10 Members, Ranked By Promo Ability

Introduced in the final minutes of the 1996 World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view Bash at the Beach, the New World Order (or nWo) kicked off a bold new storyline for pro wrestling, with a group of former WWE stars staging an invasion of their new home promotion. Often imitated and homaged, the nWo seemed ridiculously cool thanks to their aesthetic, which included some really cool promos.

While the New World Order boasted some of wrestling’s best talkers, there were also some members who utterly failed at stringing compelling words together. Without further ado, let’s take a look at 10 notable members of the group, starting with the one with the worst promo ability.

10 The Giant

This may be surprising to fans who only know Paul Wight for his WWE run as The Big Show, who proved to be one of the better actors and promos in the company. But during his WCW days in his nWo, The Giant was in his early 20s at the time and super green both as a competitor and as a talker. This was best seen during group promos, where he was often outclassed by the veterans, many of whom were known for their microphone skills.

9 Jeff Jarrett

In his WWE days, Jeff Jarrett was strictly a midcard guy, but in the late 1990s/early 2000s WCW he was a favorite of head writer Vince Russo, resulting in Jarrett being one of the most overpushed wrestlers of all time. In turn, that caused fans to think lower of the performer than they normally would. As a late addition to nWo, it was clear that Jarrett lacked the charisma or promo skills that the more important guys in the group had and rarely said anything compelling except for the word “slapnuts.”

8 Bret Hart

The day that someone discovers a technical wrestler with the fiery promo skills of a Rock or a Steve Austin, it’s over for everyone. Bret Hart is beloved by many fans who lived through the 1990s, but once you set aside his “best there is, best there was, and best there ever will be” catchphrase, he wasn’t exactly the best of promos.

Even as a smarmy heel in nWo 2000 who touted his acting experience, Bret Hart still had the same lowkey hilarious way of shout-talking like some guy ranting in a supermarket.

7 Scott Steiner

Big Poppa Pump is living proof that you don’t have to put words in the right order if you just scream at the top of your lungs. During his time in nWo, Scott Steiner was several years away from his legendary “Steiner math” promo, but even back then he still had everything that made him exceptional at cutting promos: he was shrill, nonsensical, and didn’t always pronounce words correctly. He didn’t quite have the self-awareness that he’d have later, but he was a necessary mouthpiece as leader of the nWo because guys like Brian Adams and Horace Hogan weren’t going to cut it.

6 Hollywood Hogan

While Hollywood Hogan’s in-ring abilities are a source of controversy for many fans, listening to The Hulkster talk made it clear why he was such a big star during his heyday. Interestingly, Hogan was able to cut great promos as a heel seemingly without changing anything about the way he talked. Maybe, like his in-ring shenanigans, he was always a heel at heart. Either way, for many fans, Hogan -- Hulk or Hollywood -- is the voice of pro wrestling.

5 Konnan

Pro wrestling fans love a guy with a shout-along routine promo, and Konnan was the nWo’s equivalent of Road Dogg. A super underrated promo guy, Konnan had like eight catchphrases and had an amazing ability to get entire arenas to shout Spanish phrases like “Arale!” and “Viva la raza.” While WCW’s Southern wrestling tendencies often worked against the company’s desire to keep up with pop culture, they had a legitimately cool and popular hip hop babyface.

4 Eric Bischoff

Some fans might criticize the fact that WCW boss Eric Bischoff put himself in one of the most popular wrestling stables of all time, but he worked perfectly in the group. While crowds might want to cheer Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, it was easy to boo Easy E, because he’s such a heat magnet.

It all comes down to Bischoff being such a smarmy jerk in his promos. He just oozes hateability, which was crucial to getting the New World Order over as heels. It’s tough to imagine original mouthpiece Ted Dibiase accomplishing the same.

3 Kevin Nash

The former Diesel in WWE, nWo founding member Kevin Nash was never hailed as a great in-ring worker, but he’s nearly untouchable as a promo. Alongside Scott Hall, Nash had a snarky, sarcastic, disaffected attitude that perfectly captured the ‘tude of the New World Order and made him extremely likable or hateable depending on your view of the stable. Nash and Hall were the keys to nWo’s success, as they felt new and exciting next to aging Hulk Hogan.

2 Scott Hall

The things said about Kevin Nash could be said about Scott Hall, who was similarly sardonic and often unaffected by the words of the babyfaces. However, what separates Hall from Nash is Hall’s delivery, which is very low-energy and smooth but rarely ever lazy. It’s got the illusion of ease to it. What makes Hall a better promo than Nash is the Razor Ramon gimmick. Hall could cut a promo while affecting a goofy Scarface accent and still be considered a must-see star.

1 Randy Savage

While "Macho Man" Randy Savage’s in-ring career was hardly what it used to be by the time he joined the New World Order, he still had promo skills on his side. And for many fans, Savage is one of the greatest speakers in wrestling history, with an iconic gravelly voice, a simple but unforgettable catchphrase in “Ooh yeah,” and an ability to sell individually wrapped meat snacks like nobody’s business. Supremely listenable, Randy Savage was easily the best promo in the nWo -- or anywhere.

NEXT: D&D Character Alignments Of nWo Members