In professional wrestling, many wrestlers achieve success on their own. Equally, many wrestlers achieve success as part of a tag team - either with a long-time partner, in the style of seven-time WWE tag team champions the Hardy brothers, or with many partners, as in the case of Kane, who has captured nine tag team championships in WWE, with six different partners.
Few wrestlers, however, get the chance to be part of a truly successful stable - such stables are few and far between, but when a group of wrestlers connects, it can be big business for a company. Here, we begin a look at the most successful stables of all time with a look at The Hart Foundation and Evolution.
The Hart Foundation
Bret 'The Hitman' Hart, Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart, Owen Hart, 'The British Bulldog' Davey Boy Smith, 'Dangerous' Danny Davis, Brian Pillman, and 'The Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart
This stable was fortunate enough not only to feature some of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time, but also to be based around real-life family connections, such as the brotherhood between its two most important members, Bret and Owen Hart. It existed first as a tag team, composed of the elder Hart brother, Bret, and Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart, and was highly successful, winning the WWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions.
Following their early success, and a period of on-off association while Bret was pushed as a singles star, the Foundation was expanded in 1997 to include Bret's younger brother Owen, plus their brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, better known as The British Bulldog. It also included the late Brian Pillman in the leadup to his death, and - perhaps for rather self-explanatory reasons - 'The Mouth Of The South' Jimmy Hart was brought in as the stable's manager.
During their 'Canada vs America' feud with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and others throughout 1997, the Hart Foundation achieved even greater success, winning every championship available in the WWF at the time. However, the infamous 'Montreal Screwjob' incident, originating from Bret Hart's impending departure from the WWF to go to WCW, led to the resignations of Smith and Neidhart from the company after Hart was robbed of the title by Shawn Michaels despite his unwillingness to part with it. Owen Hart remained with the company, but on his unfortunate death in 1999, many fans' fond memories of The Hart Foundation became tainted with great sadness.
Hart's death was mourned throughout the wrestling business - a tribute match was held on WCW Monday Nitro between his brother Bret and longtime Hart family friend Chris Benoit, while the WWF held numerous tribute shows. Bret was forced to retire through injury in the year 2000, and after a turbulent period in his life, Hart chose to leave wrestling altogether on his retirement. This marked the end of an era for one of wrestling's most loved families - one can only hope that Hart finds some way of giving back in future years to the fans who stuck by him through such a difficult time.
Evolution
Triple H, 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista
When Triple H and Ric Flair's real-life friendship was replicated on-screen in late 2002 when Flair became Triple H's manager, few fans anticipated where the development might lead. When young talents Dave Batista and Randy Orton were brought under the wings of two of wrestling's most successful champions, it was clear that something special was brewing.
The stable, which formed in February 2003 and lasted for just over two years, dominated Monday Night Raw throughout its existence. It represented, according to Triple H, the 'Evolution' of the wrestling business - the past, in 16-time World Champion Flair; the present, in WWE main event mainstay Triple H; and the future, in starlets Orton and Batista. While its early days focused more on the development of Orton and Batista as credible members of the Raw roster, and the establishment of the group's ideas - not least their unofficial motto of "Paid, laid, and made" - it was not long before Evolution began to take effect.
At Armageddon 2003, all four members of the group captured championships - Triple H regained the World Heavyweight Championship from Goldberg, Randy Orton secured his first Intercontinental title, and the team of Flair and Batista won the World Tag Team belts. This marked the first time that a faction had held all the male title belts on Monday Night Raw, and was a huge stepping stone in solidifying the group as the biggest thing going in WWE at the time.
In 2004, however, Orton secured his first World Heavyweight Championship, and this was the beginning of the end for the group. He was unceremoniously ejected from the group, and suffered a vicious beating at the hands of the other Evolution members. By the time WrestleMania 21 came around, Orton's title reign had come and gone, and Triple H was losing his World Heavyweight Championship to his other stablemate, Batista. After a heated feud ending in a Hell In A Cell match at Vengeance 2005, Triple H took time off, and returned to take out Flair, his only remaining ally. With Flair left in the past, Orton and Batista were left to fend for themselves - thus, the wheels of Evolution roll on. In the words of Triple H:
"If you wake up one morning, and you're lying in a hospital bed, wondering what the hell happened...don't worry. Evolution has just passed you by."
Click here for the next part in our series on great wrestling stables, where we look at The Nation of Domination and Los Guerreros.
