Worst Factions Of All Time.

[Cobra1000]

I don't think they have been mentioned yet, but the Latino World Order was a waste of time and seemed to serve little purpose.

 

True, it didn't succeed in doing very much but it had potential and I believe it WOULD have succeeding if figurehead Eddie Guerrero hadn't almost died in the car accident that Christmas. The gimmick was shelved when he wasn't there to lead it any more.

 

Plus to be fair as has always been said of WCW, they didn't really give a shit about the cruiserweights or Mexican Luchadores that they seemingly had about 20 at their disposal. I reckon though I Eddie wasn't involved in that accident that the group could have developed into a relatively good mid card act... Certainly not the worst group of all time!

[Happ Hazzard]

Were there ever any factions in old-school British wrestling?

[PowerButchi]

DOA were shit weren't they?

 

I used to think they were really really really fucking cool when I was 12, but the years haven't been kind, no. And it involves The Harris Brothers, so it's shit by default anyway.

 

As a teenager I had no problem with The Bruise Brothers' original runs in USWA, SMW, ECW and WCW - I actually quite liked their Bruiser Brody rip-off at the time and in a funny note (in retrospect) I remember the magazines like Superstars of Wrestling/Powerslam used to praise them a lot/were annoyed when they jobbed to Hogan and Sting in 45 seconds. Even in WWF with Uncle Zeb I had no problem with them/thought they served their purpose.

 

How the hell they managed to stay employed and get further runs in ECW, WWF, WCW, Nashville era TNA (2002

[TheBigBoot]

I hope the Bellas aren't locker room enforcers (though it would explain the amount of TV time they get). I'm dreading turning on TNA (or maybe whatever its replacement is) in 2020 because you just know Brie and Nikki will still be there.

 

Seriously though that's just it with the Harris Boys, I think the locker room enforcer bit was probably a bigger deal than the twins thing in the end since any appeal you can get out of the switcheroo thing (which I will admit is a cool spot the first two or three times you see it) had long gone by the time they'd been on TV on and off for over a decade.

 

I know they were close mates with Russo and that he (allegedly) brought them into WCW they were pretty much his enforcers (onscreen and off) because of the political atmosphere there so I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they ended up getting the security gig at TNA. Still no excuse they ended up wrestling in every company they ended up in.

 

Like I said about their early 90s stuff they did have potential at one point and not the worst tag team I've ever seen in-ring since I don't think they botched a load of things or anything (at least that I remember) but you'd be hard pressed to find another act that actually seemed allergic to getting over.

 

The Cole Twins should have buddied up to Bischoff or something.

 

Kurrgan was never going to get a push when Kane came onto scene around the same time.

 

Just seen this, if that is in answer to my question above to spotlight r.e.

 

Kurrgan was never going to make it

 

Out of interest, why?

 

The guy wasn't a great worker but WWF didn't have anyone that size at the time. When I first saw him my reaction was "future Undertaker (who was then WWF Champ) opponent". Not saying I thought he was going to become a great worker but I had the opposite reaction to you in that back in Summer 1997 I thought he would be the kind of guy who would have gotten a big push at some point.

 

... Then cheers. But thing is there were already plans to bring Kane in when he debuted and they did give him a bit of a push.

 

Giving him his own name to go with the nickname (thus setting him apart) and then that whole match at Survivor Series where he destroyed four big guys in the form of DOA was all about pushing him. Then changing his attire and theme tune post-Survivor Series they did indeed seem to be giving him a push and it did look to me like the traditional 'build up a big man to face Undertaker' build. I'd say from Surivor Series right up to Royal Rumble (which coincided with the height of Kane destroying people) Kurrgan was getting a pretty strong midcard push. It is only after then they gave up on him for whatever reason.

 

If you had asked me in late '97 who the guys who would get elevated in WWF in 1998-99 over the next two years would be I'd have guessed Triple H (getting more TV time, promo time and announcer/print praise from all official WWF sources than any midcard act around), Kane (destroying everyone, going into feud with Undertaker), Ken Shamrock, The Rock (new IC Champ) and Kurrgan.

