Who was the best secondary member of the Original nWo incarnation?

May 2024 ยท 12 minute read
This is about the following members of the original nWo incarnation who were either simply role players, stop gaps or realistically second tier semi-stars, adding up to the fact that they would be considered the possible weakest everyday main event top draw. History over the course of the nWo-era WCW has proven that Hollywood Hulk Hogan, "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and "The Macho Man" Randy Savage were all regarded as the nWo's most prominent key players alongside a prominent mouthpiece in Eric Bischoff, even though the nWo was originally supposed to have Ted DiBiase, Sr. in the group as their designated financial backer. Randy Savage was considered the only other big time star in the nWo when the shock and intrigue were still fresh on TV, and while the nWo also had some role players on the roster, no different from factions like DX, The Four Horsemen, Evolution, The Authority and The Hart Foundation circa 1997, it's also no different when role players exist just to be there like wallpaper and to just do the dirty work with zero complaints AND be willing to mop the floor (ie: gang beatdowns and run-ins) with WCW's babyfaces like Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP and Goldberg for Hogan, Nash, Hall, Savage and Bischoff.

So anyway, I will rank down the best batch of role players the original nWo has to offer, and yes, the Original nWo incarnation is considered the real nWo because of how groundbreaking they were, with Hall and Nash being used as the controversial bait hooks to get WWF fans tuning in to WCW, and Hogan as the biggest star in nWo history, as a Arcade-style Final Boss type of antagonist in the faction:

-1) The Giant [1996]: "The Giant had been built up as WCW's biggest monster heel since his WCW debut in late '95 but most of his WCW stardom came before his nWo membership came into being, so Giant was never originally intended to be the fourth member of the group. It was supposed to be the British Bulldog, due to his WWF contract expiring, and so WCW were in talks to bring Bulldog back into the fold, but Vince gave him a lucrative five-year contract to keep him in the Federation, so Giant was included as a more of a last-minute replacement type of inductee as a consolation prize for WCW being ultimately unable to sign Bulldog in 1996. Giant did in fact have a better nWo run than his later nWo Hollywood run, since all he accomplished as an original nWo member was his 1996 World War 3 battle royal win which also played a big factor in Giant being kicked out of the nWo the night after Starrcade '96 for refusing to chokeslam Piper at Hogan's behest."

-2) Syxx [1996-1998]: "The lesser known member of pro wrestling's most notorious backstage clique of master politicians, Sean Waltman was anything but a ruthless politician backstage. However, his own habitual backstage antics were why they liked the guy to begin with. Having made his debut in 1993 for the WWF as an underdog youngster who could work a good solid match, Waltman defeated Scott Hall (then known as Razor Ramon) in what many thought to be a shocking upset victory. Waltman's best years however were with the WWF, so here in WCW he's just a role player despite his friendships with Hall and Nash, and he was limited to the Cruiserweight Division fighting off the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho save for an occasional matchup versus Ric Flair. He was quietly removed from the nWo in early 1998 after he incurred a neck injury in late '97 at the hands of someone who is also on this list and who would eventually become a member of the nWo

Spoiler

, and his name is "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner.

"

-3) Konnan [1997-1998]: "Widely credited for bringing aboard a dozen of Luchadores and Cruiserweights to WCW, Konnan initially debuted as a cruiserweight babyface no different from Mysterio, Eddie, Chavo, Jericho and Malenko. After losing the WCW United States Championship to Ric Flair at Bash At The Beach '96, Konnan turned heel and joined up with the now-declining Dungeon of Doom. Even then, his heel run was lackluster earlier on, and it wasn't until he changed alliances and joined the New World Order in the Summer of 1997 that he changed his in-ring gameplay style from a typical generic cruiserweight to a hip-hop gangsta rap character, partly due to the nWo's coolness factor and partly also due to Konnan's back injuries, so the change in his gimmick was to cover for his declining in-ring performance. Still, Konnan would not become a prominent figure until the Hollywood/Wolfpac feud when he got to be a prominent key player alongside Nash and Sting, so here in the Original nWo, Konnan is just a role player."

