The incident occurred during the main event of "Nitro", featuring WCW World Heavyweight Champion Kevin Nash, who was the leader of the Wolfpac faction of the New World Order (nWo), and Hollywood Hogan, the leader of the Hollywood faction of the nWo, with whom Nash and his group had been feuding since April 1998 when the original faction split up, and Hogan had retired from wrestling. The Wolfpac faction were babyfaces (heroes), while the Hollywood faction were heels (villains), as was the original nWo.