Within the realm of professional wrestling storytelling, there are several tried-and-true devices that bookers utilize over and over to tell the tales that make men climb between the ropes and beat each other senseless. Some classics include love triangles, mismatched/feuding tag team partners, protégés who turn against their mentors, and authority figures who manipulate the playing field to their own liking. But perhaps none is more time-tested and proven than the very simple concept of combining a team of wrestlers with a common goal under an official banner and group name. I’m referring of course to factions, or teams, lovingly referred to by wrestling fans as “stables”.
TODAY’S ISSUE: Stables
If you’re talking pro wrestling stables, your conversation simply must begin and end with the Four Horsemen. Believe it or not, the NWA world heavyweight champion Nature Boy Ric Flair, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew of Ole Anderson and his kayfabe nephew Arn, and the reigning TV champ Tully Blanchard, who together would go on to become the standard-bearers in stables for over two decades, only banded together on screen by chance. In 1986, television time constraints forced them to cut one group promo instead of allotting individual time for each, and lightning in a bottle was found. When Arn compared this fearsome foursome to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the name stuck and the team was formed for good.
Their long and successful run created the blueprint for how a stable should operate, and most successors emulate at least some of the Horsemen’s effective strategies. They generally protect or assist a single leader, and stand together until somebody in the group oversteps his bounds and pays the price. Besides the centerpiece of the team, most stables also include an enforcer and at least one solid wrestler, who can carry the workload for the team between the ropes. And be forewarned, it’s usually not wise to cross such a faction, because if they ever do get one-upped, embarrassed, or defeated, their revenge is normally doled out in spades.
The nWo, a heel faction that made a huge impact on the US pro wrestling scene during it’s hottest period, often served as nothing more than Hollywood Hogan’s personal posse, keeping the big gold belt firmly around his waist while sucking up all the other available titles in the process. They had an array of talent in all shapes and sizes, from big monsters to nimble cruiserweights, but the focal point was always Hogan, just as Flair had been in the Horsemen. At the same time up north, the Rock was the centerpiece of Vince McMahon’s Corporation, and in more modern times, Jimmy Rave was the Crown Jewel of Prince Nana’s Embassy in Ring of Honor. It’s a timeless dynamic which even Flair himself helped recreate in 2003 when he and Triple H banded together with Batista and Randy Orton as Evolution, a very close replica of the original Four Horsemen.
True to form, Triple H was the beneficiary of most of Evolution’s efforts, and Flair allowed himself to be relegated to a backing role. Batista was the silent-but-deadly enforcer, the monster of the group, while Orton was the cocky, handsome, seemingly preordained, designated breakout star. That Batista’s singles run after leaving Evolution was far more successful than Orton’s (and still going somewhat strong today) is more a result of Orton’s face turn being hotshot and forced down our throats, while Batista was allowed to simmer to perfection as he caught onto Triple H’s chicanery and outsmarted his two former mentors.
Whether the only association among stable-mates is sharing a manager like Sweet & Sour, Incorporated in ROH today, or if there’s a closer bond of friendship like the “Gang Warz” factions of late 90’s (including the shared nationality Los Boricuas and the biker gang known as Disciples of Apocalypse), teams of wrestlers often ease the storytelling burden for bookers, and make the shows more exciting. By having something on the line, even if only a single battle in the larger war between two feuding factions, wrestling matches are more exciting. Take the conflict between the Nation of Domination and D-Generation X in the WWF from about a decade ago. Not only did this result in the catapulting of both the Rock and Triple H to the top of the card, but it also made what would have otherwise been meaningless matches, like D-Lo Brown versus X-Pac, into exciting chapters in a bigger story.
With two stables embroiled in a hot rivalry, bookers can build entire cards out of nothing more than a few battles between them. What easier way is there to make a fight relevant than by making it a small battle in the war between two factions? In this regard, not only will dueling teams bring focus to matches, they can actually help a floundering mid-carder get over with the crowd, as his new alliance gives him focus that might have been previously lacking, simply by adding an agenda or cause to his effort. In fact, this concept has elevated many otherwise pedestrian matches to critical conflicts in larger struggles for supremacy.
At Ring of Honor’s November 2007 Man Up pay-per-view, faction warfare was heavily featured as all the members of the heated rivals No Remorse Corps and the Resilience met in a series of three singles matches. Comprising the bulk of the undercard to one of the most highly anticipated matches in company history (Briscoes vs. Steenerico in ROH’s first ever ladder war) was no easy task. Besides the opening four corners survival match and an epic battle between Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishima over the world title, which could have held its own on any card anywhere, the NRC/Resilience war WAS the undercard.
