Customer Rating:  
Summary: "...even Karl Malone and Jay Leno were powerless"
Comment:
NWO 4 LIFE (1999)
approx. 55 minutes
The New World Order was the angle that almost single handedly turned the WCW around as a company. Unlike many of the WCW videos from the late 1990s, this tape does not only focus on a single year (it spans from 1996 to 1999). On this tape you will see the exciting origins and pitiful continuation of the storyline.
Things kick off with Hogan's famous heel turn at Bash at the Beach 96. This is considered one of the greatest moments in 1990s wrestling. Watch the crowd as they are disgusted and throw garbage into the ring. People were shocked, but the WCW stuck with it. Also covered is the nWo / 4 Horsemen feud. The Horsemen had previously been the "bad boys" of wrestling, but here they represented tradition. This angle was controversial amongst some fans due to the fact that the nWo parody of Arn Anderson's retirement was considered disrespectful (Arn didn't know about it at all). Also, it has been said that the door of the cage at Fall Brawl 97 was not properly outfitted and that Curt Hennig really did slam it on Ric Flair's head. Also covered are the hugely successful Starrcade 97 and the beginnings of the split within the nWo. Even avid nWo fans now believe that this was the beginning of the end, as at one point there were more wrestlers in the nWo than there were in WCW proper. Watch the crowd when the nWo factions "reunite" at on Monday Nitro- instead of jubilation or anger like we saw at Bash at the Beach years earlier, we see an audience who is largely unsurprised and unimpressed.
Many of the matches are heavily edited so as to make the tape more of a "story". This is a shame as some of these matches (such as the Uncensored 98 match) were actually cool. Also the clip of Goldberg being attacked by the nWo is edited into the story almost half a year before it took place chronologically. Interspersed throughout the video are many of the black and white promos done for the nWo, including the "Souled Out" clip with Bischoff as a great orator. There is a "Wolfpack" promo too. "Hollywood" Hogan, Buff Bagwell, Scott Steiner, "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Lex Luger and Curt Hennig all make little statements here and there. During the closing credits, there is a montage of nWo members saying "for life" where even Vincent the bodyguard makes an appearance.
On this tape there is some occasional narraration from Eric Bischoff. Bischoff was of course responsible for a lot of what was going on in WCW at the time, including a lot of the ridiculous attempts to "crossover" into mainstream/non-wrestling media. Some of these worked in that they drew high ratings for the company, but they also infuriated longtime fans who considered these angles cheap and pointless. Some of the quotes on this tape "prove" that Bischoff got too out of touch with the lifelong wrestling fans. While talking about Diamond Dallas Page's efforts to find a tag partner to beat the nWo, Bischoff points out that "even Karl Malone and Jay Leno were powerless". Nevertheless we must give the man his due, as he was a major force in building a lot of renewed interest in World Championship Wrestling.
some of the matches featured on this video:
Bash at the Beach 96
the Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) and "special guest" vs. Lex Luger, Macho Man and Sting
Uncensored 97
WCW team (the Giant, Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner) vs. Piper team (Roddy Piper, Chris Benoit and Steve "Mongo" McMichael) vs nWo team (Macho Man, Hollywood Hogan and Scott Hall)
Fall Brawl 97
4 Horsemen (Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, "Mongo" and Curt Hennig)
vs. Team nWo (Kevin Nash, Syxx, Buff Bagwell and Konnan)
Starrcade 97
Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting
appearance by Bret Hart
brief clip:
Spring Stampede 98
Kevin Nash vs. Sting
Uncensored 98
"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Hollywood Hogan
interference by the Disciple and Sting
WCW Thunder - March 26, 1998, Monday Nitro - April 20, 1998
Hollywood Hogan / Kevin Nash feud buildup
Monday Nitro - July 6, 1998
Scott Hall vs. Goldberg
Hollywood Hogan vs. Goldberg (for Heavyweight Title)
interference from Curt Hennig and Karl Malone
brief clip: Monday Nitro - January 4, 1999
nWo mob on Goldberg
Bash at the Beach 98
Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman vs. Karl Malone and Diamond Dallas Page
interference from the Disciple
Road Wild 98
Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno
interference from Kevin Eubanks
Monday Nitro - June 29, 1998, December 7, 1998
random publicity stunt madness
Monday Nitro - January 4, 1999
Kevin Nash vs. Hollywood Hogan (for Heavyweight Title)
*fingerpoke of Doom*
Thunder - January 11, 1999
nWo reunion clip
I'll admit when I first watched this tape years ago, I thought it was stupid an poorly done. Looking back at it now, it is a lot of fun to watch and the reason I originally disliked the tape is that the storyline was going in such a goofy direction. The WWE tried to revive the nWo, proving that the WCW wasn't the only company capable of messing up a classic angle. But way back when... for a little over a year... the nWo was the best thing going!
