needed to have WWF name value, much like Hall and Nash did, and because of Hogan's success as the face of the WWF in the 1980s and early 1990s. Hogan's heel turn marked the first time in over 15 years that he portrayed a villainous character. With most of the WCW roster over in Japan, the nWo took over the September 23, 1996, episode of Nitro, including the broadcast booth and the ring announcer's role. Largely due to the nWo angle, Nitro would go on to beat Raw for 84 consecutive weeks in the ratings. Road to Starrcade 1997 In 1997, the nWo began feuding with the revived babyface Four Horsemen as well as the returning Sting. Following a lengthy absence, Sting returned to WCW television as a darker, brooding character, in a gimmick based on The Crow. Sting would be in the rafters of WCW arenas, and sometimes rappel down into the ring to help WCW wrestlers fight the nWo. This latter feud served to build up Starrcade in December, headlined by Sting facing Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Culminating a 15-month storyline, the event drew WCW's largest buyrate. Retrospective reviewers considered 1997 to be WCW's peak year, however, Starrcade was heavily criticized for not having a clean finish to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship match. A recently introduced Bret Hart, who had refereed the preceding match between Bischoff and Larry Zbyszko for control of Nitro, alleged that referee Nick Patrick had performed a fast count on Sting and wanted to "make things right". Hart insisted that the match continue with himself as referee, in order to prevent Sting from being "screwed" like Hart had legitimately been at the 1997 Survivor Series the month prior; an incident that came at the end of his run with the WWF. Bischoff himself would admit in his memoir Controversy Creates Cash, the count looked like a normal count, and replays of the three-count on later shows had the video sped up to hide this. Because of this, Starrcade has also been seen by critics as the beginning of WCW's downfall. According to Bret Hart, WCW failed to capitalize on his talent and momentum, and had no idea how to properly utilize him. Bischoff contends that the Montreal Screwjob "...had taken his toll on him," in his autobiography. "It was all he talked about... constantly." Signs of a decline (1998–2001) Turner