The 411 Wrestling Top 5 08.31.11: Week 139 – Top Stables & Supergroups

Scott Rutherford
The J.O.B Squad – Something that is missing today is people with a sense of humor and things happening in the undercard. The J.O.B Squad was great because it gave guys like Scorpio and Duane Gill an instant identity.
The Heenan Family – I’m talking the AWA version of Heenan, Nick Bockwinkle, Bobby Duncum and Ray Stevens. Just an awesome collection of wrestlers that literally carried the promotion for a long time.
The Varsity Club – Simple idea, get a bunch of super-talented (and tough) wrestlers that all had amateur credentials and University backgrounds, slap Kevin Sullivan as a leader and presto, instant greatness. So much more could have been made of these guys but typical NWA booking committee ineptitude means that they’re usually forgotten to history.

5. The nWo – I’m not talking about the billion member army that diluted the original idea or the initial trio, I’m talking about the version that was Nash, Hogan, Hall, The Giant and Syxx. For a while this was a great, diverse range of guys. You got that Hogan was keeping Giant close as he was a huge threat. You know Waltman was around as comedic relief for Hall and Nash. Hall & Nash were biding their time to stab Hogan in the back. The dynamic worked for a little while but the politicking and typical WCW crap killed it dead after a short while. They helped WCW beat the WWF for a while but ultimately helped WCW’s demise. Irony is just so ironic.

4. The Hart Foundation – 1997 Bret Hart reforms the Hart Foundation and expands it to include Davey Boy Smith, his brother Owen and Brian Pillman….shit got good. They managed to build up incredible heat as they adopted the anti-US/pro Canada stance and were one of the major sparks that was used to rebuild the struggling WWF. Five distinct personalities that added unique abilities to form one great whole and for one brief shining moment at The Canadian Stampede PPV, they shone as bright as could be. It’s sad to think that 3 of the five member have now died and the sadness that surrounds their history but I 1997, they ruled the Earth.

3. The Fabulous Freebirds – The original trio were ground breakers. While they only had one really great worker, as a unit they knew how to entertain. Mixing sizzle with the steak they ignited the Dallas territory and helped make World Class one of the hottest promotions around. Previous to their arrival, factions/supergroups were more a collection of great singles stars working together. The Freebirds were a unit, a true gang that you could imagine standing back-to-back in a bar fight or taking on a room full a tail back at the hotel. Influential doesn’t nearly do them justice as they married rock n’ roll to wrestling, proud of their Southern heritage and draw big $$$ everywhere they went. Why they aren’t in every wrestling Hall of Fame is a complete fucking mystery.

2. The Four Horsemen – While they had several successful incarnations, my favorite was the Barry Windham era. Ole Anderson was over the hill, Luger was green and out of his depth. Barry was the perfect fit and they managed to fit what they preached…being the best on every level. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket…every major championship was held by these guys at the same time as the NWA was being carried by these guys and they did it well. Sentiment says if Crockett had the money and smarts of Vince, the national expansion would have been a whole different ballgame. At its core, The Horseman were about excellence inside and outside of the ring and redefined what being a faction was all about. Go back and look at the record books and you’ll find they rarely won any match cleanly and barely won many matches at all, but because they walked the walk and talked the talk, everyone didn’t notice and believed they were the very best.

1. Degeneration – X – It’s not often that two versions of the one faction can be as equally successful but in DX’s case, it is very true. The original incarnation of Shawn, Hunter and Chyna built upon what the Hart Foundation started during 1997 and were the lynchpin (along with Steve Austin) that helped the WWF explode in late 1997/early 1998. Michaels ill-timed back injury meant a shake-up was needed and when they brought in The New Age Outlaws and the returning X-Pac, it created a whole different animal that was just as entertaining. Each member had their own look, personality and style. They could work individually and as a unit. You want them to do a super intense brawl? Fine. You want them to do a comedy promo? Easy. You want them to jerk the curtain to heat up the crowd? No worries. You want them to main event and close a show in style? Just point the way. I picked them over The Horseman for one reason, as a kid I loved the Horsemen but I discovered them after becoming a fan, DX re-ignited my passion for wrestling after it died down during the mid-90’s. Sure that’s a personal reason more than a subjective one, but I have to rank based one some reason and that is as good as any I have.

