I hadn’t really been ‘into’ professional wrestling since I was a kid in the fifth and sixth grade, moderately enjoying some of it through junior high, and then forgetting about it and moving onto other things. Then inexplicably, at the re-introduction by my Dad, I started to take note again in 1996. While visiting him at his house on Gainsborough Road in Kettering, then nighttime WCW wrestling program Monday Nitro began to capture my attention again. The presence of some of the wrestlers from my youth – namely Ric Flair – initially sparked interest and then the storylines started to get really juicy. The mere flirtation then became a true interest bordering on obsession when the nWo first came to be.
The nWo stood for “New World Order” and was a faux takeover that factored into the storyline in May of 1996 when wrestler Scott ‘Razor Ramon” Hall showed up on the Monday Nitro just a week after he had wrestled on rival WWF wrestling program Monday Night Raw. The next week Kevin Nash, formerly known as “Diesel,” joined him. The implication was that the WWF was challenging the WCW, and they gradually began to add wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan, to their stable. Obviously, there was no takeover at all, but it was an ingenious way to generate interest – and for a couple of years, I was pretty darn hooked, often tuning into the pay-per-view events and even going to the matches a couple of times at Hara Arena. Eventually, the nWo storyline got diluted, as they even broke off into factions among themselves. And also eventually… I lost interest.
But those were good times and I remember those matches and those wrestlers fondly. They may not quite bring back the wave of nostalgia of those early days when I enjoyed Georgia Championship Wrestling, but when they show up to autograph signings, I’m going to be there to get them.
Case in point from the Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago on August 11, 2012: Kevin Nash and Booker T…
First and foremost was Kevin Nash, who along with Scott Hall started the whole nWo business. He had wrestled under the name “Diesel” at the height of his popularity with the WWF, but reverted back to his own name when he became one of the nWo “Outsiders.” Standing 6’11” inches, with flowing locks of hair, and a most intimidating voice, this fellah was beyond cool. He’s still wrestling today, having gone from the WCW to WWF back to the WCW then WWE, the TNA, and back to WWE. It makes no difference where he’s been or where’s he’s going, he never fails to entertain. I shelled out $40 to get an autograph and photo op combo, first asking him to sign “Diesel,” but then insisting that he add his real name as well. I don’t know what I would have done if he had refused…
Booker T’s real name is Booker Tio Huffman. During the nWo days at the WCW, he was never a member. But still I associate him with that era, as he and his real-life brother and partner Stevie Ray (Lash Huffman) were WCW tag team title holders known as the Harlem Heat. They were pretty scientific in their matches, or at least they were never given many delicious storylines, but they were fun to watch wrestle.
Technically Booker T was a member of the nWo at one time. He joined the third incarnation of the nWo after the WCW had merged with the WWF and became the WWE. But it is pointless to trace the history of the organization through its life cycle. I don’t remember Booker T from the nWo, but I do remember him from the real nWo era.
Booker T had just written an autobiography called Booker T: From Prison to Promise. He had an absolutely enormous line of fans waiting to meet him and buy his book. He didn’t have any standard photos with him, but for $30, you could get a book, a picture with him, and he’d sign one additional piece of memorabilia. Since I didn’t have any memorabilia, I just had him sign the post card for the book. He was a nice guy and seemed genuinely interested in feedback on the book, pleading with fans to send it on to him. Of course, I still haven’t read the book, and I’m sure I never will, but I will always be glad that I got to meet him.
Celebrities from the Wizard World Comic Con 2012 will continue…
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