The New World Order remains one of the most influential factions in professional wrestling history, but according to WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff, its biggest flaw was that the story never received a true ending.

The NWO changed the landscape of wrestling after its formation in WCW, helping the company surge ahead of WWE during the height of the Monday Night Wars. While the faction dominated television and became a cultural phenomenon, the storyline gradually lost momentum as WCW entered its final years and ultimately folded in 2001.

Speaking on his "83 Weeks" podcast, Bischoff reflected on the one major change he would make if he had the opportunity to revisit the angle.

"I would have had an ending. Not a better ending, just an ending because just an ending would have been a better ending. And we can talk about all the reasons why none of it matters. We've covered it before. But, of course, if there was one thing I could, you know, go back and change history and things like that, it would be to be able to come up and be focused on coming up with a really good end of that story so that we could begin another one," said Bischoff.

Bischoff explained that the lack of a definitive conclusion prevented WCW from smoothly transitioning into a fresh major storyline. In his view, the company missed the ideal window to wrap things up while the angle was still at a high point.

He pointed to late 1998 as the best time to bring the NWO saga to a close, though he believes 1999 could also have worked. Ending the story sooner would have allowed WCW to shift focus and build new stars and rivalries rather than continuing to rely on the same formula.

"If the idea is to end one story so that you're launching into another, just like a series, completely different storyline, shifting of characters, new character here or there, but an entirely different arc, it should go like this the arc [points to a curve] , it's going, it's going, it's going, boom ... this one stops, this one starts. You want just a constant continuation of story, and I think ending it in '98 would have been better than 99."

The NWO's influence extended well beyond WCW. After purchasing the company, WWE eventually revived the faction with Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. The group's legacy remained so strong that WWE reportedly explored bringing the NWO concept back to television in 2020 before deciding against moving forward with the idea.