Robert S. Leighty Jr
HM – Evolution: HHH’s way to remake the horsemen, and in turn it made 2 stars out of Orton and Batista.
HM – Nation of Domination: They get an honorable mention alone for giving the Rock a chance to develop his heel persona and become the Rock we know and love today.
HM – Raven’s Nest/Flock; The Gathering: Some love for Raven’s group of flunkies from ECW, WCW, and even TNA (CM fucking Punk).

5. The Dangerous Alliance – Had WCW not screwed this one up, this group would be remembered more fondly today. The talent was unreal with Rude, Austin, Anderson, Easton, and Zbyszko. They had blood feuds with most of WCW faces in the early 90s and produced quite possibly the greatest War Games match ever with Sting’s Squadron in 1992.

4. The Heenan Family – I may be a little biased here because I grew up on the Heenan Family and Heenan’s obsession with destroying Hulk Hogan. You put any guy in Heenan’s family and he instantly became more over with the crowd. The crown jewel was Andre and that lead to the biggest match in history with Hogan at WM III. Heenan’s family did win some gold with Rude, Perfect, Brain Busters, and Andre/Haku.

3. D-X – DX did what a lot of groups couldn’t do and that’s lose their Main Event guy and take off even bigger than they were. DX was the kick in the pants the WWE needed in their more aggressive, crude style of the late 90s. Shawn and HHH were more than eager to push the envelope and when Shawn went down, the New Age Outlaws were there to become stars. Even the toned down nature of the reformed DX still made for some fun television.

2. The 4 Horsemen – Every faction is always compared to the Horsemen or in some cases viewed as a Horsemen rip-off. Unlike the n.W.o being a Horsemen meant you were the elite of the elite. There wasn’t 500 spots to be filled, and that made things a little more special. There were a few head scratchers along the way, but in the end fans still know what it means when four fingers are raised in the air to this day.

1. n.W.o – Nothing was as cool as the n.W.o and the group did something no other group cold: help WCW unseat the WWE as the #1 promotion in the world. The group revolutionized the business and did so many things right that it made it all the more shocking that WCW fucked things up so badly.

SHAWN S. LEALOS
HM – Legion of Doom: I’m talking about the original Legion, with the Road Warriors, Buzz Sawyer and Jake Roberts
HM – Heenan Family: Unlike Rutherford, I’m going with his WWF war against Hulk Hogan
HM – Hart Foundation: This is not Jimmy Hart’s version, but the Bret Hart anti-USA version.

5. THE FREEBIRDS – When I started watching wrestling, there was no bigger feud in my eyes than the Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs. What amazed me, since I was a kid who worshipped the Von Erich family was that there were people out there who loved the Freebirds and not the Von Erichs. As I grew up, I realized how cool the Freebirds were and it still amazed me that in Atlanta, they were fan favorites in their feud with the Four Horsemen while in Carolina, the Horsemen were favorites. At that time, no one polarized a crowd like the Freebirds. By the way, I was never a big fan of Jimmy Garvin in the group but I consider Terry Gordy, Buddy Jack Roberts and Michael Hayes to be one of the best three-man stables of all time. Hell, they were in The Highlander!

4. DEVASTATION INC. – Staying at my childhood, no one scared me more than Skandar Akbar and Devastation Inc. I went to a lot of Mid South cards when I was a youngster and, at that time, kayfabe was still the king and no one was more “on” as a bad guy manager than Skandar Akbar. He was not a “weasel” and, instead, he was an evil bastard that would throw fire in anyone’s face at any time (see: Dr. Death Steve Williams, Ted DiBaise and Hacksaw Jim Duggan). Plus, his stable was not bad guys in the normal sense of the word. He managed monsters who came to the ring to hurt people. In today’s WWE, those characters would be laughed at but in the ‘80s, they were feared. Kamala. One Man Gang. The Irwin Brothers. The Great Kabuki. These guys were scary.

