One thing is for sure, 2002 will be an interesting year in the World Wrestling Federation. As Taz says, “the mood is about to change.” Wrestling fans are abuzz on the cusp of Vince McMahon’s recent announcement that the New World Order is headed to the WWF. What McMahon really means by this is two things: 1. The WWF has signed Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and yes, “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan. 2. The plan is to package the three new signings as the NWO along with a returning Shawn Michaels (who has been out of action since a back injury in early 1998) and possibly Sean Waltman (X-Pac).

The thought process by McMahon and company is that recreating the ultra-successful NWO invasion angle (wrestlingspeak for a storyline) from World Championship Wrestling circa 1996-98, will provide enough of a spark to turnaround the current lackluster WWF television ratings and overall business. As most fans know, the NWO storyline where an outlaw group of heels (or “bad guys”) invades a wrestling promotion worked once before for WCW, which was the WWF’s main rival for years before it was purchased by McMahon last spring. Hogan, Hall and Nash were the centerpieces of the NWO the last time around, so it is only natural to involve them in the recreation of the angle.

There are a few points to consider before you start celebrating and break out your old NWO shirt. Bringing Hall, Nash, and Hogan to the WWF is bound to seriously change the WWF product, and not necessarily all for the good. Alas, there are some good, some bad, and even some ugly elements to the addition of these three big names.

The Good

If the short-term goal of the signings is to spark some interest in the product, and pick up some steam in the ratings, then it has already been a success. The NWO name along with Hogan, Hall, and Nash will likely draw casual viewers who stopped watching wrestling over the past year. It will provide the WWF with star power, nostalgia and fresh new “dream” matchups. As bad as the actual matches likely will be, there will be a great deal of interest in matches such as Austin vs. Hogan, Rock vs. Hall, or HHH vs. Nash etc. The current crop of WWF main event matchups have grown stale, as the WWF hasn’t done a good job pushing new talent to a main event level and creating intriguing new matchups. Long term, the WWF should be working to get the likes of Rob Van Dam and Booker T to a main event level, but short term this may be the best solution to freshening the WWF.

There has also been on again, off again rumors that the WWF has planned to split itself off into two “separate” promotions, with two different talent rosters that do not (at least not more than a few times a year) interact with each other, with one of the groups appearing on Raw and the other on Smackdown. If the WWF does take this route, it will need some “big names” and star power to make it all work. Right now they just don’t have enough top-level talent to split between two separate rosters. Bringing in Hogan, Hall and Nash may give them the dose of star power that they’ll need to pull it off. Also, the prospects of Shawn Michaels returning as a part of the angle will give WWF rings the return of one of its most athletic and exciting performers in history. What true wrestling fan wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to see a Michaels vs. RVD, or Michaels vs. Benoit match?

The Bad

As exciting as it will be the first time the infamous NWO music hits, it will also mark the end of several great aspects of the WWF. For one, the long string of athletically awesome Pay-Per-View main events will come to an abrupt end the first time that Hogan (or Nash for that matter) participates in one. This is especially true in the case of Hogan since he is the most likely of the three to be positioned at the main event level. Last year when there were rumors that Hogan was headed to the WWF for a match with Triple H at Wrestlemania, Triple H expressed his excitement in trying to get a great match out of Hogan. However, one has to wonder if Hogan is capable of much of anything in the ring at his advanced age (almost 50 years old) and complete lack of athletic ability. Bad matches are something WWF fans won’t put up with for long.

The Ugly

By far the biggest negative consequence to all of this is how much the structure of the WWF behind the scenes will change. Rumor has it that when Vince McMahon polled his writing and production crew on the possibilities of signing Hogan, Hall and Nash, everyone except Triple H (who is friends with Hall and Nash) and Stephanie McMahon were dead set against the idea. There is a reason for this.

Hogan, Hall and Nash are known by other wrestlers for their huge egos and backstage politicking. Some of the younger talent that was working hard and patiently waiting in the wings for their shot at the top of the card will now likely be pushed aside in favor of the new signings. The attitude and morale among the wrestlers has deteriorated, and will likely continue to do so. Wrestlers like RVD, Booker T, Edge, and possibly even Chris Jericho could very well become afterthoughts in the WWF. In a few years when Hogan and company are long gone, the current group of young talent will seem stale and old when they finally get their shot at the top of the card.

The Verdict

Here’s the deal: short term there is nothing wrong with the return of the NWO and Hogan and friends. For it to work long term the WWF must figure out a way to continue to develop its own stars into the “next big thing.” The signings are even more questionable if the WWF isn’t planning on splitting up into two promotions, since they will have an influx of talent and their current crop of second tier players will never be given a shot, even though most of them are good enough. However, the move is a solid one if the WWF is planning on splitting up. If all else fails, at the very least they will sell a dump load of NWO T-shirts.

For all you marks and smarts, “Under The Ring” will be running bi-weekly this semester on Fridays. As in wrestling, that is subject to change. If you’ve got anything regarding wrestling to say to me, email me with some pithy comments, questions etc. at [email protected]. I’d like to publish some letters and maybe even have a guest columnist or two, so email me up. Also, feel free to harass and make fun of me for watching wrestling under your anonymous email address.