Pro Wrestling: Stables and Factions Quiz

Answer: The First Family

One of the most underrated wrestlers of all time was the versatile and sage "Double A" Arn Anderson. One reason why he may have been overlooked is that for much of his career, Anderson, was usually a very important cog in the wheel of a faction or someone's stable. Beginning in January 1986 "The Enforcer" was one of the original members of "The Four Horsemen" and was a involved in almost every incarnation of the famed quartet.

In the fall of 1988 Arn and his tag team partner Tully Blanchard, angered over The Crockett Family's impending sale to Ted Turner, jumped ship to the WWF where for one year they were members of Bobby Heenan's "Heenan Family".

In the fall of 1991 Arn and Larry Zbyszko, ironically called "The Enforcers", joined Rick Rude, Madusa, Steve Austin and Bobby Eaton as part of Paul Heyman's "Dangerous Alliance".

Answer: The Varsity Club

In early 1988, Kevin Sullivan dubbed himself "The Gamesmaster" and began managing the careers of Mike Rotunda and Rick Steiner in a stable called The Varsity Club. Both Rotunda and Steiner had great success at the collegiate level but it soon became apparent that Sullivan favored Rotunda. Within mere weeks Mike had solidified his manager's confidence in him by defeating Nikita Koloff for the NWA Television Title. Ironically Rotunda would hold that title until he was defeated by Rick Steiner who had left the group in November 1988. Sullivan then added the late Steve Williams and Danny Spivey to fill the void.

In April 1989, Rotunda and Williams defeated the legendary Road Warriors to win the NWA Tag Team Titles. They would only hold them for a month and the faction disbanded soon after that.

Answer: Curt Hennig

In the spring of 1998, "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash, a founding member of the original "NWO" severed ties with Scott Hall and "Hollywood" Hogan. Along with Sting, Lex Luger, Randy Savage and Konnan, Nash created a faction called "The NWO Wolfpack". Briefly joining this group was Curt Hennig and his manager and longtime friend "Ravishing" Rick Rude who left "The NWO Black and White", which was still headed by Hogan.

This was all a rouse as Hennig and Rude turned on Konnan after he dropped a match against Goldberg, a bout in which he replaced an injured Hennig.

Answer: Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious and Arn Anderson

Consisting of manager James J Dillon, Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard and Ole and Arn Anderson "The Four Horsemen" took the NWA and their heroes by storm in January 1986. The group became famous for triple and quadruple team beatings of rivals, using steel chairs, pummeling rivals with baseball bats and breaking bones in parking lots and dressing rooms. Dusty Rhodes, Sting, Ron Garvin, The Road Warriors and The Rock and Roll Express were all victims of sneak attacks by this sinister group.

In early 1987, Ole was ousted and Lex Luger took his place, however the marriage was short lived and just under a year later Luger bolted from the group.

After several months Barry Windham was added and this time all four members of the group had gold strapped around their waists.

In mid-1990 when Tully Blanchard was unable to get a contract with WCW, rising star Sid Vicious was selected as a fourth man. Both Arn and Flair have been extremely vocal in their regret of this decision as Sid not only didn't get along with his teammates he was still green and thus a stiff worker in the ring.

Answer: Dino Bravo

In the late 1960s, the head of the AWA Verne Gagne took a chance on a very young but ambitious young talent named Bobby Heenan. Possessing great speaking ability and a thirst for success as well as having grown up with the business Heenan was a natural.

By the early 1970s, although just in his mid 20s Heenan had formed his infamous "Heenan Family" which consisted through the years of Nick Bockwinkel, Ray Stevens, The Blackjacks and Ken Patera. In fact when Heenan jumped to the WWE in 1984, Patera was one of his first proteges in the WWE's version of "The Heenan Family." For almost seven years Heenan managed a whose who list of competitors including the likes of Andre the Giant, Hercules Hernandez, Harley Race, Paul Orndorff, King Kong Bundy, Mr Perfect and Rick Rude.