3. DEGENERATION X – This pick is all about the WWF vs. WCW war and I was always solidly in the WCW corner, so DX goes No. 3. Yeah, Shawn Michaels is, and always has been, my favorite wrestler so DX retains a high standing. They were funny, they were brash and they helped make the Attitude Era very much NOT PG-rated. I go here with Shawn, Triple H, Chyna and the New Age Outlaws. Yeah, I am throwing in the Outlaws. However, when X-Pac came back and Shawn went down, I lost interest and they kind of faded out. I will admit to enjoying Hunter and Shawn’s revival a few years back. It was still funny to me.

2. nWo – As I said, I was a WCW guy so the nWo goes above DX in my rankings. I just started watching the WCW DVD that came out recently and realized how much I loved the invasion angle. When Scott and Kevin came in, it totally made Monday night wrestling “must-see.” When Hulk Hogan turned bad, it was HUGE for wrestling and then it caused Sting to go from colorful to dark and brooding. Everything about the nWo was great – in the beginning. When they attacked everyone, good or bad, and left them laying it was exciting. When everyone started jumping the WCW ship and joining, it got boring. But when it was hot, it was VERY hot.

1. THE FOUR HORSEMEN – There is no stable better than the Four Horsemen. In the start, it was great with Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson. Yeah, Ole was not great but he was a mean SOB. Then when Ole left the group, it became spectacular. From Lex Luger to Barry Windham to Sting, the group added the “next big thing” to their ranks, only to leave them laying in the end. On more than one occasion, they held every title there was to hold in the NWA. Flair would be world champ, Barry or Lex as US Champ and Tully and Arn as the tag team champs. It was a force that has never been matched in wrestling because they always backed up their talk. Even when the Four Horsemen were on their deathbed, they were still good. I still like the Chris Benoit years and then when it was Benoit, Brian Pillman, Arn Anderson and Ric Flair it was fun (thanks in large part to crazy Pillman). Then, at the end, it was Benoit, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael and Ric Flair with Arn and the manager. I still loved them. There will never be another Four Horsemen and that is a sad thing.

Wes Kirk
The Alliance To End Hulkamania – A supergroup that lasted… six days. If that.
The Hart Foundation – Booed all over America but beloved in Canada and England especially!
The Corporation – All an attempt to destroy Steve Austin and of course, it failed!

5. The Fabulous Freebirds – One of the original cool heel factions, the Freebirds were Southern bad boys that recorded their own theme music as well as beating up on the beloved Von Erich family in WCCW for many years. The group would be seen in the WWF, WCW, and WCCW at various times and consisted at first of Michael “P.S” Hayes, Buddy “Jack” Roberts, and Terry Gordy. The Freebirds were the first to use the rule that any combination of this faction could defend tag team gold known as the “Freebird Rule” for years. Although they never captured as much attention in the major leagues as they did in WCCW, they left an impression among fans from Badstreet USA to the rest of the world.

4. The Heenan Family – Perhaps the greatest faction to earn the least amount of gold, Bobby Heenan’s Family was made up of many wrestlers from AWA all the way to the WWF. Bobby managed men such as Andre The Giant, Big John Studd, Ken Patera, Hercules, King Kong Bundy, The Barbarian, Haku, The Blackjacks, and many more. Heenan would find success in the tag divisions of AWA and the WWF and his men brought home several IC and tag titles and controlled the “King of the WWF” gimmick title for several years, but never took home the big one.

