The New World Order changed WCW forever by taking the company to the next level above WWE for the first time in their history. Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall formed the original trio before names like The Giant, Randy Savage, and Curt Hennig joined the faction. WCW wrestlers had mixed results of feuding with the nWo throughout the late ‘90s.
A few wrestlers benefited immensely from their time feuding against the nWo since it made them bigger stars. However, there were quite a few names that ended up getting buried for having to wrestle the talents involved in the group. Find out what caused each scenario to play out in such a manner. The following wrestlers were either put over or buried by the nWo in WCW.
10 Put over: Sting
Sting was already the face of WCW, but a huge character rebranding came during this eud with the New World Order. Hulk Hogan and company had a fake Sting helped them out and turn WCW wrestlers against the real Stinger.
This inspired Sting to develop the Crow persona of his character with the black and white face paint. Sting patiently waited to finally end Hogan’s WCW Championship reign after over a year of build. The nWo sold for Sting whenever he attacked the ring to add more to his mystique by taking down many wrestlers at a time.
9 Buried: Arn Anderson
The Four Horsemen were the punching bags for the New World Order for quite some time. Arn Anderson was among the most respected wrestlers in WCW, but he was never a viable threat to the nWo when interacting.
Things grew worse when Anderson retired and was met with disrespect by the nWo. The retirement speech of Arn was parodied by Kevin Nash mocking and humiliating his contributions to the ring before injuries ended his career.
8 Put over: Rick Steiner
Rick Steiner was one of the more obscure wrestlers to have a positive track record against the New World Order. Scott and Rick Steiner often had the number of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall during their memorable rivalry.
The eventual ending of Steiner Brothers saw Scott turning heel on Rick to join the nWo. Despite Scott benefiting more in the long run, Rick scored bigger victories during their feud and often held his ground standing up to the nWo.
7 Buried: Big Bubba Rogers
WWE star The Big Boss Man was known as Big Bubba Rogers when he joined the New World Order. Rogers was added to the group when WCW was still implying a WWE connection of the original three all coming from there.
The fit never worked and Bubba was viewed as a secondary talent that ended up growing the group too soon. Rogers was kicked out of the nWo when suffering an injury and was further attacked when returning as a face.
6 Put over: Lex Luger
WCW always tried to elevate Lex Luger to a higher position as an occasional main eventer. Luger was one of the few WCW faces to hold his own when feuding with New World Order members like Randy Savage, Scott Hall, and Buff Bagwell.
The rivalry with Hulk Hogan featured Lex scoring the biggest win of his career. Luger won the WCW Championship from Hogan on Nitro in an all-time memorable segment. The title reign only lasted a week, but it placed Luger in that top spot.
5 Buried: Rey Mysterio
1999 saw the New World Order: Elite forming with the best members of the Wolfpac and Hollywood camps uniting for a bigger stable. Konnan was kicked out of the group for showing sympathy to his friend Rey Mysterio.
Kevin Nash ended up making Mysterio look like a joke on a few occasions, including Rey losing his mask as part of the match stipulation. Mysterio did get one upset win over Nash, but the big PPV matches resulted in him getting destroyed by Big Sexy.
4 Put over: Goldberg
Many wrestlers were surprised when Hulk Hogan did not use his creative control clause to prevent a loss to Goldberg. WCW witnessed Goldberg becoming the biggest star in the company due to his undefeated streak taking off in 1998.
Goldberg scored a career-defining victory by beating Hogan on Nitro to win the WCW Championship. Hogan did his best to put over Goldberg and elevate him as the face of the company. Goldberg’s win remains in the discussion for the greatest moment in WCW history.
3 Buried: The Giant
The Giant joining the New World Order as the fourth in-ring competitor helped add more strengths to the group. However, he would get kicked out of the faction after just four months of having a role with them.
Hulk Hogan didn’t want to grant The Giant’s WCW Title shot and kicked out of the group for questioning the leadership. The Giant was destroyed by Hogan and Kevin Nash in various feuds hurting his momentum. To make matters worse, Giant rejoined the nWo Hollywood faction in 1998 with an even lower spot this time around. WWE hired him as Big Show in 1999 due to his interest in making a change.
2 Put over: Diamond Dallas Page
No WCW wrestler benefited more for opposing the New World Order as much as Diamond Dallas Page did. The fans started to organically cheer for Page in late 1996 as the nWo was also becoming the top heel act.
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall tried to recruit DDP to join the nWo until he set them up by pretending to unite before attacking both former friends. Page also entered a feud with Randy Savage that made him a top star for the rest of his WCW career.
1 Buried: Ric Flair
The Monday Night Wars saw Ric Flair having his least favorite time in wrestling with the drastic changes coming for WCW. Flair was looked as an afterthought behind Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Sting when Eric Bischoff moved forward with the New World Order.
Hogan often easily defeated Flair in matches during this chapter of their respective careers. Flair even had to put over names like Curt Hennig and Konnan, who were the mid-carders of the nWo. This run was the inspiration behind Flair struggling to find his confidence at the end of WCW’s run.