Former WWE Writer Reveals The Four Men Planned For A 2020 nWo Revival — And Why It Fell Apart

A 2020 plan to revive the nWo was discussed by WWE during the pandemic era, with Sheamus, Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura and Lars Sullivan forming the proposed new lineup, per former WWE writer Chris Dunn.

Speaking on the Public Enemies Podcast, Dunn — who worked for WWE from 2016 to 2021 — said the idea progressed far enough that a past nWo legend was scheduled to fly to Orlando to introduce the faction. The plan collapsed when that legend failed a COVID test.

“Do you guys remember that ThunderDome? Really tough to do TV in there, so a lot of ideas were thrown against the wall. So, it was discussed at one point, bringing back the nWo 2020. The pitch was Sheamus, Cesaro, Nakamura, and Lars Sullivan. It was really close to happening. I forget which legendary nWo member was supposed to fly to Orlando to introduce this new nWo.”

The proposed revival would have taken place during the period when WWE was presenting shows from the Performance Center, before the ThunderDome era began later in 2020. The same era produced Retribution and Raw Underground, both of which did make it to television. The classic nWo lineup of Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020.