3. Four Horsemen – Considered by many to be the best faction in wrestling, the Four Horsemen had many incarnations over the years although most people consider Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Barry Windham to be the best along with JJ Dillon as their manager. This faction had the charismatic main eventer, the talented mid-card talent, a manager to interfere and a future star in Windham who ultimately never made it like he was expected to. The Horsemen are mentioned frequently even today, over 25 years when they were first formed, and most factions are held to the extremely high standard of the good talkers, better wrestlers involved here.

2. Degeneration X – In 1997 the WWF was struggling and frankly, the product was getting some bad reviews from the loyal fans for being too family friendly as opposed to some of the nWo hijinx. With the WCW overtaking the WWF, Vince gave the greenlight for DX to be formed which helped usher in the Attitude Era and hit everybody with serious in-your-face raunchy comedy and also some awesome matches and moments. DX broke barriers and established itself by basically doing whatever they wanted whenever they wanted and if you didn’t like it, they always had two words for ya!

1. New World Order – Anybody who knows WCW history will tell you one thing: Until the formation of the nWo, the company never made a single dime of profit. Even as great as the Horsemen were, they never brought in a single profitable dollar to the company and in fact it was a write-off for Ted Turner until 1996 happened. When Hall, Nash, and Hogan joined forces and created an empire it was the one faction that put WCW in the number one promotion spot, nearly bankrupted the WWF, and made PROFIT. The nWo made it cool to cheer the bad guys and was loaded with talent from established names to young stars becoming big names for the first time. To this day you can still see nWo shirts in the crowd fifteen years after the group was formed.

Chad Nevett
HM – The Main Event Mafia: A good way to have a group of veterans feud with young talent, they just forgot that the point is for the old guys to put over the young talent at SOME point.
HM – Legacy: Another great idea that fizzled out due to poor booking and didn’t actually put anyone over by the end.
HM – The Nation of Domination: Clever idea and was more than the sum of its parts. I’m somewhat surprised that this group hasn’t been reformed by Mark Henry with Ezekiel Jackson, honestly.

5. Evolution – As an idea, this group is probably the smartest: take a legend, a current main eventer, and two up-and-comers, and have them dominate. It allowed Triple H to be a heel champion, Ric Flair to be relevant, and Randy Orton and Batista to make their names. While Orton’s departure from the group wasn’t handled the best, the group served its purpose by creating two legitimate main event stars (after John Cena, the two biggest new main eventers of the past decade). Plus, they were just cool.

4. The Four Horsemen – They only rank this low because of my lack of personal connection to the group. Their peak was when I was just a small child and I didn’t watch much NWA/WCW then, mostly just WWF. But, I’ve grown to admire and love the group and what they did for this business, and for the concept of a faction. They were the original dominant faction holding control of all of the belts and acting as the centerpiece of the organization. So many factions want to be the Horsemen and that says something.

3. The nWo – At one point, the hottest thing in the business; later, a cautionary tale of what not to do. The idea of the nWo and its original use was fantastic and perfectly in sync with the zeitgeist. Nash and Hall managed to become even bigger than they were in the WWF, Hulk Hogan finally turned heel (and did so in the best way possible), and everyone was talking about the nWo. Then, they kept expanding and forgot that what makes a great faction so cool is its exclusivity. Eventually, the group was a joke and there wasn’t anyone who hadn’t been a member at some point. But, damn, those first few months?

2. Degeneration X – I love every iteration of this group. From its origins as Shawn Michaels and Triple H being juvenile assholes to the DX Army to the two reunions of the original pair, there’s something about this group that appeals to my inner rebel. They did what they wanted, they were funny, and they always looked like they were having fun. Especially in the two most recent reunions of the group (which a lot of people don’t like), seeing Michaels and Trips just having fun and clearly enjoying themselves made watching them that much enjoyable. You don’t always (or often it seems sometimes) see guys clearly having fun out there.

1. The Hart Foundation – Sorry, but being Canadian means the final incarnation of the Hart Foundation hits that spot in my heart that I can’t quite shake. It was the culmination of years of stories with the disparate parts of the Hart family finally coming together and uniting against the American fans they’d all grown to hate and the new crop of wrestlers they would rather cheer. It would have been cool to have Bret, Owen, Davey and Jim (and Brian!) in a faction, but it coming after years of feuds between them just made it better.

