New World Order (professional wrestling)

The New World Order (commonly abbreviated as nWo) was an American professional wrestling stable that originally consisted of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash.

The stable originated in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) with the gimmick of a group of unsanctioned wrestlers aiming to "take over" and control WCW in the manner of a street gang. The group later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in May 2002) after the company purchased WCW. The nWo angle became one of the most influential storylines in the mid-to-late 1990s success of WCW and was instrumental in turning mainstream North American professional wrestling into a more mature, adult-oriented product. The stable became one of the main driving forces behind WCW competing with the WWF in the Monday Night War.

Larry Zbyszko is credited with coining the name "New World Order" in relation to the original group/storyline. Eric Bischoff revealed that Zbyszko used the term on July 1, 1996, during a WCW Nitro episode, days before Hulk Hogan's historic heel turn at Bash at the Beach. Bischoff initially assumed the phrase came from his own subconscious, but later acknowledged Zbyszko's contribution to its creation.

Fueled initially by the unexpected villainous turn of Hulk Hogan, the nWo storyline is generally considered one of the most successful angles in the history of modern-day professional wrestling, spawning several imitations and parodies, including the Blue World Order, Latino World Order, and the Juggalo World Order. The group dominated WCW programming throughout the late-1990s and continued until the dissolution of WCW in 2001, during which time there were several, sometimes rival, incarnations of the group. After WWF purchased WCW in 2001, the group was revived in February 2002, but only lasted for five months, dissolving in July in what was now WWE. Since then, there had been sporadic one-night only reunions of the group until 2025.