10 Short-Lived Wrestling Stables You've Already Forgotten
CM Punk makes friends, Terry Funk makes enemies and Brandi Rhodes makes no sense...
Stables are not created to be forgotten. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The great wrestling groups are there to prop up their leaders, then ideally get the troops over in plain sight. The Four Horsemen existed for the Ric Flair cause, but earned TV time, titles and wrestling infamy in the process. For all of WWE's mid-2000s failings, Evolution did just about what it set out to by getting Batista and Randy Orton over as major players. The Rock's rise happened for real when he became the "ruler" of The Nation Of Domination. Three examples, but there are countless others.
It's why AEW made the formula such a big part of their presentation from the very first episode of Dynamite onwards, meshing New Japan Pro Wrestling's own alliance-heavy roster with some of the aforementioned North American tropes to create a roster full of mini-rivalries and meaningful singles matches underneath top and profiled programmes.
Introducing Legado Del Fantasma, The Way, Hit Row and Diamond Mine into the stories over the last 12 months has helped NXT, though The Undisputed Era's dominance between 2017 and 2021 should have clued them up about the fundamental benefits anyway. That group's split has defined the show's main event scene since March, cementing a certain legacy in the process. The below groups weren't afforded such fond farewells....
10. Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre
Brought together as something of a lame sequel to the already-quite lame Dogs Of War, Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley were united by one fairly futile cause - destroy The Shield before they parted ways for good.
WWE had uncharacteristically elected to use the best version of Dean Ambrose during his final months with the organisation rather than continuing on with failed heel gimmick that had blighted the months that came before. Bringing the 'Hounds Of Justice' back together for one last run, the company also had hitherto unseen babyface momentum behind both Seth Rollins as a well-liked challenger to Brock Lesnar's dominance and a Roman Reigns returning from a devastating leukaemia diagnosis the prior October.
Corbin, Lashley and McIntyre were thus rendered fairly rudderless by their opposition more than their own failings, but that was sort of the point. They were giant men, but physical stature only went so far in the face of genuine WWE megastars.