Ryan Byers
HM – Los Gringos Locos: Los Gringos Locos were the quintessential lucha libre rudo unit. Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero were obviously the anchors of the team and could have done just as well without the other men involved, but the others didn’t exactly drag down the quality of the angle either as new members often do in a stable.
HM – Kaientai Deluxe: They didn’t get that much exposure in the grand scheme of things, but the people who took the time to watch KDX all realize that their work RULED. Each member of the group (Dick Togo, MEN’S Teioh, TAKA Michinoku, Shoichi Funaki​, and Kaz Hayashi​) oozed heel charisma, and each was also an excellent professional wrestler at his peak. Granted, the WWF version of the group wasn’t much to write home about, but the original Michinoku Pro version more than makes up for it.
HM – De-Generation X: Sometimes I use honorable mentions to list personal favorites of mine. Sometimes I use them to highlight groups that just barely missed my cutoff for the Top 5. DX falls in to the latter category. Obviously, the original version of the group and the later Triple H-lead five some were ridiculously popular during the Attitude Era. The revived HHH/HBK DX of recent years, though geared more towards children, managed to maintain that level of popularity amongst fans who are still watching. All in all, not a bad run . . . though it’s just a hair shy of the five groups listed above.

5. The Hart Foundation – Sometimes groups are great because they endure for a significant period of time. Sometimes groups are great because, even though they don’t necessarily last as long, the performances that they have in their shorter run are awesome. The 1997 version of the Hart Foundation falls in to group number two. The real key to the success of the Foundation is in the fact that every member had a clearly defined role and played it to perfection. Bret Hart was the grizzled, outspoken leader. Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart were the resident tag team. Brian Pillman was the undercard wrestler gaining more exposure. Jim Neidhart was the designated jobber in matches against the team’s rivals. The five of them, all with significant experience and talent, came together to form a whole greater than all of its parts, which is really what a stable is all about.

4. The Fabulous Freebirds – I suppose that an argument can be made that the core group of Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts was more of an unconventional tag team than a stable, but, the way I see it, every time that you’ve got three or more guys working together under the same name, that’s a stable. Plus there were tons of ancillary Freebirds over the years, guys like like Jimmy Garvin​, Iceman Parsons, and Brad Armstrong who all contributed in their own way. If you do in fact consider them a stable, the Freebirds are one of the few in history to travel from promotion to promotion, which gives them a special quality that none of the other units on this list have. Their levels of success were roughly the same in every territory that they went to as well, which speaks highly of the talent level of the core group of three and the revolving cast of extras that ran with them.

3. The Four Horsemen – Some people will probably consider having the Horsemen this far down on my list to be heresy. I don’t deny it: When the Horsemen were at their best, they probably were the best stable in professional wrestling history. Like the Hart Foundation, the best Horsemen combinations featured a roster of men, each one with a distinct role and each having all of the tools necessary to perform in that role. However, there is a world of difference between the best Horseman units and the worst Horseman units, and, at least in my book, the poor Horseman combinations were bad enough to drag even the peaks down to number three on my list. For every Chris Benoit who became a star through his involvement with the group, you had a Paul Roma or a Jeff Jarrett. For every great in-ring performer like Tully Blanchard and Barry Windham, you had a Sid Vicious or a Steve McMichael. Yes, everything from the Four Horsemen prior to 1989 was awesome, but the group has eleven years of history after that, and the majority of those years are suspect.

2. The New World Order – There is one primary reason that the nWo makes number two on my list: Money. No stable in professional wrestling history made as much money as the nWo did, and, like it or not, the goal of professional wrestling at the end of the day is to make money. It was the formation and the original promotion of the nWo that took WCW from a distant number two in the “wrestling wars” and turned the company in to a force that would trump the WWF in terms of popularity (and arguably quality) for well over a year. However, like the Horsemen, the nWo gets dragged down on my list because there were just too many inferior variations of the group after the peak. Yes, the nWo Wolfpac had a period during which it was incredibly popular, but, other than that, everything after the stable’s split down the middle all the way to its death in WWE in 2002 was ridiculously bad and an extreme hindrance to the New World Order’s legacy.