The crowd can be so anxious for a match like the ladder war in the main event that they could look past anything preceding it, and never give the undercard a chance. But so heated was the rivalry between NRC and the Resilience, and so intense and well-executed were their three matches, that they kept the attention of the live crowd and helped the show build to the explosive clash between the Briscoes and Steenerico rather than limping along to the finish line. That is the power of a proper duel between two stables at odds.
A powerful side effect of stables is that those lone wolves who dare to stand against them come across as more wild and dangerous than possible without those overwhelming odds against them. Think about the crow Sting, DDP, and Goldberg in their individual stands against the mighty nWo, or Stone Cold Steve Austin battling the likes of the Hart Foundation, the Corporation, and the Ministry of Darkness. The “Rambo” routine against an entire army is a phenomenal storytelling device, and when properly executed it practically forces the fans to care about the lone wolf’s plight, and when fans care, they open not only their hearts but their wallets, and the promoter wins.
Another benefit of stables is that they can speed the blossoming of a new wrestler by strengthening his impact on the company. Case in point: Generation Next. Ring of Honor’s young lions stable took the company by storm in May of 2004, and Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans leapfrogged to a station of importance via this one huge splash, rather than having to bide their time and slowly get over with the crowd. In kayfabe, they simply went out and took what they felt they deserved, and refused to be denied.
It obviously worked, because throughout their tenure they captured the ROH world title (Aries), the tag team titles (Aries and Strong), and won Survival of the Fittest (Strong) while etching themselves a place in the annals of modern pro wrestling lore. Aries and Strong are still important members of the ROH landscape today, and Shelley is half of one of the most beloved tag teams in the world, the Motor City Machine Guns. Meanwhile, Jack Evans is still doing his thing in the US, Japan, and Mexico, and another former GenNext member, Matt Sydal, is enjoying a decent run in ECW as Evan Bourne. Clearly their membership in that faction was a springboard to successful careers for each man.
With the current WWE roster focusing on several second-generation performers, there’s been much speculation about either a “New Breed” type group, and these rumors about such a stable forming excites fans and keeps us guessing and fantasy booking, hoping to see the next great team to run roughshod over all the singles wrestlers who might get in their way. There’s always something special about the genesis of a new faction, and the wonder of what they might accomplish and which stars might breakout and become the next Rock, Triple H, Batista, or X-Pac (just kidding).
With catchphrases, t-shirts, gestures, and poses all serving to solidify a group into a recognized unit, a successful stable can live on with another set of soldiers carrying the tradition when membership changes. After all, the US Army is always the US Army, even as the previous generation’s veterans retire and tomorrow’s soldiers enter their first day of basic training in boot camp. Such is the power of combining a few random performers into a cohesive unit, or stable. This is a plot device wrestling fans will continue to enjoy, and it will always be a good way to do business.
Vin Sanity is not categorized as a psychological disorder… yet.
p.s. – “They can because they think they can.” – Virgil
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The original version of this “syndicated” column, titled Alternate Reality by Vin Tastic appears each Monday morning on Pulse Wrestling. Elsewhere on Pulse Wrestling this week…
Big Andy Mac has done it again! In a must-listen for indy fans, he’s brought us another outstanding podcast, this one with Sweet and Sour Larry Sweeney! But the Andy Mac-Attack doesn’t stop there. He reveiws an ROH dvd release for a pair of Dover, NJ shows collectively known as Double Feature, too.
Mark Buckeldee is back with his second installment of Puro Shukan.
Pulse Wrestling brings you, courtesy of BetweenTheRopes.com an excellent interview with Ted DiBiase.
In a rack-and-stack special, our very own Ring of Honor Ace, Aaron Glazer, details the likelihood of who will unseat Nigel McGuinness as the next ROH kingpin in Ring of Honor Weekly.
Andy Wheeler discusses John Cena’s injury in his For Your Consideration, while Paul Marshall takes a look at some of WWE’s high-profile injuries (including Cena’s) in The Marshall Report.
In his informative and fun Guerrilla Chickarticles, Jonathan Kirschner continues discussing the life and times of Shane Storm.
Finally this week, another review, as Mark Neeley takes a look back at WCW Superbrawl VIII.
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