The New World Order was the biggest creation in WCW that ushered the company’s rise to the top of the wrestling industry. Hulk Hogan’s heel turn showed that the group was going to be legitimate right away. Most wrestlers on the WCW roster wanted to join the nWo as it became the coolest act in the industry. Quite a few turned on WCW to help grow the strength of the faction, but that played a role in its demise.
Too many members joining meant that many of them would gain nothing from being a part of the group. We will look at both instances of careers getting helped and hurt from their time in the NWO. Find out just which wrestlers grew from the experience or did not find much more relevance. These are five wrestlers that benefited from joining the New World Order along with five that gained nothing.
10 Benefited: Syxx
The career of Sean Waltman improved after signing with WCW to join the New World Order. WWE found success with him as the 123 Kid, but he was portrayed as a lower mid-carder. The NWO stint allowed him to have a bigger role teaming with his friends Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.
Syxx even got to take part in a singles feud with the legendary Ric Flair. The most important part of his time in the nWo was actually when WCW fired him. Waltman returned to WWE under the X-Pac name a bigger star and joined D-Generation X. If not for the NWO run, he may not have had the best WWE stint of his career.
9 Gained nothing: Curt Hennig
The run of Mr. Perfect in WWE made Curt Hennig one of the best in-ring performers in wrestling history. WWE never put him in the world title picture, but Perfect provided outstanding matches against anyone put in front of him and found classics with fellow greats like Bret Hart.
WCW signed Hennig and ran a storyline of him turning on the Four Horsemen to join the New World Order. The importance of Hennig joining the nWo was not that significant and it led to him becoming just another wrestler. WCW dropped the ball by putting Hennig in a faction that didn’t need him.
8 Benefited: Konnan
Konnan had a legendary career in the AAA promotion that led to WCW signing him. The early run provided disappointment with Konnan doing nothing of note and falling lower down the card in the lackluster Dungeon of Doom faction.
Things would change for the better when Konnan joined the New World Order and added more of an edge to his character. The eventual formation of the NWO Wolfpac was when Konnan took off to find even more success as a beloved face as the best run of his career in the United States.
7 Gained nothing: Michael Wallstreet
WWE’s I.R.S. made the move back to WCW to portray a similar character of Michael Wallstreet. The move to join the New World Order came when Wallstreet’s former tag team partner Ted DiBiase signed with WCW in the role as the benefactor of the nWo.
Wallstreet was one of the first irrelevant members that didn’t have much of a role in the group. Unless he was joining the bigger names in group attacks, nothing done by Wallstreet stood out. WCW would make him among the few NWO wrestlers to take losses in the first few months since he didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
6 Benefited: Scott Hall
The first member of the New World Order was among those to benefit the most from the group. Scott Hall had an impressive run in WWE as Razor Ramon, but he was never a legitimate top star there. Fans knew him as one of the top mid-carders in the Intercontinental Championship picture.
Hall, however, created more an impact in just one night when debuting for WCW. The appearance interrupting a match and threatening a hostile takeover of WCW led to fans wondering what was happening next. Hall played a massive role in the early success of the NWO and became a far bigger star in the industry due to it.
5 Gained nothing: Stevie Ray
Booker T started to find success in singles action outside of the Harlem Heat tag team when Stevie Ray was out with an injury. WCW had to figure out how to use them both when Stevie returned to the company and went with having him join the New World Order.
Stevie did not fit in well and rarely did anything of significance in the group. The NWO splitting into two factions saw him get a bigger opportunity in nWo Hollywood, but he couldn’t move up the card. Stevie ended up in the comedic nWo B-Team to hurt his overall standing after the group ended.
4 Benefited: Eric Bischoff
One of the biggest moments in New World Order history came when Eric Bischoff turned heel to join the group. Bischoff was a commentator and the WCW figurehead that often clashed with the NWO. However, the reveal was that Bischoff was secretly helping them all along.
Bischoff became a tremendous heel character and added another dynamic to the group. Hulk Hogan and Bischoff were linked together following this as Bischoff had a great heel dynamic that made him more effective in this role. Part of the reason he received a WWE opportunity as a General Manager was due to his personality in the NWO.
3 Gained nothing: Bubba Rogers
The Big Boss Man had a great run in WWE that eventually landed him in the Hall of Fame. However, his move to join WCW in the 90s was a big mistake under the new name of Bubba Rogers. A few different characters all flopped, and he eventually joined the New World Order thanks to his friendship with Hulk Hogan.
Rogers did not have much chemistry with the rest of the group and never contributed much. An injury would see the NWO kick him out in ruthless fashion. Rogers tried feuding with the stable when returning but nothing worked as his WCW run could not be saved.
2 Benefited: Scott Steiner
The heel turn of Scott Steiner saw him stab his brother Rick Steiner in the back after a run as arguably the greatest tag team in WCW history. Scott completely changed his look and personality as he started this new chapter of his career as a singles wrestler.
This new character allowed Steiner to get strong heel heat and move up the card. Steiner would become a top main event star after the NWO ended and WCW desperately needed new top names. The time in the NWO helped Steiner ascend to a bigger role in wrestling.
1 Gained nothing: Bret Hart
Bret Hart was among the top overall wrestling stars of the 90s and left WWE an even bigger name due to the Montreal Screwjob. WCW, unfortunately, did nothing with Hart’s momentum as his booking was awful from the start.
Hart eventually turned heel to join the New World Order in the Hollywood camp of the faction. WCW’s booking essentially made him the lackey of Hulk Hogan to strip away his main event credibility. Hart had a disappointing WCW career that he still holds a grudge with Hogan and Eric Bischoff for to this day.