WHY THE NWO-NXT COMPARISONS MUST STOP AND WHY THE ANGLE WILL FAIL

My first article. Time to vent.

Every so often, I come across articles or comments on articles expressing nostalgic comparisons between the NXT Rookies and the New World Order.

Really? How exactly is the classic personality infested star-studded gang stable known as the New World Order, AKA the nWo, like the newcomers, NXT?

I’ve been watching RAW the past few weeks (for the first time in a while) and I see seven men, all wearing similar ring attire. They all look pissed off, and tough, and big, buff, and built. When they get on the microphone, they sound determined! We know this because they get to speak a little bit, like a few sentences, before allowing one guy to speak for all for the rest of the segment. They all appear together as some dominant bastion, especially because they all come out at once and leave as one unit. Intimidation!

Granted, since they are of different ethnicity, they look a little different. Wade Barrett has an English accent, so he sounds different. He also appears to be the leader because he talks the most. Darren Young, because of his hair, reminds me of any Dragon Ball Z character and Blanka from Street Fighter. And Skip Sheffield looks to be the birth child of Batista and George the Animal Steele. Then, there’s Jennifer Hudson’s husband.

Oh, right—they also have different moves which they showcase, especially after the many beat-downs, but I don’t notice much, despite a spear/tackle by one of the guys. I guess Justin Gabriel is the only one that really shines here because he pulls off a pretty neat 450 splash. I know I’m missing other moves, but I guess I can’t really describe them well, thanks to WWE’s ingenious camera zoom that doesn’t give you enough view of impact at which to gawk.

Then, there’s the final and most significant attribute: they’re young/new. Maybe that’s why they get heat? We never met them before, and they’re beating up on the established faces, usually John Cena, who we already know. Therefore, we should have automatic antagonism towards them.

So how are they like the new nWo?

They’re not. The New World Order had an unbelievably established leader and fan favorite (loved him or hated him), by the name of Hollywood Hulk Hogan, who got the crowd going behind him because he turned on the fans (kayfabe) and joined other established heels and distinguished personalities and champions, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Throw in Randy Savage, Sean Waltman, Buff Bagwell, Scott Steiner, the Giant, Konnan, Scott Norton, Curt Hennig, etc. and you have an elite assortment of unique and risen individuals. They were of different heights, looks, gimmicks, and attire. They had different gestures, slogans, moves, and voices on the microphone. They went after separate titles and came out to accompany each other and interfere for each other in a variety of ways. There were groups within groups, for example, like the Outsiders/Waltman wolfpac or the Rick Rude-Curt Hennig-Bryan Adams crew. Most importantly, each had their own place because each played their own part as if it were a company in a play. Eric Bischoff was their head manager/spokesperson (among other titles) and he injected incredible character depth into that unit. Even Vincent, regardless of how little he wrestled, was of some significance as that pesky part of the gang that got his ass kicked when he interfered. He, nevertheless, had a role.

Sure, NXT is a gang. They have initials as their title. Yes, they have a leader by the name of Wade Barrett. And, OK, they do make the announcers run off out of fear like the nWo made the WCW team scram. As much as the brawls are somewhat reminiscent of the WCW/nWo ones at the end of Nitro and Thunder, they aren’t as enjoyable. These youngsters just don’t look too intimidating against the colorful veterans that put them in hot pursuit all the time anyway. There’s no real back-and-forth struggle. Plus, I don’t think I can cheer for Mark Henry in that Giant-type role. He’s just not that type of character. (He’s Sexual Chocolate!)

They do, however, remind me of a couple of other different stables. One of which is the New Blood, the younger talent that went up against the older talent, the Millionaire’s Club. Another is the Natural Born Thrillers, which just had Mike Sanders and a bunch of big tough guys, including Sean O’Haire and Chuck Palumbo. Sanders was somewhat the only personality of the bunch.

These comparisons aren’t a good thing because, frankly, those stables were in the dying days of WCW and a factor that led to the demise. We were shoved with a bunch of big and tough new guys all at once. We weren’t able to watch them gradually get inserted into different stables as that “new member” and then make their way up the ladder. The Rock is clear living proof of the success of that method. This isn’t the only way to establish a star, but it’s a highly beneficial one.

Unfortunately, WWE, for the past few months, is doing an even worse job then WCW. I mean, ANOTHER season of NXT, and I hear they are also planning a third? Really? I mean, who are these people? Oh, right, a few are second/third generation wrestlers. Besides that, who are they?

WWE needs to figure out how to create stars again, whether it involves replacing the writers and the talent scouts, hiring acting coaches, etc. Firing the only standout of that stable was a step backward when they should be working on one forward. The wrestlers and these ring-clearing brawls are becoming repetitive. It’s time to diversify things, and taking what worked from nWo storyline wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I’m not advocating recycling everything, but if you want to be nostalgic, even just concept-wise, do it right. As of now, nothing truly successful is developing from this angle.