-4) Buff Bagwell [1996-1998]: "Originally a babyface born and bred in World Championship Wrestling as Marcus Alexander Bagwell around 1990-91, Bagwell spent most of his early years as a tag team performer, and the only way he was going to get a sustainable run as a singles player earlier on would have to be if Sting would be willing to endorse him backstage. Seeing tag team duty during those years, Bagwell would team up with the likes of The Patriot, 2 Cold Scorpio and his former American Males tag team partner Scotty Riggs. The American Males would dissolve in late '96 once Bagwell betrayed his tag team partner, and joined the nWo, thus re-dubbing himself Buff Bagwell in the process. While in the nWo, Bagwell was mostly limited to situational tag team matches with Scott Norton as his most frequent fellow nWo teammate/quasi-tag team partner. Bagwell is a career role player whose chances of being a megastar were hindered by a combination of his reputation as a backstage troublemaker, an attitude problem who was difficult to deal with, and becoming super sloppy with his Buff Blockbuster suplex finisher despite years of having done the move just fine before. Otherwise, his 'Buff Daddy' schtick meant that he could be more than what he actually was."

-5) Curt Hennig [1997-1998]: "Best known as the World Champion of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based American Wrestling Alliance in their dying days as a promotion, Hennig also spent the bulk of his best years wrestling for the WWF under the name Mr. Perfect. In his prime years, Hennig was a scientific wrestler who could also do awesome promos. But his prime prematurely ended in late Summer of 1991 when he had a career-altering back injury (ie: broken tailbone) that ended up rendering him as an often-injured and MIA mid-carder from the injury onwards. His entire WCW run proved that he didn't have much to give, and was running on fumes the entire time Down South. After betraying Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen at Fall Brawl '97, Hennig joined the nWo but quickly fell down the card after his WCW United States Championship belt run, and although Savage ended up being stunted down to the midcards feuding with DDP, he was still seen as a money making star, since he was capable of making role players look like actual stars, so Hennig is a career role player because he had no luxury of being more than a secondary role player. But then again, not everyone gets to be successful under the nWo banner, and nothing wrong with being a role player.

-6) Scott "Flash" Norton [1996-1998]: "One of professional wrestling's most feared tough guys you would be legit scared of working with in the ring much the same way as Meng, Scott Norton's best years overall were with the AWA and New Japan. Norton became a member of the New World Order in 1996, where his main function as a nWo role player would be to simply serve as a silent bodyguard enforcer muscle type guy. He was included because New Japan would probably want a bigger piece of the nWo pie, and by having the IWGP Champion in the mix, Norton would eventually be valuable in his own right, even if there was nothing magnificently special enough and nothing dynamic about the guy. Within the faction, Norton's most frequent tag team partner would be Buff Bagwell even though Vicious and Delicious weren't ultimately meant to be a long-term NWO tag team with The Outsiders (Hall and Nash) around."

-7) Brian Adams [1998]: "A career journeyman who had to constantly change gimmicks in the WWF, Adams was known as 'Crush' while working for the World Wrestling Federation and a stint in Portland. The many faces of Crush over the years depicted him as Ax's replacement in Demolition, a babyface Hawaiian muscle guy, an anti-American/Japanese sympathizer, criminal convict (parodied from his real-life arrest and imprisonment in 1995 for steroids and a taser gun), another Nation of Domination member and the leader of his own faction Disciples of Apocalypse (DOA) alongside "Chainz" Brian Lee, Adams moved over to WCW where he would immediately join the New World Order. His success in WCW came much later when he became a WCW Tag Team Champion alongside Bryan Clark known as KroniK, so for the nWo, Adams was just a role player. and one of the several muscle bodyguard enforcers who do the dirty work, no different than Norton."

