5 WWE women's teams and stables you may have forgotten

The landscape of women’s wrestling in WWE made a dramatic shift these past few weeks. Paige returned to Raw and brought along her Absolution proteges Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Meanwhile, on SmackDown, the Riott Squad, featuring Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, and Liv Morgan have shaken things up for Charlotte and company.

Critics may argue that the introduction of these two factions was too similar in too short of a period of time. The groups nonetheless made an immediate impact, and offered five new stars out of developmental clear identities on the main roster.

In particular, these two separate groups stand out for being women’s factions, a relatively rare development for WWE. It’s not without precedent though, and there have been other women’s pairs and stables of significance in company’s past. This article takes a look back five women’s teams from WWE’s history that you may have forgotten all about.

#5 PMS

Pretty Mean Sisters didn't accomplish all that much in their run.

It was no coincidence that the Pretty Mean Sisters faction went by the acronym PMS. During edgy and often as not juvenile Attitude Era, the group of Jacqueline, Terri Runnels, and Ryan Shamrock were portrayed as women on their worst behavior.

The faction wasn’t all that oriented toward wrestling itself, but rather were very much emblematic of Vince Russo’s style of booking. Three under-utilized performers had something cohesive and provocative to do. Their screen time tended to focus more on their relationships and sex lives than matches. In time, they gained a male member—subordinate Shawn Stasiak, recast as Meat, because he was nothing but a piece of meat to them.

PMS didn’t accomplish all that much, and WWE may be bit embarrassed about them in hindsight. Just the same, in catering to a teenage male demographic, they served their purpose.

#4 Team BAD

Team BAD gets overshadowed by other factions, and the bigger things Sasha Banks and Naomi went on to.

The period WWE billed as the Women’s Revolution was all about taking women’s wrestling more seriously on the main roster. It started with Stephanie McMahon introducing three new factions. Team Bella was largely an extension of the Bella Twins brand, while both giving them a third member and wedging Alicia Fox into the angle. Team PCB may be best remembered. First WWE had to awkwardly having to rename the Submission Sorority midstream (management realized the stable shared a name with a porn franchise). From there, they became the breakout stars, already featuring Paige as arguably the top female star of the day, adding rising top star Charlotte Flair, and top mechanic Becky Lynch.

The third faction of the Revolution tends to be forgotten for being less featured in the early going and for its fresh face, Sasha Banks, overshadowing the unit. Team BAD (Beautiful And Dangerous) nonetheless wound up the longest running of the three factions, up until Banks’ face turn and separation from Naomi and Tamina.

#3 LayCool

LayCool thrived as mean girls and as champions.

The late 2000s into the early 2010s aren’t exactly remembered fondly as a period for WWE women’s wrestling. LayCool—the tandem of Michelle McCool and Layla El—is worthy of some recognition, though. As snobby mean girls, they reigned over the women’s division, more than once claiming to share the Divas Championship, and generally terrorizing their face counterparts. Their antics most infamously included body shaming Mickie James in a series of parodies.

At their core, McCool and El were deceptively decent workers, and their heel shtick and pairing gave them more distinctive identity than other female performers of their era. For nearly two years, they thrived, first as a SmackDown exclusive act, and then across both brands. Over time, they’d welcome in Vickie Guerrero as their sometimes manager, and Kaval as their (strangely cast) NXT protégé.

While McCool and El would end up feuding against one another on their way out of the company, they were most certainly at their best together.

#2 The Divas of Doom

Real life friends Beth Phoenix and Natalya formed an imposing on-screen duo.

The common thread in many of WWE’s women’s factions was that they were anchored around covering for one or more wrestler not having much to offer in the ring, or lending eye candy to someone who’s all steak with little sizzle. The Divas of Doom were the antithesis of these dynamics featuring Beth Phoenix and Natalya uber-talented, powerful women out to change how fans looked at female performers.

The team paired up from summer 2011 to early 2012 to be heavily featured in the Women’s and Divas Championship scenes. They were imposing obstacles for faces of the day like Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, AJ Lee. While both are beautiful women in their own right, they made a point of emphasizing the fact that they were strong, skilled, and out to take apart the “princesses” running around WWE.

The angle never really climaxed, as the pair quietly went their separate ways in 2012.

#1 Vince’s Devils

Vince's Devils ran amok for close to a year.

There are a great deal of rumors and urban legends about Vince McMahon having had inappropriate relationships with a number of female performers over the years. While we probably won’t ever know the whole truth, one of the contributing factors to these rumors has been angles like Vince’s Devils. The trio of Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, and Victoria were a heel triumvirate, anchored around Victoria as the workhorse, while Wilson and Michelle were more eye candy.

While the trio didn’t have much in the way of meaningful storylines, they were clustered under Vince’s brand. They would have a few segments when they were shown flirting with him backstage, suggesting a seedy relationship. Wilson would ultimately splinter from the group to turn face, leaving Victoria and Michelle on their own. Michelle, too, eventually turned face to finish off the group once and for all, just shy of the one year mark.