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Some wrestling factions click right away and seem destined to be together forever. The New Day, for example, cannot possibly team with anybody else now – it just wouldn't feel right – and D-Generation X surely wouldn't have worked if they were led by anyone other than Triple H or Shawn Michaels.
However, other factions can take a little longer to gel and, on rare occasions, even require a change of team member. This has happened multiple times in pro wrestling history, with some of the very best stables in WWE, WCW and even NXT making last-minute alterations to their groups before, or sometimes after, their television debut.
In this article, we look at four examples of famous stables who could have looked very different if original booking ideas had gone ahead.
#1 Evolution
In January 2003, the WWE Universe clapped eyes on the super-faction known as Evolution for the very first time. Consisting of Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Batista, the four-man group held every title possible during their short time together and quickly became the most dominant stable of their generation.
However, the original plan was for Mark Jindrak, a former WCW performer who had impressed officials during his time in OVW, to be the fourth member of the faction instead of Batista.
The reason why WWE decided to replace Jindrak was revealed by the man himself on Twitter in 2013: “I wasn't ready for Evolution at that time in my career. I was immature and Batista fit better. It was mine to lose and I dropped the ball.”
Jindrak, now going by the name Marco Corleone, has since built a successful career for himself in Mexico, with the highlight coming when he won the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship in June 2017.
#2 NWO
Before the New World Order (NWO) spiralled out of control and gained an extra 59 members, they were originally a three-man group consisting of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and, of course, Hulk Hogan.
At Bash At The Beach 1996, Nash and Hall (The Outsiders) took on the team of Randy Savage, Sting and Lex Luger in a six-man tag match, with their partner – the famous “third man” – not revealed until the last few minutes of the broadcast.
That’s when Hogan, a long-time fan favourite who many thought would never play a heel character, turned his back on fans by planting two of his famous Atomic Legdrops on Savage.
Writing in his book Controversy Creates Cash, former WCW executive producer Eric Bischoff revealed that Sting was first approached about being Nash and Hall’s partner. He was “not knock-me-over enthusiastic, but receptive”, according to Bischoff, while Hall later said that Sting was going to be sent out as the third man if Hogan didn’t show up.
#3 The Shield
Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose debuted at Survivor Series 2012 as three relatively unknown guys from NXT. Five years on, they’re three of the most successful, popular names in WWE.
However, had CM Punk liked the original idea that was presented to him by head writer Eric Pankowski, the last five years of WWE could have been very different.
Pankowski’s suggestion was for Punk to be the leader of a heel faction including Rollins, Big Show and Daniel Bryan, but "The Best In The World" immediately shot it down and suggested that he should be aligned with Rollins, Ambrose and Kassius Ohno.
WWE liked the idea but, as the Chicago native told Colt Cabana on the infamous episode of his Art of Wrestling podcast, they chose Reigns instead of Ohno to be the third member of The Shield, with Punk – originally set to be the leader of a new faction – continuing as a singles wrestler.
#4 SAnitY
NXT fans have become accustomed to seeing Eric Young, Alexandre Wolfe, Killian Dain and Nikki Cross as the four members of hell-raising faction SAnitY – but it wasn’t always that way.
The original four members were actually Young, Wolfe, Cross and Sawyer Fulton, hence the name SAnitY ("S" for Sawyer, "A" for Alexander, "ni†" for Nikki, and "Y" for Young).
However, Fulton suffered a serious torn pectoral injury in November 2016 and was replaced in the group by Dain, who had just signed a developmental contract with NXT and debuted at a live event under the name Damian O'Connor.
Fulton returned from injury in April 2017 but was released from his WWE contract in November after a year away from NXT television.
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