# Jeff Jarrett Says Nobody Could Have Predicted The nWo’s Success, Reflects On The ‘Skinny Hulk’
On the latest episode of My World, Jeff Jarrett looked back at Hulk Hogan’s 1996 heel turn and the birth of the nWo, saying that as obvious as its success looks in hindsight, no one could have seen it coming at the time. You can check out his comments below:
“Hogan switching heel — the business needed it. Something wasn’t clicking, the ratings, the ticket sales. Knowing where the business was in the early-to-mid ’90s, that switch wasn’t ‘hey, we’ve got an idea, we need to do something’ out of desperation. They saw it and pulled the trigger on it. That was the mentality I remember processing at the time.”
“When he took it, nothing was guaranteed. It looked like it clicked, but I don’t think anybody, Eric Bischoff included, would have said the night he dropped the leg that for the next 83 weeks — pardon the pun — they were going to beat us in the ratings. I don’t think anybody could predict that. You look at Hulk when he came out, he was skinnier. He was a TV guy at that point — yes, he was in wrestling, but he’d done his movies and his TV shows. That, to me, is a skinny Hulk. That is not Hulk slamming Andre, that is not Hulk versus Warrior, that is not Hulk versus Savage. Scott and Kevin are both probably 20, 25 pounds heavier than he is at that point. So I don’t think anybody could really predict the success it would have. Everybody’s optimistic, sure, but it’s easy to sit here today and go, okay, that’s WWF invading WCW. There were no predictors. Bruno never switched. You look at Dusty when the American Dream got rolling, Fritz, the Crusher — you can go through each territory, and on a national stage this set the blueprint. Hindsight is so much clearer the further we get from it. Hogan’s run went five, six years, and it wasn’t until he faced Rock at that Mania that the people paid homage to him that night, like, hey dude, you took us through the golden era and the attitude era, we’re about ready to cheer your ass. That’s how much we respect and love you.”
