by the formation of the Wolfpac; he honestly feels he's been betrayed.

Enter Bret Hart. Hart sees Hogan's increasing paranoia, and informs him that he knows a thing or two about not feeling like you can trust the people around you. Much as it happened, Hart aligns with Hogan without actually joining the nWo; he sells Hogan on this by pointing out that his former "brothers" who wore the colors have now turned on him, so rather than risk another such betrayal, Hart will simply give of his time to lend a hand from outside the nWo.

Hart's intervention is successful. He refrains from challenging for Hogan's title, soothes over internal strife within the black and white, and even acts as an unofficial recruiter for the group, working on WCW guys who might feel unappreciated on some level and trying to convince them to join the "new nWo". Hogan likes what he sees; he's still champion, his organization is running well, and he has his new consigliere (for you Godfather movie fans), Bret Hart, to thank for it. Sure, the Wolfpac remain a real concern, and that Goldberg guy is rising up REALLY quickly, but for the first time since before Starrcade '97, Hogan is feeling like he's got the world by the cajones.

Inevitably, however, Goldberg comes calling, and there's no help that "Lieutenant Hart" can provide to protect Hogan's title from the undefeated monster. Goldberg captures the gold on PPV (either Great American Bash or Bash at the Beach), and Hogan once more finds himself feeling paranoid and unsure.

However, there's a possible answer: Fall Brawl 1998 is made into a three-way war (again, as it happened), with Hollywood's nWo going up against the Wolfpac and WCW, with a shot at Goldberg's WCW title hanging in the balance for the team/individual that wins.

Battle lines are quickly drawn - Hogan chooses himself, the Giant, Scott Norton, and, of course, his trusted right-hand man Bret Hart (despite Bret not officially wearing the colors). Nash selects himself, Hall, Savage, and Curt Hennig. WCW brings out the big guns with Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, and 4 Horsemen members Ric Flair and Chris Benoit.

Come the PPV, the match is going about as expected: long, drawn out, brutal. A couple of guys have run into the cage with weapons, but after some chaos the plunder falls into the hands of the Wolfpac and the Horsemen, who all turn toward the only man still standing in front of them at that moment: Hogan.

Hogan knows he's screwed, and desperately seeks an out. He's unable to find one, until Hart, chair in hand, jumps in front of him, seeming like he'll take a bullet for Hollywood.

In a flash, chairs come crashing down...as Savage and Hennig crack their weapons over the heads of Hall and Nash. Ric Flair looks shocked for only an instant before Chris Benoit turns him around and delivers the same to him.

Hogan's eyes light up as he thinks that he's in the clear; Hart, the great recruiter has not only splintered the Wolfpac, but he's even gotten one of the Horsemen to turn! Hogan will not only get his rematch with Goldberg, he'll go into it with elite-level nWo reinforcements!

...unless...

Hart, smirking, slowly turns toward Hogan, and gives him a mocking Hogan-style pointer finger to the face. This is a cue, and Savage, Hennig, and Benoit pounce on Hogan, laying him out as well. The Giant gets up and fights back, defending Hogan...only to be blindsided by Norton, who joins the others.

The setup is revealed: Bret Hart, having gained Hogan's trust over the course of the year, has organized a coup d'etat. Savage, Hennig (w/Rick Rude), and Benoit decimate the remaining competition, putting the victory in the hands of their new leader, Bret Hart.

The aftermath is the formation of a new stable; having had sleepers in the nWo, the Wolfpac, and the Horsemen, Hart takes to the mic on Nitro to declare each group officially dead. Hart has Norton talk about how sick the nWo was of Hogan treating them all as their foot soldiers; Norton will effectively serve as Hart's "muscle" and bodyguard. Benoit says that the Horsemen were living in the past, and it was time for a new era of legendary technical wrestlers. Savage and Hennig point out that Nash and Hall cared too much about what the fans thought of them, and not enough about getting the job done - the job of eliminating Hogan. Hart showed them how they could do it...too bad the Outsiders had to be casualties in the process. This stable (I don't have a name yet) rejects the simplistic "taking over" model and instead makes itself known as the best and most dangerous wrestlers on the planet.

