In 2002, wrestling’s most notorious faction, the nWo shocked the world by coming to WWE. Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash stepped back into Vince McMahon’s world after all of them jumped ship in the 1990s. According to Kurt Angle, Vince McMahon treated them harshly upon their return and for good reason.
Kurt Angle on Vince McMahon and the nWo
In the 90s, WCW rose to become WWE’s primary rival. They competed in a tense ratings war as Monday Night Raw and WCW Monday Nitro clashed. Many WWE superstars jumped ship to WCW for various reasons, ranging from heat with Vince McMahon to simply, more money.
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Three of those superstars were Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Nash and Hall left WWE despite Vince offering them new contracts and became known as the Outsiders. When Hulk Hogan jumped ship, Nash and Hall joined forces with the heel Hulkster and formed the nWo.
When WCW tanked, many WCW talent signed with WWE. Hogan, Nash and Hall had to swallow their pride upon their WWE return, but Vince did not forget their betrayal. On the Kurt Angle Show, the Hall of Famer revealed how Vince treated them harshly upon their WWE return.
“I remember when NWO came back to WWE, and Vince had them all night, doing pre-tapes because they would say what they wanted to say and Vince’s like, ‘no, you’re gonna say what I tell you to say’. And they kept doing it all night till- I think Vince was also trying to teach them a lesson about, you know, leaving him high and dry in the 90s and going to you know, WCW.”
“I think there was a little bit of a message of, ‘I’m gonna get you back for this, so you’re gonna be doing pre-tapes all night’. And they did, they went until like five in the morning.”
nWo celebrates their 25th anniversary
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Having debuted in 1996, the legendary nWo celebrates their 25th anniversary this year. Hogan, Hall, Nash, Sean Waltman and probably other honorary nWo members will be part of the celebrations. WWE had a bunch of special events lined up for nWo Week, starting from the 7th of July.
First up we have The Best of the nWo premiering on the WWE Network and Peacock on Tuesday. Sean Waltman, also known as X-Pac from D-Generation X will appear on WWE’s the Bump on Wednesday, which will be an interesting conversation to hear.
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The final act in the festivities is a very special edition of the Broken Skull Sessions with Kevin Nash. Big Daddy Cool will sit down with Stone Cold Steve Austin and they’ll probably delve deep into the history and iconic moments of the nWo.
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