-8) "The Disciple" Brutus Beefcake [1998]: "Best known as the most loyal best friend of Hulk Hogan over the years, he is best known for his time with the WWF in the 1980s to 1993 as Brutus Beefcake. Beefcake's original incarnation under the Brutus Beefcake schtick was a flamboyant pretty boy heel. However, Beefcake was more remembered for being the guy who is a Barber-type guy once he became a beloved fan favorite, and was the guy who lost his prominent push to Ultimate Warrior. Beefcake's prime ended in 1990 when he nearly lost his life in a parasailing accident where he was to help his female parasailer friend prepare for takeoff when the boat driver made the cue to take off without warning, sending her bare feet directly into Beefcake's face, delivering a devastating, near-fatal blow which destroyed his face. His face needed to be surgically repaired with 100+ metal plates in order to let every single facial bone to heal, so he needed to put his wrestling career on hold for two years and would not return until 1993. Beefcake's accident marked one of the rare moments the WWF broke kayfabe in the pre-Attitude Era as a real-life and potential life-threatening/life-ending injury had to be directly explained to the audience. Years later, after forgettable WCW runs as Brother Bruti, The Butcher, Man with No Name, Zodiac and The Booty Man, he would return in early 1998 as The Disciple and joined the nWo as another role player and muscle enforcer of the group alongside Norton and Adams."

-9) "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner [1998]: "Before @FlairFan2003 comes on says that he doesn't like what he has to say about Scott Steiner, let me assure you all that Scott Steiner made his big-time wrestling debut in 1988-89 in the National Wrestling Alliance where he and his brother Rick became The Steiner Brothers, a powerhouse tag team who went on to wrestle all over the world whether they'd be working with the NWA/WCW, Japan, WWF and ECW. The Road Warriors and The Steiner Brothers would go on to be the biggest money making tag teams the NWA/WCW have ever had, concerning tag teams. Although he was known for his unique all-around wrestling movesets, Scott was overshadowed by his older brother Rick as a character and never truly got to progress to singles matches earlier on until 1998 when back, shoulder, nerve tissue injuries and age derailed his wrestling ability. Unlike one-dimensional guys like Norton who can't change up some, guys like Steiner, Bagwell and Konnan were all able to change gimmicks, and also be willing to readily adapt to being Sports Entertainment box office style workers. And while Steiner would go on to become a key player from the second half of 1998 onwards on his way to being a WCW World Heavyweight Champion and top draw in WCW's final months, here in the Original nWo he is just a role player who was finally getting a chance to go the singles path. However, Scott's attitude issues were well-documented, and he never again got to be a key player once WCW closed their doors in early 2001. That explains why he was only a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion that could've been way more than one reign besides tag team and mid-card belts, so he's considered a role player in singles competition who failed to realize his potential as his early career flashes of potential suggested."

So there you have it, those are your Original NWO role players in the best-ever nWo incarnation in terms of all the other nWo incarnations over the years. And while Bischoff was a mouthpiece/manager no different from Ted DiBiase, Vincent, Miss Elizabeth, Dennis Rodman, Rick Rude, Louie Spicolli and Dusty Rhodes, he was the sole mouthpiece/manager who was more impactful and really stood out from the rest of the managers for the long-term since the others did nothing really noteworthy while in the nWo, and like I said, before FlairFan2003 comes on and says about how much he hates Scott Steiner. I want to know the answer as to why FlairFan2003 doesn't even like Scott Steiner's overall career, especially the Big Poppa Pump phase. Does FlairFan2003 really dislike Steiner over the one simple thing all because he has anger problems and a cancerous locker room malcontent? Because I've never seen someone who is as much of an obviously bigger Ric Flair mark than FlairFan2003, and to him, he doesn't like Steiner for some reason because he's too much of a bar brawler type of tough guy.

Take your pick in regards to who you really think is the best secondary member of the nine best role players and semi-stars the nWo has had to offer besides Hogan, Nash, Hall, Savage and Bischoff.

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