WHY THE NEW NWO WILL FAIL
'You can't repeat the past'
'Of course you can'
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I may not have got that quote exactly right, I couldn't find my old copy of
Gatsby. Oh well, on with the show.
Unlike so many other web writers I am not going to proclaim the reformation
of the NWO as a sign that the 'powers that be' have run out of ideas and
that their demise is imminent (although hindsight may indeed show us that
this is the beginning of the end). No, my point in this article is that the
new NWO has almost no chance of success because the fans have already had
their fill of the characters that are in the group. If they wanted to
create a true NWO2k then perhaps including someone under 35 would have been
a start. Once the novelty wears off we will be left with the same
characters with all the same deficiencies that they had a month ago. The
exact same problem occurred with the return of Hulkamania a few months
back. It was a novelty for a couple weeks as those out there who were
either too young or too stupid to remember being subjected to 10+ years of
the same stuff cheered for Hogan changing his underwear. That wore off
extremely quickly and I predict exactly the same thing happening here. This
is not so much because fans are sick of the concept of the NWO its just
that after a few weeks they will realize why they were sick of the members
before. I'll take a quick look at each of the members to show what I am
talking about.
Kevin Nash
I still can't believe I marked out for this big piece of trash in 1994-5. I
guess Shawn Michaels must have done a better job of hiding his deficiencies
than we even knew at the time. Nash hasn't had a passable match since this
time. He is either unable (bad knees) or unwilling (extremely lazy) to do
anything much worthwhile these days. You can almost call his matches
without watching them - stall, weak punches, framed elbows in corner,
stall, sidewalk slam, powerdrop - any actual contact between the
participants is purely incidental. Reforming the NWO has at least forced
him to act a bit heelish and (gasp) get booed but he is way, way past his
use-by-date and unless Shawn Michaels makes a miraculous recovery from
injury and signs with WCW there is no-one capable of carrying him to
anything worth watching. His amazing ability to get injuries (jobberitis)
that seem to get him out of big feud ending matches is also frustrating.
The fans will remember why they were so sick of him again very soon and
once again cease to care. But don't worry Big Kev I'm sure your massive
guaranteed contract lasts for at least a couple more years.
Scott Hall
This one is even worse than Nash because I believe Hall is still capable of
having a decent match. But his habits and his attitude have trashed (yes I
picked that word deliberately) that as a possibility. He apparently refuses
to be put in a situation where the crowd might boo him and hasn't been a
true heel since he wrestled Bret Hart for the title (Rumble 93?) and
attacked Owen in the locker room. He has shown no interest in altering his
habits or his character for the good of the company despite being given any
number of chances. His frequent absences from TV kill his heat and the fans
don't care about him anymore.
Bret Hart
This is the saddest one of all. I am a 100% mark for the Hitman and I have
been for his whole career and that is why I feel so terrible about the
garbage he has been put through over the last couple of years. I hate to
say it but I don't think the mainstream fans buy him or the Hitman
character anymore. The fact that he is the world champ but in the eyes of
the fans (and evidently the bookers) he is not even the leader of his own
faction is the most damning evidence of all. It would be like Billy Gunn
being the driving force of DX while HHH is the champ - it is totally
ridiculous. Unfortunately Bret has no real connection with today's fans and
does not have the legacy in WCW that Flair has to fall back on because his
was built in the WWF. The worst thing of all is that Bret recently has
followed the lead of the other WCW main eventers and opted for bump-free
matches. The psychology of his matches is still excellent but they are
almost totally devoid of highspots or bumps. The novelty of Bret in the NWO
(ooh look Bret is wrestling in an NWO shirt) will wear off and the fans
will just see it as Bret's 100th turn since joining WCW and lose interest
in him even more. It makes me very sad but unfortunately it is the truth.
Jeff Jarrett
Anyone who has read my old columns knows the utter contempt I have for
Jarrett. To steal one of Hyatte's old lines - this is phase IV in the great
push Jarrett experiment. Lets have a quick run through everything that has
been tried to get Jarrett over. He has had Tennessee Lee, Roadie, Debra,
Miss Kitty, a horse, released a phony record (reportedly sung by the Road
Dog anyway), become the first rumored signee to not join the NWO, been a
horsemen, beaten up Cindy Margoiles, destroyed about 1 000 000 guitars,
lip-synched a performance with some country music jabronie (sorry can't
remember his name), has won 6 Intercontinental titles and 3(I think) US
Titles and now is part of the elite NWO. And guess what he still is not
over to any significant degree. With this non-stop push he should be the
biggest star in the history of wrestling. Austin, Bret Hart and Shawn
Michaels never received half of these advantages and they became number one
in the industry. My prediction is that this phase of the great push Jarrett
experiment will be about as effective as all the others. The fact remains
that Jarrett is a non-descript wrestler who neither does or says anything
noteworthy and he is incapable of getting over.
Scott Steiner
Hey Remember when the Steiners were a good tag team. 1000 swerves later we
are left with Rick - the most uncharismatic wrestler in the history of our
sport and Scott - so pumped up he can hardly move anymore. Same story as
the others - the reformation of the NWO plus his extended absence has
temporarily hidden his flaws. How many lackluster 'kick, punch and jaw with
the fans' matches or 'big bad booty daddy' interviews will it take before
the fans lose interest again?
Conclusion
Before everyone flames me as being anti-Russo and anti-WCW keep in mind
that I don't think that NWO2k is a bad idea per se. My problem is with who
it is being used to get over. Why use it to try to reinvent guys who have
been central to Nitro's ratings demise over the past year. The fans have
spoken - they are sick of Nash, Hall, Hart (sniff) and Steiner and they
have been switching to Raw for over a year now. If Hogan is brought back as
the lead babyface to feud with the NWO then it is truly over for WCW.
WCW should have used the recognition of the name NWO to elevate other
wrestlers. Have maybe Nash or Hart or Steiner as a link to the old NWO but
fill the rest of the group with talented midcarders to truly make it an NWO
for the new millennium. Why not use it to elevate Vampiro or Eddie Guerrero
or Saturn or even turn Booker T heel. As it stands right now the new NWO is
nothing more than a circle jerk for the same tired old faces that no-one
wants to see anymore but who still think they are huge draws and NWO2k just
keeps them on top of the fed.
Tim Lloyd
[slash] wrestling
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