Rating the top ten WWE stables of all time (Part I)

Stables have been a part of pro-wrestling for a very long time. Starting from The Four Horsemen to the Nexus, the WWE has till date seen several successful and mediocre stables alike. While each faction has had its own ups and downs, the concept of stables has at present become lost.

The attitude era, despite having several sub-par wrestlers in its roster, is the most preferred times of the WWE for many. The main reason behind this is the entertainment. Another reason that made the attitude era successful was the presence of factions. Stables like the DX, The Ministry of Darkness, The Brood, The Corporation and plenty more have made their mark in history books of wrestling, not necessarily for their wrestling skills but more importantly their ability to entertain.

The WWE, ECW and WCW have created several factions, giving fans their dose of wrestling and entertainment and lets hope there are several more that will come in the near future. Here’s a list of the top ten stables that WWE has seen till date.

10. Evolution

Members: Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Batista.

Storyline: With the WCW gone, the WWE had no longer any sort of competition to be worried about. This led to the beginning of the downfall in the creativity of the WWE. But still, there was this one stable that made a great impact on fans.

Evolution began as a group that boasted of wrestlers of the past, present and future. This faction is without doubt one of the longest and the most successful ones in the company. Headed by Triple H, Evolution held almost all the titles that the WWE had. Triple H mainly looked for the World Heavyweight Championship. He mostly held the title courtesy useful interference from the other members.

This went on quite well for sometime and seemed to get bad when Triple H lost his title to Chris Benoit in Wrestlemania XXI. This led to Triple H panicking and including Eugene into the faction and this decision cost Triple H the title again in the rematch as Eugene messed things up quite badly.

Randy eventually became the No.1 Contender and defeated Chris Benoit at SummerSlam. Triple H’s inability to get hold of the title made him jealous of Orton and instead of congratulating him Triple H turned against Orton, as a result ousting him from the faction.

Later on, Batista left the stable turning against Triple H and challenging for his World Heavyweight Championship title. Then the only two remaining members finally broke off when Triple H turned on Ric Flair.

9. The Radicalz

Members: Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Terri Runnels.

Storyline: A WCW stable created by Perry Saturn, Chris Benoit and Eddie Gurrero and later Terri Runnels, who joined the group as Saturn’s girlfriend in 2000.

This group was a part of WCW as The Revolution and later left the WCW as the wrestlers were unhappy with the way the management treated these mid-card wrestlers. Eric Bischoff gave the members an opportunity to negotiate their contract and Benoit and the others chose to leave which gave WCW a blow that meant their end.

The group then entered WWF as The Radicalz and was first introduced in the audience. They interfered in a match that involved The New Age Outlaws and Al Snow, and after a brief fight with Billy Gunn and Road Dogg the group came into existence as Jim Ross named them The Radicalz.

The WWE told them that they would be given a contract only if they defeated DX. Malenko suffered the first blow as he lost to DX. Though according to plans Eddie and Benoit were supposed to win, Eddie accidentally broke his elbow leading the management to change plans in the last minute and make both Benoit and Eddie lose. Triple H however gave them contracts on a condition that they went all out against Mick Foley.

Later on, with each of the members’ desires to become successful as singles wrestlers, the group got separated and with Benoit gaining popularity with his feud against Kurt Angle, the group saw its end in the middle of 2001.

8. The Million Dollar Corporation

Members: Ted DiBiase, 1-2-3 Kid, Nikolai Volkoff, Kama The Supreme Fighting Machine, Tatanka, Bam Bam Bigelow, Sycho Sid, The Ringmaster (Steve Austin) and many other superstars.

Storyline: One of the most regarded heel stables of all time, The Million Dollar Corporation was started by DiBiase Sr. Initial members of the team were Nikolai Volkoff and Bam Bam Bigelow. The Corporation is infamous for creating the Undertaker Vs Undertaker match in 1994’s Summerslam. DiBiase claimed to have brought back The Undertaker from the dead and initially everyone seemed to agree. Later on people came to know him as a doppelganger and then the face off between the real and the so called Undertaker began.

The Corporation also broke up the team of Lex Luger and Tatanka when the stable claimed to have turned Luger on their side. Tatanka was furious about this and demanded a match against Luger and in a sudden turn of events, Tatanka joined the Corporation after pinning Luger. Bigelow was famous for his Wrestlemania XI bout against football legend Lawrence Taylor, but he lost that match.

Later on the Corporation got involved in several feuds with The Undertaker, Luger, Diesel and Razor Ramon. In order to fight The Undertaker, DiBiase brought in new recruits in the form of King Kong Bundy and Kama. Sycho Sid fought against Shawn Michaels in Wrestlemania XI and Steve Austin faced Savio Vega.

The group disbanded when Steve Austin lost a strap match at In Your House: Beware of Dog to Vega. The match was played with a stipulation that if Steve Austin lost, DiBiase would have to leave WWF. As a result of the loss DiBiase left and Austin took up his Stone Cold gimmick.

7. The Hart Foundation

Members: Bret (The Hitman) Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, British Bulldog, Brian Pillman.

Storyline: After Wrestlemania 13 in the year 1997 Bret Hart created this faction by recruiting Owen, Pillman, Neidhart and Bulldog to make sure the Hart Foundation was revived.

This faction mainly was created as Bret Hart turned heel and is remembered for several feuds. The faction has held almost all titles of the company. The most memorable feud of the foundation was with ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.

The faction mainly represented Anti-American statements and managed to generate a lot of heat everywhere they went. In fact they even were booed in Canada which is supposed to be the home town of Bret Hart.

Following the death of Pillman and the infamous Montreal Screwjob, the group had to dismantle and mark its end.

6. The Nation of Domination

Members: Farooq, DLo Brown, The Rock, Savio Vega, Owen Hart, Mark Henry several other superstars that represented the pro-black theme.

Storyline: Founded in the year 1996 by Farooq, Nation of Domination started as something similar to a militant group. The faction generally consisted of African-American wrestlers who were trying to prove a point. Farooq started this stable with Savio Vega, Crush and DLo Brown, but an altercation made Farooq send out Vega and Crush later.

Ahmed Johnson and Kama Mustafa joined the group for a short while and this stable didn’t have much to do during this time. After Johnson’s departure from the stable due to the injury, Mark Henry and The Rock joined the group to bring about the best time of the faction in the company.

Vega and Crush who were ousted from the faction formed a rival stable called The Disciple of Apocalypse, with whom The Nation had a long feud. They also were in a memorable feud with Los Boricuas.

The faction saw its glory days when The Rock gained control of the group after winning the Intercontinental Championship. Farooq was ousted from the group and later on The Nation went into a huge feud with the DX.

The Nation later on seemed very dormant and in the year 1998 went on to disintegrate as The Rock started gaining popularity. The faction was officially ended by making DLo Brown and Henry beat up The Rock for his newfound fame and glory.

Stay glued for the next article to know the top 5 stables on this list.