10 shocking moments from WWE 2002

#2 The NWO arrives in WWE

Now a WWE faction!

The relationship between the NWO and WCW is a strange one, to say the least. In one sense, the heel faction that formed at Bash at the Beach 1996 helped the Southern promotion to race ahead of the WWF in the television ratings and establish dominance overall in the Monday Night Wars. In another sense, however, the overreliance on the NWO and the highly convoluted storylines it was involved in also encouraged fans to turn back to the WWF in 1998, signalling the downfall of WCW for good.

Back in 96, it made every bit of sense to capitalise on the popularity of the group. They weren't only contributing in terms of ratings, but they were also helping WCW with merchandise sales and PPV buys. When you have something that 'hot' within your wrestling promotion, you do everything you can to exploit it.

But as we all know, a wrestling faction or storyline can soon become tiresome, especially if there isn't much else to draw on. WCW's dependence eventually led to a weakening of the product overall and the group eventually died with its host company in 2001.

By February 2002, the NWO would reappear, this time as a WWE owned faction. The group that had initially sent shockwaves through the wrestling business and forced Vince McMahon to stare directly into the abyss was now representing the company it nearly defeated.

In kayfabe terms, the group was brought in at No Way Out 2002 to help Vince McMahon destroy the WWF after Ric Flair announced he had purchased half of the company's shares. In many ways, this felt like the kind of 'Invasion Angle' that fans had missed out on in 2001, with NWO main event stars Hogan, Hall, and Nash going after Stone Cold and The Rock. Whatever you might think about WWE's version of the group, it did lead to some interesting showdowns at Wrestlemania 18.

The WWE NWO was fairly short-lived and uneventful, but for a short time, it provided quite the shock to wrestling fans worldwide.