These days, wrestling fans are more or less in on the act.
But there was a time that fans were so enraged by an unforeseen twist that they peppered the men in the ring with trash, disgusted by the ultimate act of betrayal.
Hulk Hogan, who died Thursday morning at the age of 71, turned heel — wrestling parlance for a hero transforming into a villain — at WCW’s “Bash at the Beach” in Daytona, Fla. on July 7, 1996 in one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history, aligning himself with fellow ex-WWE stars Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the New World Order (nWo) faction that completely changed the industry and pop culture.
Hogan had been the ultimate good guy for 12 years, a larger-than-life All-American icon who implored fans to take their vitamins and say their prayers.
So when he marched down to the ring that night in Daytona during the main event between heroes Sting, Randy Savage and Lex Luger vs. Hall, Nash and a mystery third man who had yet to appear, fans cheered as they thought he was going to help fend off the bad guys.
As Hogan made his way toward the ring, Bobby Heenan asked on the broadcast, “Whose side is he on?”
“What are you talking about?!” Dusty Rhodes responded incredulously.
Hogan then hit his signature leg drop on longtime rival Savage, leaving fans stunned as he high-fived Hall and Nash.
As fans threw garbage into the ring, WCW backstage reporter Gene Okerlund asked Hogan, “What in the world are you thinking?”
“Mean Gene, the first thing you need to do is to tell these people to shut up if you want to hear what I’ve got to say,” a mustachioed Hogan, in red pants and a yellow bandana, said as boos rained down upon him, formally turning his back on the fans.
Hogan declared that he, Hall and Nash were “the future of wrestling” and that they were going to “destroy everything in our path.”
Hogan began to wear black wrestling gear and added a black beard to his blond mustache as he and his ever-expanding group took over WCW.
The formation of the nWo flipped the wrestling business on its head. The black nWo shirt with white lettering became immensely popular and WCW ended up beating WWE in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks until April 1998.
WWE then took the reins in the “Monday Night War,” and WCW began to spiral. WWE later bought WCW in 2001, and Hogan returned there with the nWo in 2002.