 

I was just interest that spotlight's reaction to seeing him (i.e. 'this guy will never make it') was the polar opposite to my own (i.e. 'this guy sucks a bit but he's massive... Yep he'll get a push')

 

Speaking of The Truth Commission...

 

Truth Commission I always thought was a good gimmick but poorly done. The Jackal I enjoyed but Kurrgan was never going to make it and guys like Recon and Sniper doing nothing but jobbing to Steve Blackman.

WWF never really seemed to know what they were doing with the gimmick, which is even worse when you consider that they tried it out in the USWA first.

 

Mantaur was originally part of the group (known as Tank), but he was quickly replaced by Sniper in the WWF. The Commandant (an actor buddy of Bret Hart) was the original 'manager' of the group until he was replaced by the Jackyl and the group just seemed to then tread water. Ricon & Sniper were later repackaged as Armageddon but lasted just a couple of tapings. I always got the impression that they were hoping for big things from Interrogator/Kurrgan but when it transpired he wasn't any good, they just gave up on the group.

 

Correct and one of the biggest internet myths ever seems to be that he didn't make it to the WWE. Whether its various articles, wikipedia, posts on here, whatever people always talk about there being a "USWA only member called Tank" or words to that effect which is crap since I remember watching (and recording) their debut on Shotgun/Superstars and it was Recon, The Interrogator and Tank.

 

The only similar 'urban myth that has become fact because wiki and the various wrestling writers told me so (even though if I actually watched the programmes back I'd realised it isn't true)' from that period I can compare it to is the one about The Headbangers/Sisters of Love:

 

http://ukff.com/index.php?showtopic=112783&st=0

 

The Headbangers were my favourite tag-team in the Attitude era. I think it all went a bit downhill from them when Thrasher got injured in late 1998. By the time 2000 came along they were strictly lower-card material at best.

 

IIRC that when Mosh reverted back to Chaz in spring 2000 and started teaming with D'Lo, Thrasher stayed on TV for a few weeks. I remember him defeating Rodney of the Mean Street Posse with a school boy roll-up.

 

There's quite a lot of matches on youtube and dailymotion with them as jobbers, both indidvdually and as a team.

 

That's true: including some of their time as The Spiders back in the early 90's. They were sort of like The Hardy Boyz in that sense in that it seemed like they had been around WWF for a while in some capacity before the debuted both in singles and tag.

 

I have a match on tape between them and Furnas and LaFon that I recorded around Survivor Series '96 that Monsoon and Kevin Kelly bill as Furnas and LaFon's debut on SuperStars. Their opponents are The Headbangers (as The Headbangers ). I think that was the first time I'd seen them with that gimmick although I had read about The Headbangers before in terms of them working in the USWA. I am guessing that bout with the Can-Ams was a tryout from before they were signed since the wiki article and other places all seem to list their debut as being on the first episode of Shotgun (which was Jan '97) as 'The Sisters Of Love' and then "becoming" (except in reality it was reverting back to) The Headbangers?

 

Anyway, moving on... I first heard about The Truth Commission gimmick when I read Lister's article in PowerSlam. I thought it sounded pretty good, although I didn't see their USWA work until after they'd joined WWF. Whether the gimmick was cut out for the mainstream or not I'm not sure.

 

When they first turned up on Shotgun I actually marked out for the original version of the Truth Commission because it was a martial arts wrestler, a Fat Guy, and a Giant. That's a dynamic I'm surprised hasn't been used more often. Someone should try it now. Maybe something like a heel team of Michael Tarver, Mark Henry and Great Khali as a team who specialise in six man tags with Matt Striker as the mastermind behind it could do something similar?

