[Rasslin' Fan]

it's not just the nWo that made WWF change it's "attitude", that was merely one element in the game

Diesel's run as WWF Champion was probably one of the worst for live attendance and PPV buy rates, the fans didn't find him charismatic enough in his role as champion, so people stopped caring which leads to low PPV buys.

WWF was very cartoony in their characters in the 90s, Doink, Crush, Duke Droese, Aldo Montoya, Friar Ferguson, TL Hopper, the list goes on with shit gimmicks, each with little to no fanbase behind any of them, they were alienating their audience who just didn't care.

ECW was doing something revolutionary, but it wasn't on national TV so the "proper" hardcore fans were trading VHS tapes of ECW and Japanese wrestling events, and they got their fix of "proper" wrestling by these methods, and their attitude towards WWF's product was "this isn't what I want to watch" so they turned off, even their TV ratings were tanking fast.

WCW wasn't doing much better, Nitro wasn't winning any ratings battles, because they were showcasing the older WWF stars and the WCW fans wanted to watch more traditional NWA style wrestling, which Hogan couldn't do, so Hogan's babyface run was a nostalgia trip only, it wasn't going to make WCW anything big in itself.

then they did the nWo angle, and the only reason it made headlines was the fact that it was portrays as what fans legitimately wanted to see - a WWF vs WCW war, and the initial run of Hall and Nash for the first couple of months was purely based on that, people were interested in seeing these 2 WWF guys destroying WCW wrestlers, and that's what made it so intriguing to the fans, which got hotter as the weeks progressed.

Once the likes of Stevie Ray got into the nWo, it was being pushed by WCW so much that they couldn't kill the angle, but it was beginning to outgrow it's welcome because the fans were being given main events which ended in DQs, and half the nWo were midcarders at best, but it was really the Sting/Hogan angle that kept people interested - will Sting get his match against Hollywood Hogan and who will win!

people give the nWo a lot of credibility for something it didn't do "on it's own", it was part of a wider change in the wrestling landscape - early/mid 90s wrestling was shit, no two ways about it, and then a lot of things happened at the same time - ECW became notorious within the hardcore fans, Austin 3:16 was a major change from the days of Doink and Duke Droese, and the nWo was what fans wanted to see - it wasn't JUST the nWo which changed wrestling, but it was part of a larger change across the industry

 

[Rasslin' Fan]

deleted - duplicate post

 

[Rasslin' Fan]

oops!!

 

[RyanPelley]

it's not just the nWo that made WWF change it's "attitude", that was merely one element in the game

Diesel's run as WWF Champion was probably one of the worst for live attendance and PPV buy rates, the fans didn't find him charismatic enough in his role as champion, so people stopped caring which leads to low PPV buys.

WWF was very cartoony in their characters in the 90s, Doink, Crush, Duke Droese, Aldo Montoya, Friar Ferguson, TL Hopper, the list goes on with shit gimmicks, each with little to no fanbase behind any of them, they were alienating their audience who just didn't care.

ECW was doing something revolutionary, but it wasn't on national TV so the "proper" hardcore fans were trading VHS tapes of ECW and Japanese wrestling events, and they got their fix of "proper" wrestling by these methods, and their attitude towards WWF's product was "this isn't what I want to watch" so they turned off, even their TV ratings were tanking fast.

WCW wasn't doing much better, Nitro wasn't winning any ratings battles, because they were showcasing the older WWF stars and the WCW fans wanted to watch more traditional NWA style wrestling, which Hogan couldn't do, so Hogan's babyface run was a nostalgia trip only, it wasn't going to make WCW anything big in itself.

then they did the nWo angle, and the only reason it made headlines was the fact that it was portrays as what fans legitimately wanted to see - a WWF vs WCW war, and the initial run of Hall and Nash for the first couple of months was purely based on that, people were interested in seeing these 2 WWF guys destroying WCW wrestlers, and that's what made it so intriguing to the fans, which got hotter as the weeks progressed.

Once the likes of Stevie Ray got into the nWo, it was being pushed by WCW so much that they couldn't kill the angle, but it was beginning to outgrow it's welcome because the fans were being given main events which ended in DQs, and half the nWo were midcarders at best, but it was really the Sting/Hogan angle that kept people interested - will Sting get his match against Hollywood Hogan and who will win!

people give the nWo a lot of credibility for something it didn't do "on it's own", it was part of a wider change in the wrestling landscape - early/mid 90s wrestling was shit, no two ways about it, and then a lot of things happened at the same time - ECW became notorious within the hardcore fans, Austin 3:16 was a major change from the days of Doink and Duke Droese, and the nWo was what fans wanted to see - it wasn't JUST the nWo which changed wrestling, but it was part of a larger change across the industry

Brilliant post. Repped to the max. It's almost like you're some sort of knowledgeable rasslin fan.

 

[PlainSimpleCorn]

I would say yes the NWO did change the business. By that time people were so bored with the old fashioned over the top cartoony gimicks (ie doink the clown, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, Dr. Isaac Yankem etc) and by 1996 with Razor Ramon and Diesel moving from WWF to WCW using their real names people were confused yet interested, it looked like WWF were invading WCW. One thing that had not been tried by that time was making Hogan a bad guy and that discusted people yet made them still watch and interested in the product. It looked more real and basically just like a big gang war and according to Bischoff police cars and ambulances actually started turning up at arenas because it looked like a big gang war going on.

Meanwhile in WWF according to Mick Foley sometime in late 96 early 97 Vince called the roster in for a meeting and pointed out from then on that the on screen character had to more resemble the person playing them. That was when we stopped seeing the dentist, clowns etc and started seeing people being more like themselves with the volume turned way up (stone cold, the rock, etc).

So yes I do think the NWO forced the WWF to change because had they not then chances are WWF would have gone out of business.

