On November 25, 1996, Bagwell joined the New World Order (nWo) after turning on his partner Scotty Riggs. He soon renamed himself to Buff Bagwell and formed a tag team with Scott Norton called Vicious and Delicious. To go along with his name change he developed the habits of flexing his muscles and would talk to the camera insulting his opponents while complementing himself. While with the nWo, he also competed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a part of nWo Japan, the NJPW version of the nWo. When he returned to America, he began a feud with Lex Luger, which later saw Bagwell defeat him at Starrcade.