1. The Dangerous Alliance – No, they didn’t last quite as long as the nWo or the Horsemen, and, no, the WWE-written version of history that we get on DVDs today doesn’t remember them as fondly. However, in 1991 and 1992, the Dangerous Alliance was EVERYTHING that the best years of the nWo and the Four Horsemen were in terms of the heel stable that rides in to a company and absolutely dominates it. The other great thing about the Dangerous Alliance was that the group formed, gained momentum, peaked, got beaten by the babyfaces, and then ENDED. They are perhaps the only awesome stable in professional wrestling history that got in, got the job done, and got out. Though there were a couple of brief revivals in ECW, those were blips on the radar compared to the constant rehashes of the Horsemen and the nWo which, at least in my mind, severely hurt those groups’ legacies. The Alliance, which featured great promos from Paul Heyman​, awesome singles matches from Rick Rude, fine tag team wrestling from Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton, and a diamond in the rough rising star in Steve Austin, was not just a textbook example of how to create a wrestling stable and make it the focal point of a company but also a textbook example of how to end the story at the perfect time, which sometimes is just as important.

Francisco Ramirez
Los Infernales, Los Villanos, Los Gringos Locos, Los Perros del Mal, Los Cadetes del Espacio, Los Vipers – Lucha Libre is full of great stables!

5. Ravens Nest – The premise was simple, keep the title on Raven and destroy the face of the moment, the Sandman or Tommy Dreamer. Gracing a roster with the likes of guys like Cactus Jack, the Dudley Boys, Stevie Richards, among others and of course their leader Raven. Ravens Nest had its huge moments, for example having the Sandmans ex-wife join Raven and bring the Sandmans son Tyler into the mix. A damn good stable and utilized extremely well, you knew who was the muscle, the leader and who the whipping boy was.

4. Nation of Domination – In my opinion this stable was ahead of its time. Farooq took Savio Vega and a fresh from a drug bust Crush, along with Clarence Mason and formed a stable that was part Nation of Islam part Black Panther party. Crush, Vega and Mason were eventually fired, and Khama Mustafa, Ahmed Johnson and D’lo Brown followed Farooq’s orders. Playing heavily on the militant role and emphasizing on the Black Panther aspect of the stable, the NOD went on to feud with other stables like Los Boricuas and the DOA. The Rock and Mark Henry joined the ranks which saw Farooq get booted from the team. This led to a memorable feud with DX. Eventually the stable fell apart, but remains memorable for being, in my opinion, one of the most original stables of all time.

3. L.A.X. – Man was this stable red hot and one of the main reasons to watch TNA back in the day. Konnan, Hernandez and Homicide ran amok in TNA citing discrimination against the Latin wrestlers, refusing to wrestle and tearing ass whenever possible. Konnan did extremely well as the mouthpiece of LAX and who can argue Homicide and Hernandez success as a team. LAX had many memorable moments, they played the Hispanic discrimination angle extremely well, going as far as placing a border around the Spanish announce table. My favorite moment is easily when then TNA Tag champions AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels offered an open challenge for the titles,LAX accepted the challenge, attacked the then champions and proceeded to sign the contract in Christopher Daniels’ blood! Konnan eventually quit TNA to run AAA and when he left it left a huge gap in the group. They still continued to have some success, but essentially the magic was gone.

