For much of the mid-to-late 1990s, the nWo came to define WCW as Eric Bischoff and co, pushed the boundaries of what was featured on wrestling television.
When Scott Hall appeared on Monday Nitro on May 27th, 1996 it set into motion a story and chain of events that would change the wrestling business forever. Hall was joined by Kevin Nash on June 10th, before the duo became a trio at Bash At the Beach with the addition of Hulk Hogan.
As time passed the group expanded and a number of splinter factions were formed as the brand completely dominated WCW. The group and the story of their creation are often held up by fans as examples of great, realistic storytelling.
Speaking on his podcast 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff reflected on the story around the group admitting that a current WWE storyline has now surpassed it. Bischoff stated that the story surrounding The Bloodline is “some of the best storytelling.”
“This is truly some of the best storytelling and most disciplined storytelling. For the last couple years, unfortunately you had to listen to me babble and drone and rant on and on an on about disciplined, quality, structured storytelling and I’ve gotten so much heat for that, especially amongst the AEW fans because I’m quick to point out that’s what’s lacking over there. All of a sudden, we’re seeing disciplined, structured, progressively compelling, episodic television with great characters, and guess what? It’s hot. It just proves my point.”
Bischoff added that he would like WWE to pick the angle apart when it’s over to try and find a formula for future stories.
“I’m really hoping that when this is over, WWE and everybody involved sits back and says, ‘All right. That worked pretty good. We’ve told a great story. Let’s go back and dissect it and figure out exactly what we did so well.’ Don’t just move past it. This storyline, the build-up, and everything about it has been flawless, and it’s the elements and discipline that went into that story that has made it so good.
If you can figure out a formula based on those elements, because every match is going to be different, every situation is going to be different, but if you’ve got a template, if you’ve got a formula, 7 times out of 10, you’re going to hit, and one of those is going to be a Bloodline type story.”
The Bloodline “Blows The nWo Out Of The Water” – Eric Bischoff
With regard to a comparison with the nWo story, the WWE Hall of Famer said that The Bloodline’s storyline is “far better.”
“I think it’s been the best story that’s been told in professional wrestling in 30 or more years, far better than nWo. In terms of its structure, it’s discipline, and I keep using that term discipline. What does that mean? That means sticking to the plan and sticking to the story. Don’t start throwing things in randomly and spontaneously because somebody had a good idea two hours before showtime, because that’s what typically happens. They stuck to the plan and they executed it perfectly.
I think the nWo was a great story, and it’s day, and was, up until Bloodline, perhaps one of the best stories that has been told which is why people are talking about it. If you look at just the way Bloodline has been told and the detail and the discipline that goes into that story, it blows the nWo story out of the water.”
The latest installment of The Bloodline story will take place at Elimination Chamber on February 18th when Roman Reigns defends his Undisputed WWE Universal Title against Sami Zayn.
H/t to WrestlingNews.Co