Since its debut, AEW has been thriving as the alternative show to WWE that TNA could never quite become. The company has survived on its own with major free agents carrying the company in Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley, along with homegrown indy darlings like Orange Cassidy making a name for themselves on a big stage.
And what does a professional wrestling company need when things are going so well? Why, the fear and chaos of a rogue organization, of course! There is nothing like a renegade faction taking over and running roughshod through a company to create something truly special. And that's exactly why the nWo needs to return, but this time as a part of AEW.
The gold standard of the attacking external force in wrestling was unquestionably the nWo in WCW. Its story was brilliantly paced throughout the Summer of 1996 when Scott Hall, the former Razor Ramon, walked from the crowd into the ring during the middle of a mid-card match on Monday Nitro and vaguely referenced the (then) WWF with "You want a war? You're gonna get one."
Later on, Kevin Nash -- the man formerly known as Diesel in the WWF -- joined Hall to form The Outsiders. For weeks, the duo constantly teased "The Third Man" of their group, who was eventually unveiled at Bash of The Beach in a moment that rocked the wrestling world permanently. Hulk Hogan pulled off the biggest Heel turn of all-time and formed the nWo with Nash and Hall.
The nWo storyline was arguably the biggest angle in wrestling history and put WCW at the top of the mountain. The New World Order's mission to destroy WCW unfortunately became too successful, however, both in kayfabe and in reality. Their inclusion of members became absurd and the faction existed for too long. All of a sudden, WCW became extinct thanks in part to the nWo burying top superstars in the company. Their brief revival in the WWE was underwhelming and Vince McMahon killed the faction for good in the Summer of 2002.
Despite dragging on, the nWo was initially a brilliant idea. The closest the WWE came to pulling off a rogue faction was with Nexus. Like the nWo, the initial Nexus concept was brilliant. The original line-up of NXT Season 1 invaded the WWE during the Spring of 2010. With a young, charismatic leader in Wade Barrett, Nexus looked poised for a great run and created multiple main event superstar possibilities. The only problem was that they hit the John Cena-ceiling at SummerSlam and collapsed into bad booking not long after. Ten years later and technically the only member of the Nexus who achieved any kind of main event success was Daniel Bryan; of course, he was only a member for one episode before being briefly released by the WWE.
The two biggest wrestling companies each had their attempt at an enemy faction. One was overly successful but lasted too long, the other wasn't successful enough and didn't last. With the right booking and ideal characters, however, AEW could find that middle ground of an outside group trying to take over, just like the nWo.
Right now AEW has two factions running wild on the company: The Inner Circle led by Chris Jericho, and the still-mysterious Dark Order. Wrestling legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts has also hinted at having multiple clients to feud with Cody Rhodes, which could lay the groundwork for a bigger group trying to take over AEW. It is clear that AEW is stable-friendly, and happy to try new things and old ideas that worked.
While The Inner Circle has been an entertaining heel faction led by Chris Jericho as apart of AEW, unveiling themselves as an outsider organization could change everything by undermining what and who Jericho, as a character and personality, truly is. He is the most famous name in AEW and already had a Hall of Fame career in the WWE, just like Hulk Hogan did when he formed the nWo. The "Inner Circle" could be a clandestine takeover attempt by an external force.
The ideal version of an nWo in AEW should be a WWE superstar invading the company with unknown alignment, so what about a heel turn for Jon Moxley? Or if AEW wanted a real coup like WCW got away with in the '90s, what about courting Seth Rollins or Randy Orton? As Hall, Nash and Hogan once proved... stranger things have happened, especially in wrestling.