 

Maybe I'm a mark for the military thing or something but I thought three big, not particularly spectacular army-type guys working quick tags where each of them gets to show off their moves before squashing their opponents as their leader barks out the orders - and Commandant was always talking/calling the spots for them whether it be loudly ordering them to make the tag or go for the finish, etc. which I thought got the gimmick over well. WWF obviously agreed because when their product was at its hottest they basically did the exact same thing a few years later with Right To Censor (just replace combat gear with shirt and tie combo) which also worked quite well in that multi-man type environment. Considering WWF was full of factions at the time I honestly didn't have a problem with them bringing in a faction whose gimmick was that they worked as a unit each of whom had their own strengths (and implied weaknesses). Or at least that's the way I remember Cornette portraying it on the UK versions of the shows - Commondant's mind/plan executed through Recon's speed, Tank's weight and Interrogator's size.

 

Individually they certainly had potential to become solid midcard acts:

 

I liked Recon/Bull Buchanan/B2 in those days because he was pretty much the WWF's version of Booker T. Of course he ended up playing the exact same role in a similar faction a few years later both in WWF (RTC) and AJPW (RO&D, later Voodoo Murders). He was pretty much your ideal

 

Bruiser Mastino/Mantaur/Tank always seemed to get the worst gimmicks but was actually pretty solid in-ring - I remember being shocked at the time how solid his KOTR match with Bob Holly was (just a good basic, Big Man vs. underdog story). Reznor mentioned recently ho he liked Warlord because of how he would "make being knocked over a big deal with all his off-balance selling" and Mantaur was someone else who was good at that. Not the tallest guy around for a super-heavyweight but he could move around the ring pretty well and seemed to suit the multi-man type format (quick tags in and out) they had going so I disagree that he was a 'bad fit' for the group.

 

The Interrogator/Kurrgan was pretty rubbish but was a giant, had a scary face and had one of the best wrestling names I'd heard in ages. Seriously 'The Interrogator' just sounds like someone who likes to torture people and then it's some seven foot deranged looking guy in combat clothes. I'm not surprised he did well in the films based off his look.

 

The tag format allowed them all to hide their weaknesses (which would have become apparent with someone like Kurrgan much quicker if he was working five plus minute singles matches, instead of thirty to forty five second spots). Even someone like Khali looked decent in a few matches where he teamed with Finlay and I imagine could have looked good at that. I'm not saying they didn't have bad matches in WWF, but I must have been lucky enough to miss them because the two or three squashes I remember the original trio having were fun and inoffensive. Here is one example:

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6nlwj_th...in-action_sport

 

After they 'graduated' to Raw I remember Tank being replaced by Sniper (Rambo) maybe even before their Raw debut and also remember them having those same basic tag-in/tag-out everyone shines formula against the rather cool team of Jesse Jammes, Flash Funk and Bob Holly. Don't remember seeing much of them after that so I'm sure they did have bad matches if they were asked to work longer after they went with the Jackal. Personally, I'd have kept them as an opening heel act in that 'mid-card team who can't be beat as a unit' gimmick taking on various JTTS babyface combos for a while longer (at least until one of them started to shine) and then maybe considered having them work long matches.

[CleetusVanDamme]

You know who was shit?, The Revolution. I've been re-watching a fair bit of late 99 stuff, and I can't believe I forgot how shit they were. Saturn, Shane Douglas, ASIA, and Dean Malenko in a "We're so American that we're actually Un-american" group. For some reason Dean Malenko has been the main mouthpiece for the group so far, with some hideously bad results.

 

 

I'm not sure if this'll come across as that bad written down, but imagine it with Dean's Mrs Doubtfire facial expressions, and the most monotone shouting you've ever heard and you'll get the point.

 

 

 

You know last week I was in this wrestling ring WITH A CANADIAN!, CHRIS BENOIT!, and while I was getting my hand raised in victory, you Americans disgraced me by BOOING ME!, ME?, AMERICAN MADE, AMERICAN BORN............. Listen, America, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!, AND TONIGHT, THE REVOLUTION WILL LEAVE IT!..... And on that note, The Revolution declares themselves a serving nation, unto ourselves, and with that we take on a NEW IDENTITY!, and do a way with the stinking, rotten country, what you call *spits* AMERICAAA...

