The Absurd History Of The Giant & The nWo In WCW

When Paul 'The Giant' Wight made his in-ring WCW debut at Halloween Havoc 1995 - and (in only his second official professional wrestling match!) won the World Heavyweight Championship - it looked like he was going to make a major impact. While, in many ways, the young monster heel was intended to be another victim of Hulkamania, something funny happened during his rookie year: the company's landscape completely changed due to Hulk Hogan's heel turn and the birth of the New World Order.

RELATED: An Honest Look At The Career Of The Big Show, Paul Wight

Cartoonish factions like the Dungeon of Doom were suddenly irrelevant, which left the man whose fictional origin story claimed him as the son of Andre in a predicament: evolve or risk being left behind. In a harbinger of things to come for Wight, the nWo's domination resulted in a tumultuous two years before he - convinced WWE would position him better than as fodder for Hogan and crew - left in early 1999.

A Giant Foe Arrives In WCW

When 24-year-old Paul Wight joined WCW in 1995, he was thrust into a headlining role as Hulk Hogan's monster heel rival. Like many WWE heels of the '80s, the not-so-creatively-named Giant's entire existence was contingent upon Hogan's, so once the Hulkster vanquished him (seemingly for good) at January '96's SuperBrawl PPV, Wight's prospects in the company seemed murky.

Hulk Hogan's Heel Turn Changes The Giant's Career

Hogan began a hiatus from television that April, which allowed other stars like Ric Flair, Lex Luger and Sting to step into the spotlight - and the Giant ended up being a key piece of that puzzle. However, when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash arrived the following month, WCW's current main event angles were thrown out of the proverbial window. Hogan's heel turn cemented the company's new direction, and the Giant - who'd won the World Championship from Flair on an April Monday Nitro - had the dubious honor of dropping the belt to 'Hollywood' at Hog Wild in August.

The Giant Joins The nWo

Most probably would have thought that upon losing the belt (due to the Outsiders' interference, of course) to Hogan, the Giant would have found himself in the unlikely - but logical - position of leading a babyface charge against the ruthless invaders from up North. However, just 23 days later (to be exact), the Giant turned on his Dungeon of Doom mates on an episode of Nitro, becoming the first member of the group who hadn't worked for Vince McMahon.

The Giant Leaves The nWo Three Months Later

The beginning of the end of the Giant's first nWo tenure began only about three months after he joined the motley crew in the first place. Winning the World War 3 main event battle royal put Wight in a precarious position, holding a guaranteed shot at the WCW title - which was still held by Hogan. When Hollywood lost a huge (non-title) match to Roddy Piper at Starrcade, the Giant bore Hogan's frustration, accusing the big man of "dropping the ball" via failed interference. The following night on Nitro, the Giant was officially kicked out when he refused to chokeslam a prone 'Rowdy' one.

If You Can't Beat Them...

1997 looked to promise big things for the reformed seven-footer. However, after failing in a couple of attempts to wrest the World Title from Hogan, the Giant often teamed with Lex Luger in contention for the Tag Team Championships through the remainder of the year as many fans wondered how he ended up largely in the background. Eventually, his feud with Kevin Nash in 1998 - over the fictional title of 'WCW's True Giant' - led the Giant back to the good graces of Hogan and fractured nWo, who was amid a falling-out with Big Sexy at the time.

Paul Wight Leaves For The WWE

Once the Giant's extremely complicated situation - caused by the internal nWo Hollywood/Wolfpac split - with the tag titles cleared up by the end of the summer, he found himself meandering aimlessly again - just like in '97 but wearing an nWo shirt. After a few months doing jobs for Goldberg, Wight - who was also dissatisfied with his salary in comparison to peers like Hall and Nash - signed a deal with WWE, memorably debuting at its February 1999 St. Valentine's Day Massacre PPV.

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Many assumed that McMahon would have a much easier - and less confusing - time booking such a talented big man; after all, it was where Andre the Giant became a household name. However, the future Big Show's rather extensive history of alignment switches ultimately made his history with WCW and the nWo look much less absurd in comparison.

In fact, Wight's story would come full circle as during the nWo's revival in WWE, Big Show would join the group and would stay in the team until it was disbanded later in 2002.