Customer Rating:
Summary: THE REIGN OF THE NWO
Comment: THE HULKSTER GOIN TO THE DARKSIDE IS SOMETHING UNFORGETTABLE.FORMATOIN OF THE NWO WAS THE BEST THING THAT HAPPEN IN WRESTLING. IT WAS NOT 3 PEOPLE BUT A WHOLE POSSE OF THEM WALKIN AROUND AND TAKEN OVER. A GANG THAT TOOK EVERYTHING AND WON ALMOST EVERY MATCH. THEY WERE COOL. IT WAS A GREAT TIME TO BE A FAN.HOGAN LEADIING THE WAY IN TOTAL DESTRUCTION.UNFORGETTABLE TIME,ESPECAILLY WHEN STING SHOWED UP AND BECAME A HERO.IT DIDNT MATTER BECAUSE THE NWO WAS JUST TOO SWEET..OH YEAH THE NWO WOLFPAK WERE ALSO A GOOD ALLIANCE ,AWESOME. I HOPE THIS FORMATION HAPPENS AGAIN WITH DIFF. WRESTLERS. WHEN YOUR NWO YOUR NWO FOR LIFE!!!!!GET THIS TAPE.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Picks Up What WWE's DVD Left Out
Comment: I just found this tape in my old box full of VHS & decided to pop this one in the other day. Basically, this VHS does the job that the WWE's DVD of the nWo didn't do...they actually talk & show highlights from start of the nWo all the way to the heel Wolfpac version in early '99 and include the whole group, not just Hogan & Hall & Nash. However, also unlike the WWE's DVD...this doesn't tell a story but it just shows highlights. So if you didn't a story of the nWo...you won't get it here either. This tape is just highlights full of the nWo's original run in WCW (no nWo 2000 or anything nWo after Jan. of '99). The whole video is narrated by Eric Bischoff and also has comments from members like Curt Hennig, Buff Bagwell, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, and Hollywood Hogan. The video itself does leave out some important moments but they're craming 3 years into one hour so it's understandable. For example, they show highlights of the Bash At The Beach '96 when Hogan joined the Outsiders to form the New World Order. They also showcased the nWo's dominance via highlights of matches including the Uncensored '97 match that featured Dennis Rodman and also the War Games match where Curt Hennig turned on the Horsemen to join the nWo. Also the highest profile match between Sting & Hogan at Starrcade are shown via highlights as well. The one thing they do document well on here was the problems inside the nWo leading to the split of nWo Hollywood & the nWo Wolfpac including highlights from the Savage vs. Hogan cage match at Uncensored '98. Highlights from celebrities stepping into the wrestling ring were shown (Hogan/Rodman vs. DDP/Karl Malone, DDP/Jay Leno vs. Hogan/Bischoff) were also shown along with highlights of the whole "Hogan For President" storyline & Bischoff having his own talk show (yep, those really did happen.) They also showed highlights from their fued with Goldberg starting with him taking out Scott Hall leading into beating Hogan for the belt but then lead to the infamous "fingerpoke of doom" where Hogan beat Nash to win the World Title and the nWo taking out Goldberg afterwards.
Again, this match is good for a memory lane trip of the nWo but it also leaves out so many important moments like everything that happened before Hogan joined the Outsiders...Nash beating Goldberg for the World Title...the nWo's early dominace throughout all of '96 and at least highlights from the fueds between Nash & Hall, DDP vs. Savage, Hogan vs. Savage (when Savage was WCW). Again, if the WWE's DVD of nWo: Back In Black left a bad taste in your mouth then try to find this VHS to see more of the nWo.
Customer Rating:
Summary: To add to what I said before
Comment: The NWO was cool at first but the angle dragged on for so long. At least Nash broke away from the NWO and formed the Wolfpac. I guess that I'm not a fan of celebrities actually wrestling in matches, and seeing Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, and Jay Leno attempting to wrestle was horrendous to watch. Granted it was kind of cool seeing Malone body slamming Hogan, so out of those three Malone proved to at least have some skill. As I said, it covers the highlights of the NWO from the beginning to January of 1999.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not bad for an hour long video
Comment: N.W.O. 4 Life includes interviews of most of the top guys in the N.W.O. including Hogan, Nash, Lex Luger, Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell. There are highlights of some of the important matches and events in the history of the N.W.O. such as Bash at the Beach (July '96), Uncensored (March '97), Fall Brawl (September '97), Starrcade (December '97), Spring Stampede (April '98), Uncensored (March '98), Bash at the Beach '98, Road Wild (August '98), as well as several moments from Nitro and a couple from Thunder. The video does not show the month and a half leading up to Bash at the Beach, which is the period when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall claimed they were taking over and beat up Bischoff a number of times. It also neglects to show the moments when the Giant joined and when it was revealed that Bischoff "worked" for the N.W.O. The video neglected to show The Outsiders winning the tag titles or when Kevin Nash beat Goldberg to win the title and break his streak. However, the video is only an hour long so there was quite a lot of stuff crammed into that hour. For an hour video, it does a good job explaining how the N.W.O. formed and stopped after Hogan reunited with Nash and Hall on 1/4/99 and the Wolfpac became the elite of the N.W.O.
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