Although a top heel in The WWE from 1987-1991 the late Dino Bravo was never managed by Bobby Heenan.

Answer: Randy Savage

In early 1985, Memphis native Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart decided to break out a megaphone and bring his game to the red hot WWE. Hart immediately drew the ire of the fans with his non stop chatter, cowardly ways, and penchant to interfere in his proteges bouts. Among the many wrestlers managed by Hart during his lengthy WWE tenure were The Hart Foundation, Honky Tonk Man, The Nasty Boys, The Rougeau Brothers, Adrian Adonis, Dino Bravo and Money Incorporated.

In early 1993, Hart made a surprise face turn and began managing "The Mega Maniacs" of Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. Hart then followed Hogan to WCW and after parting ways with him continued managing right until the promotions demise in 2001.

The late Randy Savage was never managed by Jimmy Hart in the WWE although he did employ his services in the CWA in his bitter war against Jerry Lawler.

Answer: XPac

In September 1997, Shawn Michaels joined forces with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna and the late Rick Rude to form the first "De Generation X" faction. Their over the top antics, lewd comments and general lack of respect for the establishment at first rubbed fans the wrong way.

It wasn't long before Rude left the WWE and nagging back problems forced Michaels into a four year hiatus. Not one to miss an opportunity Triple H and Chyna sent out for reinforcements in the form of XPac and The New Age Outlaws.

This group eventually became red hot with the fans and are a cornerstone of what made "The Attitude Era" so memorable for so many fans.

Answer: The Blackbirds

Taking their name from the 1970s rock and roll classic and oozing with southern pride, Michael Hayes formed "The Fabulous Freebirds" with the late Buddy Roberts and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy in 1979. After feuding extensively with The Junkyard Dog in Bill Watts Mid South territory they took their game to Fritz Von Erich's WCCW.

In late 1982 one of the greatest and bloodiest feuds of all time erupted between "The Freebirds" and The Von Erich family. In early 1988 Michael Hayes decided to bury the lonstanding hatchet with The Von Erichs, by now only Kevin & Kerry remained, which didn't sit well with his "brothers". Roberts and Gordy quickly allied themselves with Iceman King Parsons and the late Angel of Death in a faction dubbed "The Blackbirds".

This was a terrible angle which did not go over well with the fans and was quickly dropped. After Roberts retired in 1989 and Gordy found new success in Japan, Hayes carried on "The Freebird" gimmick as a tag team with "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin until 1993. Sadly both Roberts and Gordy have left us; Gordy at 41 in 2001 from a blood clot and Roberts in 2012 at 67 after a lengthy cancer battle.

Answer: Adrian Adonis

In late 1987 after several months as AWA Heavyweight Champion Curt Hennig took on the then unheard of Diamond Dallas Page as a manager. Page along with a young Madusa Miceli, quickly dubbed The AWA Champion, "Cool" Curt Hennig and began to assemble a stable he referred to as "The Diamond Exchange".

In March 1988 his tag team of Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka, Badd Company, defeated The Midnight Rockers to win The AWA Tag Team Titles. Page also began managing the vile and villainous Colonel DeBeers, one of the AWA's biggest heels at the time. Possessing "the gift of gab" not only helped him hype his wrestlers it also irked the fans which got him plenty of heat.

Hennig bolted from The AWA in June 1988 after losing his belt and when Badd Company lost their titles in March 1989, Page quietly disbanded his stable.

Not much more was expected of him but the resilient star surprised critics and fans by becoming a breakout superstar as a wrestler in WCW in the mid and late 1990s.

Answer: Jake "The Snake" Roberts

After a serious knee injury ended his promising wrestling career, "Precious" Paul Ellering made the fateful decision to try his hand as a manager. Ellering quickly dubbed his stable "The Legion of Doom", after the villains of the 1970s "Superfriends" cartoon, and began to recruit his charges in Georgia Championship Wrestling. Right off the bat Ellering made a smart decision taking on the managerial services for the red hot Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal. Ellering also added Jake Roberts, King Kong Bundy and The Spoiler to the ranks of his stable.

