Triple H was one part of a group that would be pivotal in the early days of WWF’s Attitude
Era.
Along with Shawn Michaels and Chyna, D-Generation X became huge merchandise sellers, and told
an entire generation to suck it.
In the 2000s he would form a new stable with Ric Flair, Batista and Randy Orton, a group
that launched the careers of The Animal and The Viper.
But there was one more stable that Triple H nearly joined, a stable that was just as
revolutionary in the 90s as DX.
I am Luke Owen and this is How Triple H Nearly Joined The New World Order.
The nWo were a huge part of WCW’s success in the late 90s.
Made up of cool bad guys, nWo acted as a separate entity from World Championship Wrestling,
a renegade group whose only intentions were to destroy WCW and take over.
When WCW closed its doors in 2001, WWF brought back the group’s original founders Hulk
Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall for a short run in 2002.
But plans for the faction came crashing down when Hogan received a giant babyface reaction
at WrestleMania X8 when he faced off against The Rock, and he removed himself from the
group after only one month.
Scott Hall was fired shortly thereafter, and Kevin Nash injured himself.
The group then floundered on Raw - at one point being led by Ric Flair - and their only
major storyline was a comedy one involving Booker T and Goldust.
But that was about to change in the lead-up to King of the Ring 2002.
Kevin Nash returned to Monday Night Raw on May 20th 2002 and introduced the newest member
of the New World Order on June 3rd: The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels.
“It was another way to introduce a new old character back into the fold.
The last time that Shawn and Nash were in WWF, they were together.
They were feuding against each other, but everybody knew The Kliq and the friendship
between Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels, so it was a way to kind of reintroduce him.”
- Bruce Prichard, Something to Wrestle, February 3rd 2017
HBK had been on the sidelines for several years following a career threatening back
injury, and he became the first wrestler who didn’t perform for WCW to join the illustrious
group.
Their first course of action was to hire another new member: their Kliq buddy Triple H.
At King of the Ring 2002, just before his WWE Undisputed Championship match against
The Undertaker, Triple H ran into Michaels, Nash, X-Pac and Big Show backstage, with HBK
offering their assistance should he need it.
The plan was to build towards Vengeance, where Triple H would turn down the offer of joining
the nWo and would have a match with Kevin Nash at Summerslam.
Later down the line, Triple H would then turn heel and join the group, with the trio dominating
Raw as an unstoppable team.
This storyline began on July 8th 2002, with Shawn Michaels offering Triple H that spot
in the group [29], but on that same show it all came crashing down.
The main event of the night was a giant 10-man tag with the nWo teaming with Chris Benoit
and Eddie Guerrero against Bubba Ray Dudley, Spike Dudley, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Goldust.
This was Nash’s first match back in the WWE, and his first action was to walk across
the ring and tear his quad.
Big Sexy collapsed, and the match fell apart.
With Nash injured and X-Pac being sent home for being difficult backstage, the nWo was
now just Shawn Michaels - who wasn’t wrestling - and The Big Show.
The following week Vince McMahon announced that the New World Order had been disbanded.
“Nash was scheduled to get a huge push leading up to [Summerslam], and the Raw finish was
supposed to be him beating everyone on the babyface team up and then pinning Booker clean
with the powerbomb.”
- Bryan Alvarez, Figure Four Weekly #369, July 22nd 2002
Instead WWE began to build towards Triple H and Shawn Michaels at Summerslam 2002, in
HBK’s first match in four years.
They teased a reunion of D-Generation X, only for Hunter to stab his best friend in the
back, leading to an epic encounter that Bryan Alvarez called, “Fan-freaking-tastic”
[QUOTE].
What would have become of the new nWo if Triple H had joined in 2002?
We wouldn’t have had Michaels’ fantastic in-ring return match at Summerslam, or his
subsequent World Heavyweight Championship run later that year.
In a more game-changing possibility though, if the nWo had lasted, there is a chance we
wouldn’t have had Evolution - which means possibly no rise of Randy Orton, and Dave
Batista could’ve just been a footnote as Reverend D’Von’s Deacon.
Did you know that John Cena nearly turned heel?
And who are the WWE enemies Vince McMahon hired.
Click the videos to the left to find out more.
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I’ve been Luke Owen and that was wrestling.