The appearances of these stars from the past seems to be just the foreplay leading up to what Vince McMahon hopes is a rating bonanza when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall return to the WWF, reforming a top group of wrestlers with Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman, and possibly Hulk Hogan.
The deals with Nash and Hall were finalized in the last week. Nash will work about a dozen dates a month, while Hall will be scheduled for fewer. Shawn Michaels is returning as a major on-camera player (he was the WWF New York guest during the airing of the Rumble) as part of the group. The plans for the group now also include X-Pac (Sean Waltman). If Hogan is signed, he will be part of the group. If Hogan isn’t signed, there is a contingency plan that includes Triple H joining the group.
The timeline for their return is locked in yet – or isn’t well known. Vince McMahon, though, ominously made a cryptic comment on Raw that he was about to do something he might regret. McMahon, upset with Triple H winning the Royal Rumble and losing to Ric Flair in a bloody battle, vowed that the fans were the losers and now he’d have to take drastic measures that he may regret.
McMahon isn’t one who gets a thrill out of “shoot” comments unless they serve a storyline purpose, but his comment about doing something drastic that he might regret resonates on several levels. The comment lays the groundwork for the storyline returns of Nash, Hall, and Hogan. It can be portrayed as McMahon going back to “old blood” from various “glory days” of wrestling to help him wrest back control of the WWF. By him saying he “may regret” his actions, it sets the stage for there to be a tenuous on-air relationship with the returning stars.
It also may be an acknowledgement that he’s not even sure if the decision to bring back Nash, Hall, and Hogan is a good one. He’s acknowledging it’s a gamble that may backfire.
Legend has it that Vince McMahon polled his writing team and production staff, and with the exception of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, all were against bringing Nash and Hall back. That may be oversimplication of the division, but all indications are that the vast majority of those with power under Vince McMahon were against the move – either because they thought it’d be bad for business or because they thought they’d lose power as a result. One thing is for sure: They will lose power as a result. There is already a buzz that Nash and Hall are creating a “hitlist” of sorts for those who were against them either now or in the past and that they have some people from their WCW days whom they’d like the WWF to hire.
The influx of Nash, Hall, possibly Hogan, and likely Michaels to the weekly locker room scene changes everything – both on air and behind the scenes. Although ratings weren’t always good, and storyline philosophies changed from month to month, there was still a sense of sameness, a sense that the team in place was going to be given a chance to figure out something that would eventually work.
Now, that entire structure is changing, and nobody is more aware of that and reveling in everyone’s fear of change than Nash, Hall, and Hogan, who are talking on the phone regularly with each other plotting out various schemes and ideas. Deep down, Vince McMahon may not know whether he can retain control. McMahon, though, is excited about the gamble. He knows it’s a high stakes moves, but he’s excited to try it.
There aren’t many more chances to squeeze more out of Hogan, Hall, Nash, and Michaels. They are all aging, especially Hogan. In four years, a much smaller percentage of viewers will even remember the glory days of Hogan, Michaels, and the Outsiders. Bringing them back in two or three or four years would mean much less then than today. There aren’t many “hotshot” angles left. McMahon believes he can “hotshot” better than Vince Russo did and Eric Bischoff did when they attempted to reverse downward ratings trends.
If McMahon eventually goes through with the planned split of the WWF into two rosters, there is no shortage of “name talent” on the roster right now. The “name talent” now includes wrestlers from numerous eras, which provides opportunity for a number of fresh match-ups between wrestlers who have never been in the WWF at the same time before, or were never equal stars at the same time before (i.e. The Rock vs. Kevin Nash, Triple H vs. Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan vs. Steve Austin, Curt Hennig vs. Kurt Angle).
