WCW began the new year with a bang, a bang which could backfire depending on the public’s tolerance for Hollywood Hogan.
In the main event of the first Nitro of 1999, Kevin Nash lay down for Hogan in much the same way Shawn Michaels lay down for Hunter Hearst Helmsley last year. At first Nash mocked Hogan by ripping off his t-shirt at the start of the match. Hogan then poked Nash in the chest and Nash took a bump to the mat. The fans looked shocked. Schiavone gasped. Fans in the Georgia Dome were caught by surprise. Some probably thought Nash was shot by a sniper, for others it brought back memories of Ric Flair’s heart attack. As soon as the ref counted to three, it became apparent Nash and Hogan were in on it together.
Originally Nash was scheduled to defend against Goldberg, but in a storyline with more depth than most Nitro angles, Nash conspired with Hogan and Elizabeth to get Goldberg carted off to jail for a few hours. Then Nash tricked new interim WCW president Ric Flair into “forcing” Hogan into an unscheduled match. Nash said he wanted revenge against Hogan for the Goldberg scam, but in reality he wanted to create a chance to hand the title over to Hogan.
On the positive side for WCW, they clearly have a gameplan and a set of leaders who are steering the ship. On the negative side, Hogan has returned to the top position at a time when it seems fans would like to see anyone other than him in the slot.
Leading into this week, Nitro began showing signs of rating momentum. After losing by a full point or more for the previous four weeks, they closed the gap in the head-to-head two hours to just 0.4. They won two of the eight quarter hours and edged Raw in the five minute overrun. That was without Hogan anywhere in sight.
This week if Nitro wins the ratings, Hogan can claim credit for putting Nitro over the top again. If the gap grows, Hogan may be blamed for not popping a rating despite the promise of the first-ever Hogan vs. Nash singles match.
Hogan lost steam last year when the NWO split into two factions. His faction paled in comparison to the hipper WolfPac. Eric Bischoff, Nash, and Hogan – the three main powerbrokers in WCW right now – decided to work together to try to bring Nitro back to the ratings success it had throughout 1997. To do that they thought the key element was to reunite the NWO into one strong faction without the dead weight of Virgin, Bryan Adams, and Stevie Ray.
As Hogan and Nash celebrated with Scott Hall, Scott Steiner, and Buff Bagwell, Goldberg ran to the ring to get revenge for the false arrest they subjected him to a couple hours earlier. When the reunited NWO attacked him, Lex Luger ran to the ring. Tony Schiavone said, “Thank God for Luger!” The crowd popped, but Luger – who had been courted by Bagwell and Steiner in recent weeks – jumped Goldberg rather than Nash and Hogan. The NWO attacked Goldberg and handcuffed him to the ropes. Hall then zapped Goldberg with the taser gun again. Nash pulled out a can of red spray paint and sprayed NWO for life on his back as the show went off the air.
The new NWO (which may still be referred to as WolfPac for merchandising purposes) consists of Hogan, Nash, Hall, Steiner, Buff, and Luger. In 1997, one of the criticisms of the NWO set-up was that the WCW force was weak compared to the NWO. This time around, WCW is ready with a strong set of babyfaces to offset the heel NWO. Although Nitro ended on a “down note” with Goldberg being pummeled, there was a sense of hope that next week things would be different. Nitro began with the inauguration of Ric Flair as new president of WCW. In his 90-day reign, he will have the power to thwart the NWO’s attempts to “take over” WCW.
Goldberg had his first chance to be part of a show-long storyline with a lot of speaking parts. His acting was poor, but he was in need of something fresh and WCW is willing to take chances with him now. In the long run that gives Goldberg at least a chance to develop a multi-dimensional personality. Goldberg is set up as the top babyfaces in WCW followed closely by Flair. Rounding out the core WCW babyface crew that will battle the NWO are Randy Savage, Sting, Dallas Page, and the other Horsemen. Where Bret Hart, Konnan, and Bam Bam Bigelow, among others, fit into the scheme will be played out in upcoming weeks.
WCW drew the battle lines on Nitro and in doing so gave the promotion the first sense of structure that it’s had in months. The multi-factioned NWO was supposed to blur the lines between “good” and “bad,” but now is being blamed as one of the reasons for the fading ratings compared to Raw. Reuniting the Outsiders means the ratings-drawing Hall/Nash chemistry will be back.
On the downside, Nash handing Hogan the title tends to demean Nash, who risks his rep as “being his own man.” Now he seems like a “kiss ass” to Hogan, who TV ratings and crowd reactions suggest has overstayed his welcome in the top slot in the promotion. If Hogan has any chance to be over, though, he needs the rub that comes from standing next to Nash and Hall rather than Bryan Adams and Stevie Ray. Hogan now has potential title matches against Goldberg, Savage, and Sting. Goldberg has ready-made feuds with Hogan, Nash, Luger, and Scott Steiner.
The idea of Nash handing Hogan the title had been rumored for a couple of months. That the angle played out that way shows that Nash and Hogan indeed chose to unite rather than fight each other behind the scenes. That may lead to more stability behind the scenes, or it could mean Hogan has no opposing powerbase to keep him in check.