2. Los Misioneros de la Muerte – El Texano, Signo and Negro Navarro were the members of Los Misioneros de la Muerte, translated the Missionaries of Death, and I’ll be damned if the name wasn’t appropriate. They teamed together during the 80’s and faced the likes of guys like Los Villanos, Anibal, el Solitario, Los Brazos, Fishman just to name a few. Mind you all those luchadores are legendary, but nothing came close to the legendary moment when Los Misioneros faced a team led by El Santo. Los Misioneros were extremely well known for being a rough rudo team, while still being incredibly technical, and the fact that el Santo nearly died in a match with Los Misioneros de la Muerte cemented the foundation for the legend of this stable. This eventually led to El Santos final match ever, which saw Los Misioneros de la Muerte team with El Perro Aguayo to face La Pareja Atomica: El Santo and Gory Guerrero who were joined by el Solitario and el Huracan Ramirez. They became extremely huge, doing the impossible, making trios matches main event attractions. They were turned technicos when el Solitario turned Rudo, and even though that didn’t last long, they would still be cheered even when they were billed as Rudos. The original version of Los Misioneros only lasted about 4 years with el Texano leaving, different versions popped up with different people taking el Texano’s spot, but none ever came close to the original El Texano, el Signo and Negro Navarro version of the stable.

1. The 4 Horsemen – Really, can there be any other choice? The Horsemen revolutionized every freaking aspect of wrestling. They were a team of great wrestlers, they were all good if not great on the microphone. They were cheered even as heels. There feuds are legendary, hell Wargames was made a huge deal because of them. Even though the roster was always a revolving door of great wrestlers, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, good wrestlers, Lex Luger, Ole, and even the version that featured a bonafide legend, Paul Roma, where some members might of been lacking, looking at you Sid Vicious, there was always members that would pick up the slack. Teams and stables have come and gone, but as we all know, Diamonds are forever and so are the Horsemen.

Michael Weyer
Honorable Mention: Heenan Family, which was good in the AWA but really took off in WWF, Bobby Heenan getting a powerful stable together in his never-ending attempt to destroy Hulk Hogan.
Honorable Mention: Evolution, a good mix of veteran Flair, star HHH and helped Batista and Randy Orton come into their own as stars.
Honorable Mention: DX, which broke the rules and helped usher in the Attitude era while making fans cheer for the jerks.

5. The Dangerous Alliance: True, by the end, they were neither dangerous nor an alliance. But in 1992, they truly dominated WCW in a way not seen since the Horsemen. It was a fantastic mix of Arn Anderson, Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zysbko, veterans and rookies, all under the mind of Paul E. Dangerously. They held numerous titles while carrying out brutal attacks on every face in the company. They sadly fell apart at the end thanks to WCW politics but for a brief time, they held the company under the thumb in a great way every heel stable should do.

4. The NWO: They blurred the lines between reality and work, as well as dividing between classic “face/heel” distinctions. That they also led their promotion to a boatload of cash says a lot. The early NWO was fantastic, Hogan, Hall and Nash trashing WCW left and right and truly seeming unbeatable. They do lose points due to their dominance getting out of control, making fans think WCW were losers. The watering down with third-rate guys and the constant attempts to “reboot” it were also blows against it but you shouldn’t forget the impact they had on wrestling, good and bad.

3. Devastation Inc: Sadly forgotten by many today, this was the stable of World Class in its prime as General Skandor Akbar brought together numerous tough heels in an attempt to take over. The Missing Link, Kamala, Killer Khan, the Great Kubaki, the Super D’s and more, all under his leadership to fight the Von Erichs and other faces in wild bouts. He brought it back in 1989 for a memorable feud with Eric Embry that led to WCCW becoming USWA and also had a good period with them in the UWF. Spanning two promotions and several years while not losing their impact, Akbar’s army was a true heel force to be proud of.

2. The Fabulous Freebirds: The reason the Freebirds deserve respect is something often overlooked: They were the first cool heels. Before them, the heels were always guys you hated but the Freebirds made being bad so good and did it with style. Terry Gordy was a marvel in the ring, Buddy Roberts was great at taking poundings and Michael Hayes just ate the camera and mic up as the leader. Put all three together, combined with their real-life rep as hell-raisers, and you had guys fans booed like crazy yet still enjoyed watching. Together, they brought heat Texas hadn’t seen before or since, the focus of the best feud in wrestling history and did it with pride, loud and proud and you had to love it.

