It was the moment that defined a generation of wrestling. But what if the original plan had played out- what if the leader of the nWo had not been Hulk Hogan, but Sting?
Behind the scenes, the original idea was to have Sting, a cornerstone of WCW, be the leader of the invading force. This would have made a massive impact. He was one of the company's most popular and most loyal stars, with a character that had always been about justice and doing the right thing. Having Sting turn on his company would have been considered a betrayal of epic proportions, and it would have provided a logical, long-term storyline.
With Hollywood Hogan as the leader of the nWo, the faction was built on ego, dominance, and celebrity. A Sting-led nWo, however, would have instead been built on a righteous -at least in his mind- crusade against what Sting saw as the injustices of WCW. It would have been a group with a purpose, a cold, calculated strike team rather than a team wanting to be in the spotlight and loving every minute of it.
The Domino Effect
The impact of this one change would have been felt throughout WCW:
Sting's Character Arc
If Sting had turned heel and led the nWo, his "Crow" persona would never have existed. Sting probably still would have begun wearing black & white face paint to go along with the nWo colors, but the long, brooding year of silence and mystique would have been replaced by a ruthless leader. The character arc that Sting experienced gave WCW a symbolic hero for fans to root for in the company's war with the nWo- he had been in WCW almost a decade as top face at that point, making him the right choice for that role and the perfect foil for the nWo in their war with WCW.
Hulk Hogan’s Link With WWE
Although Hulk Hogan was in WCW at this time, he first became a worldwide phenomenon in the 1980s while with WWE. It's fair to say that WWE was like Hogan's "home", while WCW was his "workplace". When Scott Hall and Kevin Nash entered WCW, they appeared to be WWE invaders, even though they never claimed to be. Given that Hogan's time in WCW was a professional venture for financial benefit and success rather than a personal connection, aligning himself with former WWE Superstars who wanted to dominate WCW was a better fit for his character arc. It made more sense for Hogan to join them and become the biggest heel in the business than to be on the front lines defending a company he had been a part of for only two years.
The Monday Night War
In the 1990s, while Sting's recognition was at an all-time high after almost ten years as WCW's loyal and popular "franchise" star, Hulk Hogan had a significantly higher level of name recognition, especially among mainstream audiences. With him as leader of the nWo, the faction -as well as WCW- gained mainstream attention as well. WCW/nWo became a pop culture experience, with television personalities like Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks and NBA stars like Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman getting involved. WCW/nWo was able to capture the cultural atmosphere, giving it an edge in the war against WWE. The main villain is usually the driving force of a story, functioning as its true center by creating the conflict and forcing the hero to act- had Hogan not been that main villain, the nWo's momentum might have been slower, giving WWE more time to respond and potentially ending the war sooner.
Horace Hogan's Increased Visibility
The career of Horace Hogan, Hulk Hogan's nephew, would have looked completely different. Although Horace Hogan had a successful career in the Japan-based FMW (where he held the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship twice), upon entering WCW he was lost in the shuffle of the company's large roster. That changed when Hulk Hogan brought his nephew into the nWo. Horace Hogan's involvement in the faction elevated his profile, giving him more prominent television time than he had ever received before. His joining the nWo was a direct result of his familial link to the faction's leader. Without Hulk Hogan at the helm and Horace Hogan not having a familial connection with anyone in the nWo, it's likely that he would not have become a member and had his most significant exposure in WCW. A key part of his career would not have happened, and it's fair to say that being in the nWo was one of the biggest highlights of his time in the business.
The Fate of nWo Sting
No one's career would have been more altered than that of Jeff Farmer, the man who became "nWo Sting". The entire foundation of Farmer's character was to be a deceitful imposter, planting confusion within the WCW ranks. If Sting had been the leader of the nWo, there would have been no need for an imposter. Farmer appeared in the video game WCW vs. nWo: World Tour as nWo Sting- Farmer never appeared in a WCW video game as Cobra or Lightning, his previous characters in the company. Being associated with the nWo via the gimmick also benefitted him during his time on the independent scene post-WCW. In 2004, nWo Sting began wrestling in Ultimate Championship Wrestling (UCW). The Michigan-based promotion was an affiliate of American Wrestling Association Superstars Of Wrestling, which was a governing body that sanctioned various independent wrestling promotions. I worked as a publicist/columnist for UCW and the AWA in 2004-2005, and nWo Sting was a big part of UCW during this time. He became the leader of his own faction ("Next Order") and captured the UCW Heavyweight Championship. nWo Sting was a touring champion, defending the championship in promotions outside of UCW, which increased its legitimacy.
Hulk Hogan Was the Right Choice
While Sting as heel leader of the nWo definitely would have shaken things up in WCW, the choice of Hulk Hogan was the right one for the business. He was the ultimate babyface, the hero who had sold out arenas for over a decade, helped to turn the pro-wrestling industry into a major business, headlined eight of the first WrestleMania events, and gave NBC-TV the largest viewership for a televised pro wrestling event in American history. Hogan's betrayal was not only a plot twist; it was a fundamental shift in the landscape of professional wrestling. It was the moment a new, edgier, and more realistic style of sports entertainment was introduced, revolutionizing the pro-wrestling industry for a second time. It created a level of heat that would have been impossible for anyone else to generate and cemented the nWo as the most influential faction of all time.
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