Face-ing the nWo

There is already rumors of Kevin Nash wanting to ditch the heel gimmick, and the timing couldn't be better.

With Scott Hall fired and Hulk Hogan turned red-and-yellow, the only thing left of the nWo that premiered at the No Way Out pay-per-view is Nash himself, and he's still a few weeks from wrestling as he's nursing a post-surgery torn bicep. X-Pac was a good addition as long as Hall was around. With that formula you had Nash pulling double weight as the big man and the leader, Hall as the loud-mouth and X-Pac as the throw-away grunt. It made a good heel trio. But then Nash went out for surgery, Big Show replaced him as the big man, which Hall as sort of the leader and X-Pac as the throw-away grunt/loud-mouth. It was acceptable.

But then Scott Hall was fired rumored to be due to backstage problems. Nash returned to TV as the leader, but the group seemed to lack intimidation power and chemistry. Their push was sidelined while Flair turned heel against Stone Cold.

Meanwhile, Booker T and Goldust had been doing a program of the awkward duo that was destined to split and subsequently feud. Not only was it hilarious, but it pushed Booker T in the direction of being a face, which long-time Book fans had been starving for (and let's face it, he's earned it). All seemed to be perfect until Flair announced him to be the next member of the nWo. Fans were befuddled and wanted to know where is face push was going, not to mention his shtick with Goldust, who no one wanted to see turn good.

Around the same time, the WWE teased Benoit's return to the ring as a face, only to have him turn heel on Austin and team with Eddie Guerrero, Flair and Arn Anderson to form an unofficial (as of my writing this) new Four Horsemen. Suddenly WWE's Raw roster lacked a good deal of babyfaces, the only notables being Rob Van Dam and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Were these two supposed to face two whole heel factions on their own?

Alas, along came HBK and things began to make sense. The nWo suddenly became brimming with star power (as well as the whole Raw program, which needed it). Now the New World Order can make their face turn and even the score against the Horsemen with HBK as the leader, Nash as the big guy, Pac as the throw-away grunt and Booker T as the loud-mouth comedic relief (a role he plays so well). Also Booker can complete his feud with Goldust.

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