It was in WCW where the wrestler turned into a villain for the first time since he became a mega-star, but Hogan was not as eager to make the transition to a heel as he had been several years before. Because of that, Hogan initially turned down the offer to join the NWO.

"The Hulk-A-Mania thing was just getting started again after the whole steroid debacle and all that crazy stuff, so I felt a little weird turning heel," Hogan explained.

However, after seeing Scott Hall and Kevin Nash debut on WCW TV, their act caught Hogan's attention. He then called Eric Bischoff, who was running WCW's creative department, and stated that he wanted to join the faction after all. Hogan then had to convince Bischoff to revert to the original pitch.

"I called Eric up [and] I said, 'Man, I'm your guy,'" Hogan continued. "He said, 'Well, do you really want to do it, because we were going to put Sting [in]?' And I said, 'Sting's a great guy, but he's not WWF head-to-toe.'"

Following his introduction into the NWO, Hogan spent the next few years as one of the biggest heels in the industry. Along the way, he and the rest of the group helped WCW gain some serious momentum, with the promotion rising to challenge WWE for several years.