In mid 1984 Ellering first did some house cleaning, deciding to focus solely on Hawk and Animal, and then the trio made the jump to the AWA. The Road Warriors quickly became arguably the most influential and dominant tag team of the last thirty years and Ellering was their guide.

Answer: Terry Funk

Always known for his eccentric nature and mastery of the macabre, Kevin Sullivan formed "The Dungeon of Doom" in 1995 with one goal and one goal only, the elimination of Hulk Hogan. To aid him in his quest Sullivan not only signed experienced veterans like Bubba Rogers, One Man Gang and Big Van Vader but also a rather bizarre number of others. Every week it seemed as if Sullivan had a new charge to aid in him quest such as The Yeti, Loch Ness, The Shark, Z-Gangsta, The Ultimate Soultion and very young wrestler named Paul Wight who referred to himself as "The Giant".

In retrospect the debut of The Giant was probably the only good thing that came of this horrendous stable of horrors which went on far too long. This very angle shows just how bad wrestling in general was during this timeframe.

Answer: Studly Dudley

The extensive family of one "Big Daddy Dudley" began appearing in the Philadelphia based ECW during the summer of 1995. The original team was comprised of Snot Dudley and Dudley Dudley who were soon joined by Dances with Dudleys. In the fall an overweight, stuttering brother named Bubba Ray appeared on the scene but was no more than a sideshow.

The group eventually added Sign Guy, Big Dick, Spike and the no nonsense Dvon who at first feuded with his "siblings". Eventually Dvon and Bubba Ray began teaming together regularly and before long were the permiere duo of the organization.

In 1999, the duo went to the WWE where again they would make their presence felt as a team to recon with for the next six years.

Answer: Batista and Randy Orton

Attempting to try a "Four Horsemen" type faction in the WWE Ric Flair and Triple H decided to take young, rising superstars Dave Batista and Randy Orton under their wings in the group "Evolution". By the end of 2003 the faction had made their impact felt as Flair and Batista were the WWE Tag Team Champions, Triple H was the WWE World Champion and Randy Orton was the WWE Intercontinental Champion.

The following summer Orton was kicked out of the faction and never replaced and before long Flair and Triple H's relationship with Batista began to sour. Unlike "The Four Horsemen", "Evolution" had just one and only one incarnation. Flair has publicly stated numerous times that he had wished the stable continued as the angle was over with the fans and helped propel Orton and Batista's careers into overdrive.

Answer: Scorpio

In the fall of 1996 Faarooq, thankfully, ditched the lame Roman Gladiator persona and began a militant group called "The Nation of Domination". Faarooq quickly added Savio Vega and Crush to the stable and upcoming wrestler D Lo Brown served as background muscle. Vega and Crush were ousted in June 1997 and replaced with Ahmed Johnson and Kama Mustafa aka "The Godfather". Johnson's tenure was very brief and by the end of the summer he was replaced with Rocky Maivia who soon became simply "The Rock".

In early 1998 strongman Mark Henry was added and just around this time the partnership between "The Rock" and Faarooq became strained. In a shocking turn of events it would be Faarooq who was ousted from his very own faction as "The Rock" became the leader of "The Nation".

In May 1998, Owen Hart joined "The Nation" as backup for his ongoing rivalry with "DX" and before long things really heated up on Raw.

Answer: Chris Kanyon

In 1995, Shane Douglas formed an alliance with Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko and dubbed themselves "The Triple Threat". After a brief stint in the WWE Douglas returned to ECW and reformed the faction this time with Brian Lee and Chris Candido. Eventually Lee and Douglas had a falling out and the late Bam Bam Bigelow was brought in as a replacement.

In 1998 Canadian Lance Storm replaced "The Beast from The East" but it wasn't before long that Bam Bam was back and Storm was out. The faction disbanded when Bigelow left the promotion in late 1998 for the greener pastures of WCW where he eventually formed a faction with the late Chris Kanyon and Diamond Dallas Page called "The Triad".