 

 

With that identity, and tonights operation, I will now be called... THE PYTHON!!!..... Shane Douglas will now be referrred to as the RATTLER!!.... And ASIA will now be known AS THE BOAAAAhahaha!. *Perry Saturn then takes over the mic and try's to call himself "THE TROUSER!", but is interrupted by Hacksaw Jim Duggan who comes out and saves the show, thank god*

 

 

They needed to be brought up.

[Carbomb]

I saw a bit of The Revolution when Shane Douglas was their mouthpiece, and I thought they weren't all that bad. Didn't like the premise much, but I thought they were doing a decent job with what they had story-wise. They certainly had some of the wrestlers to pull it off. It struck me, though, that they were really let down by the booking - always being booked in midcard feuds, especially when you've got the nWo in people's memories, was never going to make them look anything but small-time. Perhaps a feud with the Horsemen (who sort of represented the extreme end of the American Dream, if you think about it) would've made them. I was never a prolific wCw viewer (much as I would've liked to be) though, so my chronology is probably off.

[FireBrand]

I don't think they have been mentioned yet, but the Latino World Order was a waste of time and seemed to serve little purpose.

 

Also, the latter day York Foundation when they added Tommy Rich to the group and he became Thomas Rich.

 

 

As pointless as LWO may have been I loved the brutal "recuritment drive" that Guerrero led, they went past the point of being a bloated stable and into stage where their numbers were so legion it started to looked impressive in a hyper-mental way.

 

I also loved the varitiy oh show in the LWO.

 

My pick is Frontline in TNA, not to do with the personal which I feel were talented but because they were so utterly weak and lost, they disintergrated whitin a matter of weeks. They were supposed to be the main rivals for MEM but ended up looking as much a threat to that faction as a spiders fart.

[mackie]

I don't know if anybody has said them yet but in WCW during 1999 the faction of The No Limit Soldiers led by rapper Master P with his crew of random jobbers and Brad Armstrong teaming together with Mysterio and Konnan with their highlights being Konnan's rap song and subsequent video along with a small fued with the West Texas Rednecks.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

My pick is Frontline in TNA, not to do with the personal which I feel were talented but because they were so utterly weak and lost, they disintergrated whitin a matter of weeks. They were supposed to be the main rivals for MEM but ended up looking as much a threat to that faction as a spiders fart.

The Frontline were indeed the pits, but saying that the Four Horsey's would have looked shite compared to these lads.

I'm not cheering for these tossers. They look like they've just got out of bed.

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Of course not - why would you cheer for any faction with Blubber Ray Dudley in it?

[Carbomb]

Of course not - why would you cheer for any faction with Blubber Ray Dudley in it?

 

Bubba Ray's one of the best promos in the business. And whilst I'm not a fan of Joe, he's a bloody good promo too.

 

If anything, Team 3D made up the star power on there. AJ still wasn't ready for the main event, Rhino had gotten stale, Joe had completely lost his aura and had a penis on his face, and to top it off, they're in fucking crappy, matching t-shirts. How did anyone ever expect them to look good in the face of the suited and booted MEM? They should have gotten leather jackets, S.W.A.T.-style flak jackets or cool tracksuits or something, anything other than those t-shirts, which made them look like remedials.

[jm29195]

I'd like to nominate:

 

The Elite Guard, TNA 2004 - Jarrett, Hermandez, Onyyx, and a couple of others with daft berets

 

S.E.X, TNA 2002-2003 - Just a right mess with random washed up 80s guys joining every week...

 

Team Angle V2, Angle, Jindrak, Luther Reigns, not a patch on the original!

 

The Embassy v2, Name one memorable thing they did!

 

First Family, Brian Knobs, Barbarian, Jerry Flynn in WCW 1999 managed by Jimmy Hart, enough said!

[JNLister]

Were there ever any factions in old-school British wrestling?

 

The mid-80s had a manager called Charlie McGee who ran a stable of sorts. It was basically a long-term feud with him bringing in guys to challenge Big Daddy, eventually leading to him getting in the ring for a particularly horrendous six-man.

