Faction Warfare Round 2: The Varsity Club vs New World Order

[ThomC]

THE VARSITY CLUB (NWA JCP)
Kevin Sullivan, Dan Spivey, Mike Rotunda & Dr. Death Steve Williams

VS

NEW WORLD ORDER
Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & Syxx

[Mr. Tambourine Man]

NWO no contest.

Varsity Club was cool and all, but this version of nWo was the best TV in the history of wrestling IMO.

[Turley]

NWO will advance here. I have these guys down as certain finalists. They held all the gold, they got all the ratings and they got all the cheers, even when beating the fan favourites. This faction added grey to the black and white, good or bad wrestling philosophy that we knew before them.

[thethirdwarren]

I was a fan of Varsity Club. They were a great faction. They had the talent and cohesion. But there's no way I can go against the NWO here. The NWO were great. They were the perfect group of guys at the perfect time with great writing, at least for a while. NWO for me.

[ScrapMetal55]

I agree with what everyone has said here....there's really no reason for me to go off on another pro-nWo rant. They were simply too powerful to vote off at this point.

[Shockage]

nWo all the way in this match. Hulk Hogan is the main ingredient to the nWo's success. Hogan brings a sense of class and name power to the group. If Hogan wasn't in this match then it would be pretty even. But you can't go against the nWo in this contest.

[Goldie79]

Though Steve Williams was legit tough.... the Varsity club consists of 4 midcard level guys.... Hogan, Nash, Hall.... all became bigger names... (and possibly Waltman too over the rest exept for Williams).

The NWO would find a way to cheat and win.... (unless Kevin Sullivan is booking of course )

[Kid Kash]

nWo all the way in this match. Hulk Hogan is the main ingredient to the nWo's success. Hogan brings a sense of class and name power to the group. If Hogan wasn't in this match then it would be pretty even. But you can't go against the nWo in this contest.

Nonsense. the NWO would still win with ease even without Hogan

[Shockage]

Hall, Nash & X-Pac wouldn't be the NWO without Hogan. Hall, Nash & X-Pac would just be 3/5 of the Kliq. Had it not been for Hogan's heel turn in 1996, the nWo wouldn't have generated the buzz and the fear that it did. Hall, Nash & X-Pac aren't as dangerous and impressive, especially when they're going up against a group of collegic wrestlers. It's an even match (as I said in my previous post) because Hulk's name recognition is nowhere, and this could be just another midcard battle. How over and dangerous were Hall, Nash & X-Pac in 2002? Exactly!

[Kid Kash]

Err, you're forgetting that your man Hogan came back with them in 2002 as well. Replace Hogan with another big name and the NWO is still a fantastic group.

[Shockage]

I remember Hogan coming back in 2002, and the crowds forced him back into a good guy, leaving Nash, Hall and X-Pac to fend for themselves. And you can't replace Hogan with another big name because the creation and the initial success of the nWo was about Hulk Hogan, not Ric Flair, Sting or any other name.

[Turley]

Nash and Hall jumping ship to WCW got the ball rolling. They had a massive importance in the NWOs beginnings...

[Shockage]

Yes, but Hogan brought everything together. The shock of Hogan's heel turn changed wrestling over night. If Hall and Nash were big enough, then wrestling would've changed the night after they power bombed Eric Bischoff through the table. But it didn't, Hall and Nash said there was someone else on the way, that was the selling point to get everyone interested.

Like I said, you take Hulk out, and the match would be a midcard battle, and you're stuck with 3/5 of the Kliq.

[Goldie79]

We've had a What If post on this a couple of years back:
Would the NWO have the same impact without Hogan?

The answer my friends is no.
Would it still have had a big impact? ... of course it would have. Interest was brewing when Nash & Hall appeared in WCW... and as Turley says, they got the ball rolling....but with Hogan on board they hit the home run.

Hulk Hogan is the biggest name in pro wrestling history... his heel turn had gigantic repurcusions. Not just through the wrestling industry but also sent shockwaves through the Entertainments industry.
You replace Hogan as leader of the NWO ... the NWO would have been a very good storyline... but wouldn't have lasted 3 to 4 years.

I would still give Nash/Hall/Waltman the edge in this faction.... but having Hogan makes it ever so more decisive

[Shockage]

Without Hogan; Dr. Death & Spivey would probably take Nash and Hall. Kevin Sullivan would handle X-Pac and there would still be Rotunda. But everything dramatically changes when you put Hogan back in.

[Mr. Tambourine Man]

Hogan was a very important ingredient. I don't know that they would have reached quite the same level of success without him. Although, I do remember that the plan was always for there to be a third guy. If it hadn't have been Hogan it may have been Sting. If Sting could have played that "edgy" heel like Hall and Nash, I think nWo would still have been one of the best things in wrestling. A lot of nWo's success had to do with how different and cool the group was.

[Goldie79]

It would have been cool to have seen Sting as the NWO leader.... but it would have ended up as another wrestling storyline. How well is Sting known outside wrestling circles however?
With Hogan the NWO was advertised all across the mainstream media.... I couldnt imagine WCW reaching out to the likes of the Jay Leno show without Hogans involvement.

I could imagine in this matchup Kevin Sullivan representing the old school and accusing the NWO guys of making wrestling a circus. A powerbomb by Nash later and a Hogan legdrop of DOOM later.... he realises he has to move with the times

[Shockage]

Although, I do remember that the plan was always for there to be a third guy. If it hadn't have been Hogan it may have been Sting. If Sting could have played that "edgy" heel like Hall and Nash, I think nWo would still have been one of the best things in wrestling. A lot of nWo's success had to do with how different and cool the group was.

I heard it was supposed to be Bret Hart. But who was Sting exactly to the international wrestling fans? As a New Zealander, when WCW was introduced to our shores in 1994, Hulk was leading the charge, a sense of familiarity followed Hogan as the likes of Savage, Duggan, Jimmy Hart, Mean Gene, Heenan were featured in prominent WCW roles. If you're going to introduce the New World Order to the world and cast the 3rd guy, wouldn't you cast that vital role to someone that the entire world knew too well rather than a guy who had been there for 9 years but didn't have big enough profile? To make the NWO work and have that 3rd guy make a big impact, the guy had to be someone that EVERYBODY knew, not just the wrestling community. This storyline wasn't supposed to be for the normal American wrestling viewer or if done today it had to reach beyond the internet smarks, this guy had to be big, and loved for the fan to be shocked and betrayed. That's why Hulk Hogan was perfect for the spot. This wasn't a role that you would give to Sting or even Bret, or just anyone in the wrestling community and expect international buzz. When 911 happened, the terrorists didn't strike a farm in Wyoming, they hit the most recognisable American city known to the world.

[chaoskid]

This is one of the most important moment in wrestling, when the stable of NWO was created, it caused shock waves and certain made an impact in the land of wrestling. They attacked everyone face's heel and jobbers, which havn't been done before. Varasity might have had the techincal skill but they faced the wrong stable at the wrong time.

[ThomC]

New World Order Advances.