In the aftermath: Hart becomes Goldberg's top challenger, the Outsiders feud with the new tag team of Savage and Hennig (w/Liz and Rude), Norton serves as the "big man" while Benoit takes on the role of Hart's enforcer.

Hogan fades away, once more betrayed, leading to a long, slow build toward a late 1999 return of red and yellow Hogan, who's zeroed in on doing whatever he can to take down Hart's team and redeem his name.

[Boo!]

Goldberg should have pinned Hulk Hogan clean for the WCW title in around mid 1998. He should have then been face of company and book Hogan as this bitter, twisted veteran who is struggling to say goodbye to his career. Disband the NWO at the same time as the Hogan title loss. At first the NWO was used to get the company over, then the company began to get used to get over the NWO, which was all wrong.

[sportatorium]

The group should have splintered after Sting winning CLEAN or a big PPV match of Hogan/Goldberg.

[toodarkmark]

It's funny how over the years the sentiment has always been:

Sting wins clean over Hogan Starcade 97.
nWo splinters into Hogan/Savage faction vs Hall/Nash faction.

These concepts are set in stone and the way it should have gone had not the egos gotten in the way.

The way I progress is that Hogan would win back the title from Sting with a Luger turn out of jealousy during the April Spring Stampede in 98.

During this time you've had Bret Hart and Ric Flair build a program with each other, a three parter over the PPVs to decide who is the best. You could have Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko go with Bret Hart and have Chris Jericho and Eddy Guerrero go with Ric Flair, and have variation of matches to elevate, build egos, etc etc.

During the time between Starcade 97 and Stampede 98, you have Nash/Hall vs Savage/ Hogan in various matches. You can throw in the Giant, Curt Hennig, Lex Luger, and maybe Roddy Piper involved in that feud.

So Hogan wins the belt, and Goldberg takes it off him at Great American Bash which is moved to July (Bash at the Beach should really have been in June). Goldberg mows everyone over, but so does Hogan. Goldberg loses to him at Havoc by Hall and Nash interfering for Hogan in a swerve.

Goldberg wins WW3, but Hogan says he has a clause in his contract where he faces he thinks deserves it and since he beat Goldberg, he doesnt deserve it. Old school heat.

Starcade 98 is set up that if Hogan loses, he loses the belt and the nWo must cease to exist. Why? Because Ted Turner said so. He signed your contracts, hes then one paying, he thinks the nWo is old, played out, and bad for the Turner Empire. JJ Dillon says all this to Bishoff on TV.

nWo cuts promos, go to hell Ted Turner, go to hell JJ Dillon, no way Goldberg gets a shot.

Finally a few weeks before Starrcade a tape of Turner is shown telling Hogan "Be a man Hogan, put up the belt." Suddenly Hogan gets this weird courage, and the rest of the nWo is confused. "Turner is right, I'm putting all of this up."

Steel Cage at Starrcade, no DQ, people run in for Hogan to save the belt and fought back by faces. Eventually Nash gets in there, but Hogan himself punches Nash, then Hall comes in and hits Hogan with a pipe that was intended for Goldberg. Goldberg sees none of this because he was hit by the pipe earlier, but eventually after dramatic pause gets up, Hall has left, Nash has left after kicking Hogan. Hogan gets up, gets the huge spear to the huge pop. 1 2 3. Goldberg wins, nWo is finished, Hogan turns face.

Hogan teams with Goldberg and Sting v Hall, Nash, and Savage. The Giant leaves. After a few months in 99, Goldberg loses the belt to Bret Hart in March 99, clean. His first clean pin. Big deal, everyone feuds, nWo is over.