On July 7th, 1996, former WWF Champion and beloved wrestling superhero Hulk Hogan did the unthinkable and turned his back on the fans, aligning with the invading Outsiders at the Bash At The Beach. He then proceeded to cut a scathing promo telling the fans who turned their backs on him to stick it and declare his new alliance with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to be the New World Organization Order of professional wrestling, brother.
So 30 years ago, we had the birth of the nWo. A lot of people want to make a big deal of Austin 3:16 being uttered for the first time last month, but it took a while for the Stone Cold train to really get rolling and only then would that phrase grace a T-Shirt that would outsell everything else on the market.
But before that T-Shirt came to pass, there was the nWo.
And the nWo was a big deal. Even someone like me who only had the most peripheral exposure to wrestling knew what an nWo was. It was the first thing I heard most about. It was the first shirt that I’ve seen most kids wear back in the day. And it was pretty much the talk of the town until Steve Austin REALLY started getting big the following year… then everyone was talking about Stone Stunners and stuff like that.
There has been some debate as to whether Bobby Heenan (who was doing color commentary for the show) spoiled the Hogan turn when he openly asked “Whose side is he on?” in regards to Hogan showing up to seemingly save the day during the main event. Some folks argue that the line gave away the turn and in a way, I could almost see it. It’s a bit of a tell, a hint of doubt. You don’t want anyone to doubt Hogan. And had it been any of the other commentators, then yeah, I’d say it would be a giveaway because why would they doubt Hogan as anything but the paragon of virtue?
You know who have cause to doubt Hogan?
Bobby Heenan.
Anyone who has watched Hulk Hogan in WWF or even in WCW knew that there was one dissenting voice who rallied against everything Hogan did. During the height of the Rock N Wrestling era, it was Jesse Venture. In the 90s, it was Bobby Heenan. The heel announcer who rooted for the bad guys and poked fun at the good guys. And there was no good guy that Heenan had a hate boner for than Hulk Hogan… and for good reason. He managed some top challengers to Hogan’s WWF title, including King Kong Bundy and Andre The Giant. Even back in the AWA days, Heenan was seconding reigning champion Nick Bockwinkel during his defenses against a young upstart challenger named – you guessed it – Hulk Hogan.
Bobby Heenan has every reason to doubt Hogan. He doesn’t like the guy. He doesn’t trust the guy. Him not being completely on board with him saving the day, I can buy that. Even Dusty Rhodes reacted incredulously at the comment, shutting Heenan down. Heenan questioning Hogan based on their past history? Yeah, that’s not a tell. That’s a perfectly logical reaction.
So in recent years, WWE edited the line out from replays and Heenan is now silent during the whole deal. So now that we fixed the offending line, everything is a-okay and the turn is more of a surprise, right?
Well, of course, it isn’t.
First off, deleting a line doesn’t preserve the surprise. It makes it more obvious that something isn’t up. Heenan being silent is like… “Hey, he knows more than he’s letting on.” THAT’s more of a tell than anything.
And also… what’s the point of removing a line to preserve a turn that everyone knows is coming because it happened THIRTY FUCKING YEARS AGO?
It’s one thing to fix a flubbed move during a pre-tape or a naughty bit during a replay… but one line removed because… reasons? Dude, now you’ve made it more obvious. And for what? A clip that most people aren’t going to see in their entirety anyway? Does it really matter whether that line is kept?
Anyway, what does it matter? I still have the show on VHS. It still works. Maybe one day, I transfer it to DVD and then to media box.
Lots of maybe one days…
Later.
