While WCW was on the air, wrestling fans knew that there was one stable that would never fail to deliver week in and week out and that stable was the nWo. They were one of the most influential stables in the history of wrestling, and as a result, the group had recruited just about every major WCW wrestler in some form at some time.
While there was a lot to love about the nWo, that didn’t make them immune to the odd decision here and there. Even some of their greatest moments have been a bit weird when people stop to think about them. Most wrestling fans have respect for the nWo, something that may have led them to also completely forget about some of the weirder moments.
10 That Time Dennis Rodman Joined
There are more than a few nWo moments that some people try to push from their minds, and one of those is when Dennis Rodman of the Chicago Bulls joined the nWo. Those who don’t know about the moment might think he simply made an appearance to hype the Bulls in 1997.
The thing is, Rodman actually competed in WCW as a member of the nWo. Even more surprising, Rodman teamed with Hulk Hogan in order to clash with Lex Luger and The Giant. It was a weird time for WCW, leading to one weird decision.
9 The nWo Take Over Late Night
While this weird moment didn’t take place on WCW television, it was one of the stranger nWo moments to come out of the historic late nineties. Put simply, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff strolled onto The Tonight Show when it was hosted by Jay Leno, and took over completely.
The entire thing was used to further an angle that would see Leno appearing on WCW television, but it was entertaining at the very least. Seeing Bischoff lean back at the desk while Hogan makes himself at home next to him is a sight every nWo fan should see at least once.
8 Vince Announces The Group Is Done
There are a lot of ways for a famed group to officially end. Sometimes a group just naturally reaches the end of their days and one final ride in the ring is enough to show fans their time is up. Other times, other methods are required.
One thing that most people probably didn’t expect was Vince McMahon announcing that the group was done himself. A simple announcement seemed so strange when angles can be quietly dropped and then picked back up later should the desire arise.
7 The Hogan Head
Simply reading that heading is probably more than enough for most people to remember such a strange moment. It is exactly what most people would expect, Hulk hogan receives a gift that is a pretty solid recreation of his own head.
There was a lot more to that moment with both Sting and Bret Hart, but few things get weirder than seeing Hulk Hogan freak out over seeing his own head. Hogan really does sell the moment perfectly, but it’s one of those weird moments that a lot of kids probably wished their parents didn’t walk in on.
6 The Garbage Truck Entrance
When most people think about the nWo, at least in WCW, they probably think about how cool the group was. They were one of the two major groups of that era that drew casual fans into being diehard wrestling supporters.
Since they were often seen as the personification of the word cool, a lot of people were a bit weirded out when they decided to make one of their entrances with a garbage truck. It was odd because the younger fans who likely thought the nWo was cool probably didn’t have the same feelings about garbage trucks.
5 The nWo Arrives In WWE
There was a lot that made the nWo’s arrival in WWE weird. First, the group had lost a lot of its steam before it ever even made it to the WWE. Second, a lot of wrestling fans were excited to see Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Hulk Hogan return to do something different from what they’d been doing the last few years.
In a way, the entire thing felt like the three men attempted to recapture the magic of the group by running through their personal big hits. The issue was that the crowd was more interested in seeing the performers than they were in seeing the nWo.
4 Dusty Rhodes Joins The Stable
The nWo quickly became a stable that had most people wondering who’d be joining next, and not in a good way. One of the people that contributed to that issue was, unfortunately, Dusty Rhodes.
His heel turn and subsequent joining of the nWo was certainly a shock, and a good one at that. It was weird to see The American Dream turning to the dark side. It didn’t even last all that long either, with Dusty shortly returning to the side of good and realizing the errors of his ways.
3 The Fingerpoke Of Doom
Whether anyone loves the infamous Finger Poke of Doom or hates it, there’s no way around it, it’s a weird moment in wrestling history. The entire point of it was to set up a new version of the nWo, something that was already getting old.
For those that are unaware, the infamous moment saw Hulk Hogan challenging Kevin Nash for his championship. After a single poke to the chest, Hogan pinned Nash and then celebrated with the usual suspects before Goldberg ran out to confront them all.
2 The First nWo Announcement
It’s worth acknowledging that the first time the nWo put out an announcement in the nineties, it was actually pretty cool. Looking back on those announcements with a modern lens makes them just look as weird as can be.
The imbalance in charisma between the three men really sticks out. Hulk Hogan seems out of place the entire time, the b-roll sprinkled throughout can be a bit much for some, and the visual effects can come off as trying a bit too hard to be cool too.
1 The Miss nWo Pageant
Yes, the nWo really did hold a pageant. As far as cool goes, pageants probably aren’t anywhere on a list of what most people would consider cool. As a result, the moment just came across as a baffling and weird moment in the nWo’s history.
Souled Out 1997 was home to The Miss nWo Pageant, an event that saw a couple of ordinary women strutting their stuff before the winner ended up making out with Eric Bischoff. It wasn’t just weird, it was overly self-serving in the worst way possible.