What if Hulk Hogan had refused to join the nWo?
A variety of sources close to the situation have maintained over the years that Hulk Hogan was highly reluctant to join the New World Order. He had spent over a decade of working as wrestling’s top face—not just playing a good guy wrestler on TV, but taking his responsibility seriously when it came to publicly serve as a role model and doing charity work. Thus, Hogan himself and others have described that he didn’t take it lightly to become a villain and let down particularly his young fans.
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Hogan did turn, though, and in doing so was instrumental to launching one of the hottest angles in wrestling history. While the nWo and Hogan as the top heel each may have worn out their welcome, the scenario was nonetheless initially successful, and on the short list of the most important heel turns in wrestling history.
But what if Hogan hadn’t turned heel? The choice would have had a huge impact on not only his career, but the larger picture of WCW’s booking, and perhaps even ripple effects into WWE. This article speculates on what might have happened.
5. Sting is the third man
Though Sting himself has been cagey—or perhaps legitimately doesn’t remember—a number of sources have reported that if Hulk Hogan had ultimately backed out playing the third man, then Sting was the backup plan. While the undertone of the core nWo guys being former WWE mainstays would have taken a hit, there are ways in which this turn could have worked.
A part of why the Hogan turn was as shocking as it was was the sheer fact that Hogan had been such an iconic good guy. While Sting couldn’t necessarily match the Hulkster in notoriety, he had a comparable streak of years playing a main event level hero, such that he could have garnered a significant reaction from fans of that era as well. In the end, it’s probably best that Hogan took the part, as he wound up showing excellent heel charisma that Sting has never proven himself