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My Top 5 Favorite Wrestling Stables

Recently, there was a WWE generated poll in which The WWE decided that The Shield is “the best stable in wrestling history”. And I was thinking like, “what a slap in the face of some the other great stables that came before it.”

Here are my top 5 favorite wrestling stables.

1. nWo - There has been no other stable who has made the biggest impact in wrestling history other than the nWo because for three straight years from 1996-1998, the nWo dominated and ran roughshod through the entire WCW roster during the peak years of WCW because of they had notable feuds with the likes of Sting, Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, and The Four Horsemen. Then who will ever forget the unforgettably infamous episode where they did something that no other wrestling stable before or after them have ever done when completely took over an entire episode of Nitro on December 22, 1997 by calling it “nWo Monday Nitro.” The mega success of the nWo storyline was what made me become a wrestling fan when I was 12 years old and it’s what helped WCW become not only the #1 wrestling promotion in North America throughout the entire year of 1997, but also helped Nitro beat Raw in an unforgettable and memorable 84 weeks in a row. My favorite wrestling stable that I was a big fan of back in the day will always be The Wolfpac led by Kevin Nash with fellow members Sting, Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Konnan who often feuded with the nWo Hollywood heel stable led by Hollywood Hogan and his cronies. Even though the group played a big role in the downfall of WCW, but nobody can ever deny the mega impact that the nWo had on the wrestling industry during its peak in the late 1990s.

Note: Kevin Nash did an interview several months ago and revealed that the concept for the nWo came from Death Row Records who at the time were notorious for being aggressive and ruthless towards not only their enemies, but also towards their own as well. Nash also revealed in that same interview that most of the nWo’s catchphrases were inspired by notable west Coast rappers at the time like Mac Dre, Mack 10, and the legendary rap artist Tupac Shakur. The inspiration of the nWo Wolfpac’s theme “Don’t Turn Your Back On The Wolfpac” came from a rap song called “Burn” from a little known west coast rap group called “Militia” which was only used for the live TV shows while “Burn” was only used at the house shows. The nWo Wolfpac’s “Don’t Turn Your Back On The Wolfpac” theme will always be my favorite all-time wrestling theme.

Note #2: The popular stable that was started by Finn Balor and Karl Anderson called “The Bullet Club” was actually inspired by the nWo and would later recruit members such as Kenny Omega, AJ Styles, Cody Rhodes, and The Young Bucks just to name a few. The members of “The Bullet Club” always put on some of the most amazing matches in the ring. The main difference I noticed between The Bullet Club & The nWo is that unlike the nWo, The Bullet Club has adapted to change and has had broader and much bigger success title wise than nWo ever did during their peak years from 1996-1998 in WCW.

2. Evolution - In early 2003, then-World Heavyweight Champion Triple H along with Ric Flair formed the faction called “Evolution” which later added two young upcoming wrestlers in Randy Orton and Batista. From 2003 and much of 2004, they dominated and ran roughshod throughout Raw in ways that DX, The Nation Of Domination, The Wyatt Family, nor even The Shield could do because I greatly remember seeing Evolution having a monopoly over the main titles on Raw during that particular period with Triple H as World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Orton as Intercontinental Champion, and Ric Flair and Batista as Tag Team Champions. The breaking up of the group in 2005 created two of bigger stars in WWE history in Randy Orton and Batista. Their dominant run will always be remembered by wrestling fans like myself.

3. The Four Horsemen - Back in the 1980s and 1990s, The Four Horsemen in the NWA and WCW were one of the most dominant stables in wrestling that forever changed the landscape of pro wrestling had notable members like Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Chris Benoit. The stable name came from an Arn Anderson promo mentioning “The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse”. My favorite version of The Four Horsemen are from the mid to late 1990s in WCW with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, & Chris Benoit. The stable was also known to be the first group of cool heels in wrestling way before the nWo took the cool heel portrayal to new heights in the late 1990s in WCW.

4. The New Day - Even though I’m not a big fan of the constant buck dancing (particularly during their entrance) that The New Day is forced to do by The WWE, I am however a big fan of the group because they put on some of the most amazing tag team matches on Smackdown Live every week. They have been one of the most dominant tag teams in The WWE over the past few years recently winning their fifth world tag team title on an episode of Smackdown Live just two days after the controversial DQ win they got at Summerslam and was then recently crown to “The 5 time club” by my favorite all-time wrestler in Booker T.

5. The Nation Of Domination - Based On The Black Panther Party and The Nation Of Islam, The Nation Of Domination was one of the most dominant wrestling stables of the late 1990s with The Rock, Faarooq, D-Lo Brown, and Kama Mustafa. The controversial group were known for speaking truth about racial oppression and injustices in their non-scripted promos that angered white fans in the arenas and those at home watching on television. The group even won some gold with D-Lo Brown winning The European title twice and The Rock winning The International Title one time and holding it for 265 days which is still the longest reign of any Intercontinental Champion in the modern era in The WWE. Their revolutionary stance on social and political issues affecting the black community in America is something that I will always remember.

The Conclusion - Even though The Shield stable has gotten a bit too stale and played out to me, but before anyone or WWE for that matter tell me The Shield is “the best stable in WWE history” should go back and look at some of the other great stables that came before The Shield.

By Kwame Shakir

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