 

[vG-MONEYv]

it's not just the nWo that made WWF change it's "attitude", that was merely one element in the game

Diesel's run as WWF Champion was probably one of the worst for live attendance and PPV buy rates, the fans didn't find him charismatic enough in his role as champion, so people stopped caring which leads to low PPV buys.

WWF was very cartoony in their characters in the 90s, Doink, Crush, Duke Droese, Aldo Montoya, Friar Ferguson, TL Hopper, the list goes on with shit gimmicks, each with little to no fanbase behind any of them, they were alienating their audience who just didn't care.

ECW was doing something revolutionary, but it wasn't on national TV so the "proper" hardcore fans were trading VHS tapes of ECW and Japanese wrestling events, and they got their fix of "proper" wrestling by these methods, and their attitude towards WWF's product was "this isn't what I want to watch" so they turned off, even their TV ratings were tanking fast.

WCW wasn't doing much better, Nitro wasn't winning any ratings battles, because they were showcasing the older WWF stars and the WCW fans wanted to watch more traditional NWA style wrestling, which Hogan couldn't do, so Hogan's babyface run was a nostalgia trip only, it wasn't going to make WCW anything big in itself.

then they did the nWo angle, and the only reason it made headlines was the fact that it was portrays as what fans legitimately wanted to see - a WWF vs WCW war, and the initial run of Hall and Nash for the first couple of months was purely based on that, people were interested in seeing these 2 WWF guys destroying WCW wrestlers, and that's what made it so intriguing to the fans, which got hotter as the weeks progressed.

Once the likes of Stevie Ray got into the nWo, it was being pushed by WCW so much that they couldn't kill the angle, but it was beginning to outgrow it's welcome because the fans were being given main events which ended in DQs, and half the nWo were midcarders at best, but it was really the Sting/Hogan angle that kept people interested - will Sting get his match against Hollywood Hogan and who will win!

people give the nWo a lot of credibility for something it didn't do "on it's own", it was part of a wider change in the wrestling landscape - early/mid 90s wrestling was shit, no two ways about it, and then a lot of things happened at the same time - ECW became notorious within the hardcore fans, Austin 3:16 was a major change from the days of Doink and Duke Droese, and the nWo was what fans wanted to see - it wasn't JUST the nWo which changed wrestling, but it was part of a larger change across the industry

Great post. Nwo was the shit.


Sent from my SGH-T959 using VerticalSports.Com App

 

[chucky101]

yes but don't you think nwo was really the top reason, i mean that storyline was the reason wcw started winning the war, thus forcing vince to change

in a way austin should be thanking hogan cause without his heel turn and the nwo who knows if wcw would of beat raw, thus who would vince feel pressured to push more edgy stuff

 

[chucky101]

not to mention nwo did stuff that was never done before, bischoff the owner turning heel, which vince did the same a year later

spraypainting the title, doing whatever the hell they wanted, alot of which wwe copied in the next few years

 

[Antonion01]

WWE are mad because nwo(the biggerst angle in prowrestling history) was created by WCW.

WCW>>>>>>>>>>>>>WWE

 

[apokalypse]

NWO did change wrestling industry where it nearly killed WWE but it doesn't change WWE direction not until Stone Cold/Bret Hart Fued...Bret Hart was against Attitude product.

 

[Rock316AE]

It was mostly Eric Bischoff that changed wrestling forever.

Eric signed Hogan.
Eric created Nitro.
Eric changed TV wrestling with new and innovative concept.
Eric turned Hogan heel.
Eric created and marketed the nWo to perfection.

Bischoff was the driver behind all that. On screen, it started with Hogan signing in WCW, drawing the biggest PPVs in the history of the company with Flair, Savage, Vader etc. Savage signing with WCW, drawing big on the road with Flair. Then Nitro and the shocking return of Luger, dream matches like Luger vs Hogan and Sting vs Hogan on TV with Nitro and RAW trading wins. Then Hall and Nash coming with a brilliant storyline from Bischoff, The Outsiders started the boom right there with the streak of wins and bigger gates every month, Hogan doing the heel turn and from there it was unstoppable. Yes, it was definitely THE factor that started the biggest run ever for pro wrestling. Eric Bischoff and the nWo.

Another big part is the freedom the guys had to be themselves, personalities like Hall and Nash that were the definition of cool in the world at that time were just being the real Kevin and Scott, just doing their antics on TV instead of on the road or backstage. That gave Nitro the different feel of realism and took wrestling to the next level.

 

[chucky101]

NWO did change wrestling industry where it nearly killed WWE but it doesn't change WWE direction not until Stone Cold/Bret Hart Fued...Bret Hart was against Attitude product.

yes but why did vince start going "edgy" in 97, because of nitro and with a great nwo storyline that forced him to change

bischoff is really the one who kicked everything into high gear, sure ecw started the whole attitude stuff before, but it was never going to beat raw in ratings so it never mattered to vince

once bischoff with his nwo storyline started to kick his butt in the ratins thats what forced vince to change

 

[StLSaint_75]

well probably without the nWo story, not many people would be watching wrestling. WWF and WCW didn't take off with the second boom of wrestling until the competition created by the nWo angle.

I was 6 when it started, but it was the main reason i started watching. and the only reason I came back (jan 2, 2012) was to hope to see something like that happen again.

 

[Cpt. Charisma]

The nWo were the catalyst to the breakdown of kayfabe. This was adopted by WWF/E heavily during the Attitude Era and is still used today to make CM Punk's character his edge.

 

[Wrestling02370]

The NwO revolutionized wrestling in many different ways. They definitely forced the hand of WWE to move in a more real direction. It seems like WCW and ECW knew were the future of wrestling was going, WWE was the last to catch on. But when they finally did, they did it better than their competitors.