3. Why Did The Big Show Join The nWo In 2002?

Old School WWF Veteran “Brother Love” Bruce Prichard recently opened up on his ‘Something To Wrestle’ podcast about The Big Show joining the WWF version of the New World Order stable in 2002. The Big Show had already been a member of the nWo twice (!!) before that, when he was still known as ‘The Giant’ in WCW.

First he joined the original nWo with Hogan, Nash & Hall on Nitro in September 1996 but was thrown out on December 30, 1996 for trying to use the title shot that his World War III win guaranteed him, against WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan.

Then in 1998 The Giant joined Hogan’s nWo Hollywood stable that was feuding with Kevin Nash’s nWo Wolfpac stable at that time, but was kicked out again on the January 11, 1999 episode of WCW Monday NITRO.

In early 2002 at the WWF No Way Out PPV, Vince McMahon had brought in the original nWo founders Hogan, Hall & Nash to “inject a lethal dose of poison” into the company, after Ric Flair became the co-owner (storyline wise), but when it was clear at WWF WrestleMania X-8, that the Fans still love Hulk Hogan, they had no other chance but to turn him Babyface right away.

With Hollywood being replaced by X-Pac (former nWo member in WCW as Syxx) and Nash still not being able to wrestle due to an injury, they had to add one more member to the faction, and who’d fit better than yet another former nWo guy?

A few weeks later, Scott Hall was fired after the infamous Plane Ride from Hell, so during the following weeks Booker T & “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels were also added to the group.

Unfortunately the nWo storyline was dropped and the New World Order officially disbanded for good on the July 15, 2002 episode of WWE Monday Night RAW.

Here’s what Bruce Prichard had to say about the Big Show being added:

“It was so bad, ‘Hey. We lost one seven-foot, let’s put another seven-foot in there. And you replace one with another. And people won’t notice.’ You’re just trying to save something, and you’re trying to complete that vision. Sometimes, it just doesn’t work.”