[Dr.PeterVenkman]

I'll agree with the TNA Frontline, also I'd say that the stable Shane McMahon had in 2000 (Benoit, Angle, Edge and Christian) deserve a shout, not because they were bad in the few weeks they were together but because I thought they could have been so much more if they'd run with them. It would've elevated everyone involved plus Triple H was about to turn face and Austin was about to return so they would've had plenty of opponents

[TheBigBoot]

I saw a bit of The Revolution when Shane Douglas was their mouthpiece, and I thought they weren't all that bad. Didn't like the premise much, but I thought they were doing a decent job with what they had story-wise. They certainly had some of the wrestlers to pull it off. It struck me, though, that they were really let down by the booking - always being booked in midcard feuds, especially when you've got the nWo in people's memories, was never going to make them look anything but small-time. Perhaps a feud with the Horsemen (who sort of represented the extreme end of the American Dream, if you think about it) would've made them. I was never a prolific wCw viewer (much as I would've liked to be) though, so my chronology is probably off.

 

Yeah it is, the Horsemen came to an end earlier that year when Benoit and Malenko left the group after Flair turned heel (in the storyline after he let the power of being President of WCW go to his head). For some reason WWE (like on the Horsemen DVD) seem to give the impression that the Horsemen were around until the end of WCW but that's not true (Flair was in the Magnificent Seven when WCW went bust for a start).

 

After the Horsemen split there was that little faction of WCW President Ric Flair, Vice President Roddy Piper, U.S. Champion David Flair and Arn Anderson, Torrie Wilson and Asya as the people who accompanied them to ringside. They seemed like the natural opponents for the Revolution when they started the whole 'younger guys fed up with being held back' thing with Benoit, Malenko, Saturn and (originally) Buff Bagwell. It started with a lot of potential but sort of fizzled out after that feud became Bagwell/Piper and Malenko (and later Benoit) trying to win the belt off David Flair as a protest against nepotism. Then Bagwell (who had heat with Malenko backstage) was replaced by Shane Douglas and Douglas cut a bunch of promos about "the cancer" (meaning Ric Flair) except at first he wasn't allowed to say who he was talking about which made it confusing to the casual fans.

 

As a faction they are very much comparable to what I was saying earlier about The Filthy Animals where I thought the original group with Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman (even before they really had that name officially) later with Konnan as their mouthpiece had the potential to be really good and it made booking sense to stick three of their better workers at the time/later four of their more over midcard babyfaces at the time together as a mid-card group since they didn't really seem to be doing much else with them. Same with the Revolution where the original idea of pairing Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn (again even before they were called that) later with Shane Douglas as the Konnan-type mouthpiece had potential. Again it was a case of sticking three of their better workers at the time together as a group and giving them some direction, with seemingly the final aim being to elevate Chris Benoit up the card.

 

Just as with the Filthy Animals it was after Russo and Ferrera came in added some women and called them their version of DX (another blatant rip-off of something else that had worked for Russo in WWF) things started to go to turn to crap. In this case, The Revolution's original gimmick was basically that they were guys who were tired of being 'held back' by the veterans and were rebelling against the system. Russo and Ferrera took Benoit out of the gang and changed it so they were actual Revolutionaries, accompanied by Asya, and the next thing you know it sucked.

 

Also by the time that happened the whole Flair/Piper/Anderson clique had already fallen apart. That would have been an opportunity for them to do yet another version of the Four Horsemen had they wanted to go down that route. Even though I didn't mind the West Texas Rednecks I would have liked to have seen them put Hennig and Windham in the Horsemen and re-start their feud with Benoit and Malenko from earlier in the year, had they decided to reform the Horsemen. It's a shame though because a Horsemen (Flair, Windham, Hennig and one other)/Revolution (Douglas, Benoit, Malenko, Saturn) feud could have worked if done correctly.

 

Chronologically, the next factions Flair was in went:

 

1. Team Package

2. Millionaires Club

3. The Magnificent Seven

4. nWo (WWE version)

4. Unnamed faction with Anderson, Benoit and Guerrero (rumoured to become simply "The Horsemen")

5. Evolution