1. The Four Horsemen: With respect to those on this list who disagree, anyone who doesn’t say the Horsemen are the best stable ever have no idea what they’re talking about. HHH nailed it on the head why they were successful, they were the epitome of the corporate greed of the ’80’s, rich, flaunting their success and trying to crush all in their path. You had four great workers who were also fantastic on the mic, guys fans loved to hate and paid to see get their comeuppance and their success just made the heat grow. The ’88 version of Flair, Anderson, Blanchard and Windham was the best, all four holding gold and dominating the NWA. There was a sense of prestige around the group as unlike other stables, they pretty much went for the best because they were the best and fans knew it. The later versions were rougher (Paul Roma, Steve McMahon) but still the glue of it all was Flair and reminded you of why the Crockett days were so beloved among fans.

Larry Csonka
HM: The Original Legion of Doom – Paul Ellering leading Hawk, Animal, Jake Roberts, the Spoiler, King Kong Bundy, Buzz Sawyer and others were a truly formidable group.
HM: Evolution – I really liked Evolution, and felt that they did a great job (the closest in the modern era) of emulating the Horsemen.
HM: Devastation Inc. – Devastation Inc. was a guilty pleasure of mine though out my younger fan hood. Skandor Akbar managed a huge list of talent through out the years and different incarnations of the group, which stayed a threat in the entirety of their WCCW run.
HM: The Fabulous Freebirds – Because they are the FABULOUS FUCKING FREEBIRDS~!

5. The Heenan Family – Bobby Heenan and the Heenan Family have roots back into the 70s, and sports an all star list of talent, such as the Blackjacks, Ray Stevens, Nick Bockwinkle, Angelo Pofo, Ernie Ladd, the Masked Superstar, Andre the Giant, Paul Orndorff, Harley Race, Mr. Perfect, the Brainbusters and many more. For years the WWF world title picture was Hogan fighting off the Heenan Family, it worked, it drew money and it was what helped WWF become a powerhouse. Although since Heenan hates the term “STABLE”, he will be pissed to make my list.

4. degeneration X – DX, the EARLY DX, was the perfect answer by WWF to WCW. They weren’t the power group like the Horsemen, but they started their own little revolution that made for a fun ride. Shawn and Hunter being wacky, Rude appearing on both shows at once, Mike Tyson, HBK going down and HHH stepping up, the rise of the New Age Outlaws, it was fun, it worked and it was what the company needed at the time.

3. The Dangerous FUCKING Alliance – For a year they were the best stable in the business, and at a time when WCW was doing their best to recreate the Horsemen, they did a damn fine job with the group. Paul E. Dangerously as the leader, Madusa was the valet until she was fired, Michael PS Hayes was a loosely associated member as well. But the meat of the group was Larry Zbyszko, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson and Rick Rude. One of the most bas ass stables of all time, but like most things, WCW fucked it up. Arn Anderson will tell you that himself. I’d love to rank them higher, but the lack of longevity during the prime formation can’t be ignored.

2. The n.W.o – While the end result wasn’t pretty, you cannot deny that the formation of the n.W.o and the groups initial run was what caused the wrestling boom of the later 90s. Yes it got watered down, yes it stayed too long and yes the company relied on the idea of the n.W.o too much, but for a time they ran hot and were the best thing for business.

1. The Four Horsemen – I grew up an NWA fan, I was a Horsemen mark and today I still think that they kick ass. Flair, Arn, Tully, Ole and JJ Dillon started it, and they would have some other great additions, like Barry Windham and Lex Luger, and not so great, Roma, Sid, but the group was always a factor in the company. Just imagine if the Horsemen would have had the WWF/E machine behind them, they would be more iconic than they actually are. To me, The Four Horsemen are the prototype for a stable.