The bread and butter ofWWEhappens to be stables.Wrestling stablesoften serve as a launching pad for furthering the individual success of its members once the group inevitably disbands. Alternatively, a stable can be used as a vehicle for one major singles star to thrive, surrounding them with role players who can bring out the strengths of its leader.
Wrestling fans can easily listthe greatest factions in WWE historyoff the top of their heads, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some great factions who go overlooked by the wayside. Fans can never forget the impact of stables comprised of current andfuture WWE Hall of Famerslike Evolution, the Four Horsemen, DX, and the nWo. Otherwise, there are stables which remain entertaining and memorable without achieving the same level of success, but deserve the same level of recognition.
10X-Factor
The Stable Became an Unexpected Breakout for Future Hall of Famer, Matt Bloom
In 2001, after years of tag team success as X-Pac, WWE seemed keen ongiving Sean Waltman a singles push. Initially, he’d join a debuting Justin Credible for a tag team that turned into a faction shortly after once Albert became their enforcer. According to Waltman in a CVV interview, WWE even gave them “What ‘Chu Lookin’ At?” by Uncle Kracker as an entrance theme song at Waltman’s request.
Despite being largely forgotten, the group did achieve notable success, including a few singles Cruiserweight/Light Heavyweight title reigns for X-Pac, but also an Intercontinental Title reign for Albert. Although X-Factor may have been conceived as a vehicle to get X-Pac over,Albert became the surprise breakout starof the group, getting far more time to shine as an X-Factor member than in his previous T&A stable with Test and Trish Stratus. His IC Title match with Kane is one of the bestforgotten matches of the Attitude Era.
9The New Breed
WWE’s Most Underrated Young Stars Started Off in This Stable
Around the dawn of WWE’s revival of the ECW brand, the WWE Chairman’s Mr. McMahon character criticized the reckless andall-too-extreme attitudes of ECWOriginals like Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam, choosing to praise the future stars that the brand had to offer, especially Elijah Burke. This would lead to brand warfare between the ECW Originals and a New Breed led by Burke, featuring Marcus Cor Von, Kevin Thorn, and Matt Striker, prompting a WrestleMania 23 tag match and an Extreme Rules match the following Tuesday.
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In due time, both teams would vie for the attention of CM Punk, with Punk joining the New Breed briefly as a turncoat that would lead to the group’s demise. The concept itself led to some of the new ECW’s most compelling storylines. As for the stable themselves,The New Breed was bursting with talent, and while many of them remained overlooked in the WWE banner, stars like Burke achieved success elsewhere, like TNA.
8The Cabinet
JBL’s Heel Run in WWE Was Defined by The Cabinet
When the former Acolyte of the APA, Bradshaw, rebranded as JBL in 2004, the new heel persona was that of a political figure that leaned intoJohn Layfield’s real-life role as a CNBC contributorat the time. Like any political figure, the then-WWE Champion felt he was deserving of a Cabinet. United States Champion Orlando Jordan was his Chief of Staff, the Basham Brothers were his Co-Secretaries of Defense, Amy Weber was his Image Consultant, and later, Jillian Hall was his publicist.
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While his Cabinet members failed to achieve the same level of success as the Hall of Famer, the gimmick wasestablished to get heat on JBL, which it absolutely did. JBL cowarding behind his Cabinet and using them to extend his lengthy title infuriated fans, which as SmackDown’s top heel was the entire point.
7Seth Rollins' Unnamed Messiah Group
Using One of Rollins' Best Gimmicks to Elevate the Younger Stars
Seth Rollins has achieved many iterations of his character over the years, but by far his most underrated yet short-lived is when he wasthe Monday Night Messiah. As a cult-like figure, he preached his personal gospel alongside his legion of devoted followers: Akam and Rezar of the Authors of Pain, Buddy Murphy, and for a short time, Austin Theory.The group wasonly hindered by timing, namely the COVID-19 Pandemic, robbing them of the chance to do their work in front of fans. AOP would be released while Theory was called back to NXT.
With only one disciple left, the group fell apart before WWE got to see its full potential. What fans did see, though, wasa surprisingly intricate storylinethat managed to highlight four up-and-coming stars whilst letting Rollins maintain his main event spotlight in feuds with Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio, and then-WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.
6The Ruthless Roundtable
Did Exactly What a Stable With Rookies Led By a Veteran Should Do
William Regal ranks among the best WWE stars tonever win a World Title. One of his closest opportunities to do so came in 2009 when he was drafted to ECW and feuded with its World Heavyweight Champion, Christian. To ensure victory, he recruited the talents of Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson. After several attempts, Regal never won the ECW Championship, but he did successfullyhelp get Kozlov and Jackson overin ways that they couldn’t beforehand.
Previously, Jackson didn’t have the chance to properly break out on SmackDown as Brian Kendrick’s bodyguard, while Kozlov’s main event push wasn’t received as positively as expected. Receiving tutelage from Regal proved to be the reset they needed to portray them as dominant Superstars,setting them up for further success. After Regal and Jackson turned on Kozlov, Jackson won the ECW Championship, then the Intercontinental Championship, while Kozlov became Tag Champ with Santino Marella.
