What’s the story?
The latest episode of Bruce Prichard’s Something To Wrestle With podcast is online. The episode covers one of the most frustrating creative washouts in WWE history, Vince McMahon’s attempt at resurrecting the New World Order.
Prichard discusses the entire storyline on the show and gives a fascinating insight as to why Big Show was added to the group in the summer of 2002.
In case you didn’t know...
After changing the wrestling business by practically taking over WCW, the New World Order (nWo) eventually became far too big for its own boots. WCW died in 2001, and one year later, Vince McMahon was looking to bring the group back to WWE TV.
His storyline reason for doing so was to inject WWE with a ‘lethal dose of poison’, as his arch-nemesis Ric Flair owned half of the company.
Originally consisting of ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, the nWo was a bust in the WWE. The group, which consisted (at various times) of Big Show, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Booker T, was beset by injuries and poor planning. Less than six months after returning to television, the nWo was gone.
The heart of the matter
Prichard revealed that Big Show joining the group was indicative of the ‘scotch tape booking’ that filled the company at the time, with stories being changed on the fly and entire plans changing on whims.
Prichard says Big Show was brought into the nWo because Kevin Nash was injured, and it was a case of replacing one big man with another, to serve the same purpose.
“[WWE Thought] Hey, we lost one seven-foot (giant), lets put another seven-foot (giant) in there. And you replace one with another, and people won’t notice. You’re just trying to save something, and you’re trying to complete that vision. Sometimes, it doesn’t work”
Prichard, who is best known for his portrayal of Brother Love in the World Wrestling Federation, worked as a producer for WWE at the time of the nWo storyline. Prichard left the company in 2008 and is now in his second stint at Impact Wrestling.
What’s next?
Prichard’s words are unlikely to bring about any changes to any stories or careers that are currently underway, but it is a fascinating insight into the somewhat muddled vision of the biggest wrestling company on the planet. Prichard’s podcast is well worth a listen, a show full of great stories told by an engaging storyteller.
Author’s take
The WWE’s attempt to resurrect the New World Order in 2002 was a bust from the start. The wrestling world had changed, and what was ‘bad guy cool’ in 1997 came across as ‘sad old dad’ in 2002. Big Show and Booker T suffered for their time in the faction, and when it ended not a soul was disappointed.
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