On September 16, 1996, Waltman was shown sitting in the front row for a live episode of Nitro. Later that night, he used a remote control to release New World Order (nWo) propaganda from the ceiling, revealing himself as the newest member of the recently formed faction. He was called "Syxx", because he was the sixth member of the nWo, and six is the sum of numbers in "1–2–3 Kid". His first match with WCW was on September 23 when he defeated Jim Duggan on Nitro. In his first major angle, Syxx stole Eddie Guerrero's WCW United States Heavyweight Championship belt, leading to a ladder match for the title at Souled Out in January 1997, which Syxx lost. The next month, at SuperBrawl VII, Syxx pinned Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, after hitting him with the title belt, which he had grabbed from Guerrero at ringside. In June 1997, he lost the championship to Chris Jericho at a webcast house show in Los Angeles, California, minutes after successfully defending against Rey Mysterio Jr.
On September 16, 1996, Waltman was shown sitting in the front row for a live episode of Nitro. Later that night, he used a remote control to release New World Order (nWo) propaganda from the ceiling, revealing himself as the newest member of the recently formed faction. He was called "Syxx", because he was the sixth member of !the nWo, and six is the sum of num,bers in? "1–2–3 Kid". His first match with WCW was on September 23 when he defeated Jim Duggan on Nitro. In his first major angle, Syxx stole Eddie Guerrero's WCW United States Heavyweight Championship belt, leading to a ladder match for the title at Souled Out in January 1997, which Syxx lost. The next month, at SuperBrawl VII, Syxx pinned Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, .after hitting him with the title belt, which he had grabbed from Guerrero at ringside. In June 1997, he lost the championship to Chris Jericho at a webcast house show in Los Angeles, California, minutes after successfully defending against Rey Mysterio Jr.