The Best Stables in Professional Wrestling History
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While singular wrestlers tend to give off the superstar qualities people connect with, there have been some very lethal stables over the years. These groups usually are comprised of the biggest performers in the company. Some of them can be baby faces in nature, while others are total heels — and still get over massively well with crowds. This piece will rank the top 10 stables in the history of professional wrestling.
10. Dangerous Alliance
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While people may be most familiar with the versions of The Dangerous Alliance that appeared in WCW and later in ECW, the stable was first formed in the American Wrestling Alliance in 1987. Managed by Paul E. Dangerously (now Paul Heyman) all versions of the group were defined by his energetic and smarmy promos and the high level of workrate of its wrestlers.
Members included in-ring greats like Stunning Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Eddie Gilbert, Bobby Eaton, Rick Rude, Shane Douglas, Taz, Sabu… the list goes on.
The peak of the Dangerous Alliance was at WrestleWar 1992 in a fantastic Wargames match against Sting’s Squadron. Any fan of wild brawls should seek it out.
9. Main Event Mafia
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Despite what you may have heard on the internet, there were actually many bright spots in the long history of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (at least until Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff showed up in 2009). One of those was the brief but very fun tenure of The Main Event Mafia.
The group (originally comprised of Kurt Angle, Sting, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, and Booker T) formed in 2008 when some of TNA’s biggest draws and most decorated talents joined forces to declare war on the promotions young rising stars who were not, in their opinion, showing the vets enough RESPECT.
If you missed this run it’s worth looking up some of their promos and segments. Booker T in particular thrived in this stable. He really just wanted more RESPECT.
8. The Corporation
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The origins of The Corporation come from the fallout of WrestleMania 14 when, during the Spring and Summer of 1998, new WWF World Champion Steve Austin began his legendary feud with Vince McMahon. Though the chairman surrounded himself with Stooges and brought in the Big Boss Man as an enforcer, the Corporation became an official group the night after Survivor Series 1998 when The Rock was crowned Vince’s corporate champion and he joined along with Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock and Vince’s son Shane.
Though only active for two years (including a brief and confusing merger with the Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness) The Corporation was a major part of the biggest feud in pro wrestling history.
7. Evolution
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Triple H is a huge fan of NWA wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s. Once he took his place as one of the top guys in the WWE he would pay homage to those influences in several ways. Before his DX reunion phase, Triple H was doing Harley Race cosplay as the World Heavyweight Champion.
And then there’s Evolution, Triple H’s cover of The Four Horsemen. He, along with Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista were a dominant group in their time together, and the stable launched its two junior members into the main event scene. It’s hard to argue with the impact of this.
6. DX
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D-Generation X was formed in the fall of 1997 as the WWF was fully embracing the edgier style that would define the company well into the 2000s. The original group led by Shawn Michaels included a repackaged Triple H (no longer a blueblood), Hunter’s bodyguard Chyna, and briefly Rick Rude as HBK’s personal “insurance policy.”
This group pushed the boundaries of what was allowed on WWF television, and their signature “crotch chop” gesture became as ubiquitous in middle school hallways as the NWO’s “Too Sweet” hand sign.
Later incarnations led by Triple H, either with X-Pac, Chyna, and the New Age Outlaws or the reunions with Shawn Michaels, were never as cool as that first run on top.
5. The Bullet Club
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Bullet Club was formed in 2013 in New Japan Pro Wrestling when Prince Devitt joined up with Karl Anderson, Bad Luck Fale, and Tama Tonga. This group of villainous gaijin would go on to be one of the most influential factions in wrestling history, with members and sub-groups (both official and unofficial) appearing in promotions like ROH, TNA, AEW, and even WWE.
The stable has typically been led by the top foreign wrestlers in the company, propelling names like AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Jay White into the main event scene in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Like the NWO, Bullet Club became quite popular despite being heels. Also like the NWO, the group has some of the most iconic wrestling t-shirts ever sold.
4. The Bloodline
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Though their story is still being told, The Bloodline has already cemented itself as one of the great stables in WWE history and must be acknowledged as such. Managed by the “Wise Man” Paul Heyman and revolving around the famous Anoaʻi family tree, the stories told in and around this group have brought WWE to some of its highest highs in twenty years.
The “Sami Zayn Saga” produced some big-time drama and memorable moments, but even that was topped with the introduction of The Rock to the group in the buildup to WrestleMania 40. Cody Rhodes may have finished his story, but there remain plenty of pages of family drama to tell between Roman and his cousins.
3. The Elite
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Originally an offshoot of the Bullet Club, The Elite transcended New Japan, Ring of Honor, and even their independent show All In, and stamped their place in history as one of the most important groups in wrestling. They were instrumental in starting the first major competitor to WWE’s wrestling hegemony in years, All Elite Wrestling, and since its inception, The Elite’s members — Kenny Omega, Adam Page, Nick & Matt Jackson, and (originally) Cody Rhodes — have been the company’s main characters. The internal drama between The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Page has been AEW’s best long-term story, and as an on-screen faction, the group continues to evolve, recently adding Japanese dynamo Kazuchika Okada to the roster.
2. The Four Horsemen
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The original version of the Four Horsemen formed in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1985 when Ric Flair, Ole, Arn Anderson, and Tully Blanchard joined forces during a feud with Dusty Rhodes and his babyface friends. The group was present in some form in Jim Crockett Promotions and then World Championship Wrestling from its founding until its final incarnation in 1999.
While the ranks have at times included names like Lex Luger, Sting, Paul Roma, Brian Pillman, Jeff Jarrett, Curt Hennig, Dean Malenko (and many more), the constants were always The Nature Boy Ric Flair and The Enforcer Arn Anderson.
1. New World Order
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Taking inspiration from an invasion angle that he saw while visiting New Japan Pro Wrestling, the New World Order is former WCW EVP Eric Bischoff’s greatest contribution to professional wrestling and a stable that forever changed the history of the industry for better and worse.
Beginning in the Spring of 1996, the New World Order’s core trio was formed at Bash at the Beach when Hulk Hogan famously turned heel and joined up with the “invaders” Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The group would remain active in some form through 2000, and while you could argue that it ended up doing more harm than good for the company, for a time it was unquestionably the hottest thing in all of pro wrestling.