5King’s Court Leaves
King Booker’s Court Was a Highlight of His Hall of Fame Career
One thing that can’t be understated is just how muchBooker T commits to his characters. Heading into the sixth World Championship reign of his career, WWE would rechristenarguably WCW’s greatest World Championas King Booker upon his King of the Ring win. Not only would Booker opt to adorn a cape and crown, but he’d appoint Fit Finlay and William Regal as his loyal subjects, while his real-life wife Sharmell became his Queen.
King’s Court was merely a vehicle for King Booker to get over as a heel and give audiences a reason to hate him, but sometimes, all a stable needs to be isa vehicle to elevate the leader. King’s Court was exactly that, with everyone involved playing their role to perfection, especially Booker as the eccentric mad ruler.
4Team B.A.D.
Team Beautiful and Dangerous Were Better Than the Average Makeshift Team in WWE, Male or Female
When WWE first started opening doors for the Women’s Revolution following the controversial #GiveDivasAChance movement, the company decided to call up three young NXT standouts to start the Revolution: Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch. To get the rookies over with new main roster audiences, Lynch and Flair were paired with Paige to form PCB, whileThe Boss joined Tamina and Naomias Team B.A.D.
While PCB struggled to get over as a makeshift team paired together,Team B.A.D. displayed natural chemistry. Small touches like matching outfits and their “UNITY!” team handshake gesture helped make this team feel like actual friends, as opposed to random people paired together for a group project at work. Most makeshift teams fall into the latter category. Team B.A.D. is still fondly remembered today, enough so that a brief reunion at WrestleMania 36 received a pivotal spotlight.
3La Familia
The Edge Faction That Dominated ECW and SmackDown
The seeds of La Familiawere first planted after Edge’s return at Survivor Series 2007, where he cost future WrestleMania opponent The Undertaker his World Heavyweight Championship. It was soon revealed that the Rated R Superstar had literally slept his way to the top by romancing SmackDown’s General Manager, Vickie Guerrero. The following month, with help from former Major Brothers, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, Edge would win the World Title. Then, they’d collectively help Chavo Guerrero capture the ECW Championship. Together, with bodyguard Bam Neely and chauffeur Teddy Long assisting a wheelchair-bound Vickie, they became La Familia.
On Friday’s SmackDown and Tuesday’s ECW, La Familiahelped build Edge’s case as a heelstaple of the main event picture. La Familia often gets forgotten and overlooked in the grand scheme of the Ruthless Aggression Era, but proved essential in getting Edge over as one of the most despicable heels of the era.
2The Spirit Squad
A Heat Magnet Gimmick That Was Perfect for Mid-2000s Era WWE
During the mid-2000s, male femininity wasn’t accepted as widely or positively by mainstream audiences as it is today. WWE knew this, and to capitalize on societal morale, they conceived of The Spirit Squad, which was male feminity personified. There were few things crowds hated more than pretty boy cheerleaders, and it showed in the reactions they were receiving.The group generated enough heatto warrant a reign as World Tag Team Championship, where every member was a champion under the Freebird Rule.
Popularized in WCCW (World Class Championship Wrestling) through the Fabulous Freebirds, the Freebird Rule allows for each member of a wrestling stable to be recognized as Tag Team Champions, rather than just two men, as traditionally is the case. Any two men from the stable can represent the group during tag team title matches as well. The Freebird Rule was revived for the modern era after The New Day won their first WWE Tag Team Championship in 2015.
As theRuthless Aggression Era’s most despised stable, this led to the team taking part in main event storylines, most notably as WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s dastardly henchmen and feuding with D-Generation X for Shawn Michaels and Triple H’s reunion. Speaking of, the Spirit Squad enjoyed a brief reunion in 2016 as cronies for The Miz in his feud with former member, Dolph Ziggler.
1Right to Censor
RTC Came at a Perfect Time in WWE History
The Attitude Era was WWE’s most vulgar, violent, and provocative period of time, sporting moments thatWWE would not get away with today. This obviously produced controversy for the company, particularly from groups like PTC (the Parents Television Council) who hoped to censor WWE programming. To reflect these censorship efforts as parody, WWE produced the Right to Censor stable. When the WWE Universe loved the suggestive segments, RTC’s attempts to censor such segments made them the company’s most hated entity at the time. Fans especially hated the group’s blaring alarm theme song.
It’s worth noting that the stable was comprised of characters who used to indulge in such provocative content, like the uber-violent ECW album Stevie “Steven” Richards, former pimp The Godfather turned Goodfather, and ex-sex worker Val Venis.
The standout of the group was Ivory, who fit in perfectly as Women’s Champion, and seeing her finally get her comeuppance at the hands of Chyna made for a satisfying WrestleMania moment. Everything they did got massive heat, and wheneverWWESuperstars turned down their offers to join, it helped get babyfaces over.
