9 Stables WWE Debuted In The WORST Way Possible

1. The Ministry Of Darkness

Undertaker Ministry of Darkness Return
WWE Network

The Undertaker took a while to figure out how to truly fit in to the Attitude Era, particularly after his feud with Kane - a holdover from the transitional final days of the New Generation - concluded with them joining forces in the summer of 1998. With the product moving at an ungodly pace, even that was done and dusted by the winter, and donning denim and riding his bike to the ring was ultimately what got him over a pretty enormous 1999 hump.

Welcome to the hump. 

After fighting and losing to Stone Cold Steve Austin to formalise his heel turn, The Undertaker as we'd known him became something of a limited offering. A shift was required, and that came in the form of the Ministry Of Darkness; a stable of wrestlers that could do his bidding while conveniently padding midcards during a hot time and keeping the mention of 'The Deadman' around even if big Mark wasn't directly involved. It was hit and miss, in-part thanks to some of the dross he associated with along the way and the rapidly declining quality of his matches, and also because weird icky goth stuff definitionally isn't for everybody.

The formation of the Ministry very literally wasn't. A ceremony involving the "sacrificing" of Dennis Knight didn't make air in all of WWE's markets thanks to some of the overtones and the smoke-and-mirrors slicing of his skin. Knight became Mideon, the first (or, third including Faarooq and Bradshaw as The Acolytes that dragged him to his fate) member of cult leader Undertaker's new army of darkness. In relatively short order, he got bored of bossing around average wrestlers, merging his crew with the Corporation to build to the Higher Power reveal that brought him all the way back to Steve Austin anyway, rendering it all as pointless as the original segment felt. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett