Designer of nWo Logo Finally Revealed, Saying It Was Completed In An Hour

The iconic nWo logo, a symbol of rebellion that defined an era in professional wrestling, was born not from months of creative meetings, but from a one-hour, shoestring-budget design session. The artist behind the revolutionary emblem, Jenni Sloan, a graphic designer for Turner Sports, remained completely unaware of its cultural impact for years, having been paid a mere few hundred dollars for a design that would generate millions.

The story behind the logo's creation was eventually detailed in books like Guy Evans's Beyond Nitro: Untold Stories from the WCW Era and Say Hello To The Bad Guys: How Professional Wrestling's New World Order Changed America. For Sloan, it began as just another assignment, albeit an interesting one.

"One of the things that I loved to do – at that time – was logo development," Sloan revealed. "I really liked to dive into who a company was, what they were about kind of problem solve, [in my head], the best way to do a logo."

"So I remember being called into a meeting and being told that we would be working with WCW," she continued. "I was really not familiar with it… [although] my younger brother watched some of it way back in the day…with Hulk Hogan and all those guys. So that resonated with me…[plus] the fact that there was this sort of ‘breakaway group’ [with the New World Order]."

The project, however, came with severe limitations.

"I remember the day well," Sloan said. "[On this particular day], they mentioned that WCW was asking for something on a ‘shoestring budget’. They said, ‘They can’t afford much…only an hour of time – that’s all they’re going to pay for.’"

"[Evidently], they couldn’t afford some of the more expensive equipment in my suite."

"I thought, ‘Great. This is not how I want to do things…but…alright.’"

"They said to me, ‘This is going to have to be mass generated…but you’re going to have to do this logo in black-and-white.’"

"I thought, ‘Alright. Well…I’ll figure it out…’"

"I only had an hour to do the whole thing."

With the clock ticking, Sloan received minimal direction.

"They said, ‘We want it to be rough…something with ‘ragged edges’…and I mean…that’s sort of all I had to go on. I don’t recall being shown anything else, except maybe some rough designs…[and those] weren’t based on anything else [really]."

Drawing on her own influences, the design began to take shape.

"In my head, when they were telling me what they wanted, I was thinking, ‘Okay, ‘80s…‘90s…’, I was thinking of going out in high school…when I was really attracted to things like new age…punk…things like that. I was thinking of like a Sid and Nancy type of [feeling]. In my mind, that’s how things were translating to me when they were explaining the concept."

The initial version wasn't quite right.

"I think it’s the quickest logo I’ve ever done in my life! It was really just down-and-dirty, super quick. There was a version that I did first, but [WCW producer] Rob Wright and [another WCW staffer] were like, ‘Uh-uh. It’s gotta be rougher.’ I specifically remember that."

"They asked me to make it even more rough – really jagged – so I remember going in and hand-drawing some of the edges."

In a final stroke of genius, Sloan stylized the group's initials in a format that would become as famous as the group itself: nWo.

"I don’t remember the reason for that," she shrugs, in reference to her creative decision, "other than I thought it looked cool!"

The immediate reaction to the finished product was lukewarm at best.

"The reaction I got was like, ‘Cool – thanks. That was great.’"

"It wasn’t like, ‘Woah – this is going to be amazing!’"

Shortly after, Sloan left the industry. She had no idea that her one-hour, black-and-white, "down-and-dirty" design would become the emblem for one of the most profitable stables in history, fronted by "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. It wasn't until years later that she learned the truth, famously asking, "So how many T-shirts did they sell of this logo?" Her story remains a fascinating, and somewhat cautionary, tale of creative contribution versus compensation in the world of professional wrestling.