Cook’s Top Five: New Members of Factions

Every faction needs to shake things up from time to time. New members are the best way to do that. Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle has had the same membership for over a year now, so why not add some new members? MJF won his way into the group be defeating Jericho at Full Gear, and Wardlow gets a spot too because why not?

It remains to be seen what MJF or Wardlow will add to or take away from the Inner Circle. Some additions go well. Some don’t. These are the top five additions to wrestling factions over the years…

5. AJ Styles joins Bullet Club

Bullet Club has managed to remain relevant through the years by bringing in new members at the right moment. No faction has gone through the number of leaders Bullet Club has while continuing to dominate. Each leader has left their mark on the group, but AJ Styles was the first Bullet Club leader to take the group to the absolute top of New Japan. He was the first to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

Styles attaining that honor so soon after joining New Japan proved that the Bullet Club was the force to be reckoned with.

4. The New Age Outlaws join D-Generation X

A lot of people will tell you that the first version of DX was the best. Shawn Michaels, Triple H & Chyna (along with Rick Rude for a mintue there) were all that were needed to form one of wrestling’s greatest factions. They definitely had some great moments. That being said, business really picked up and DX became one of wrestling’s greatest factions once HBK went on hiatus.

X-Pac was a natural fit, of course, but the addition of the New Age Outlaws gave DX a team that could dominate the tag team ranks. The Road Dogg Jesse James & Badd Ass Billy Gunn also had enough attitude to take that aspect of DX to the next level too.

3. Eric Bischoff joins the New World Order

This marriage couldn’t have worked out better for the individual and the group. Up until joining the NWO, Bischoff was known as the voice of WCW Monday Nitro. Fans wondered why he even had that job, since he wasn’t great at it and Tony Schiavone was the senior member of WCW’s announce team. Of course, people in the know were aware that Bischoff was an Executive Vice President and was making all the decisions in WCW. That bit of knowledge became more public once Scott Hall & Kevin Nash showed up and everybody started breaking kayfabe. Things eventually got to the point where the NWO was so dominant over WCW that somebody on the inside had to be behind the group.

Ted DiBiase was serving as the NWO’s spokesperson & financial backer, and did a fine job of it. However, Eric really took things to the next level once he assumed the position of being the NWO’s mouthpiece. WCW’s figurehead being an asshole and having the NWO run roughshod over Ted Turner’s company was just more interesting than an evil group financed by the Million Dollar Man. I’m a big fan of DiBiase’s work back in the day, but it’s a true story.

2. Rocky Maivia joins the Nation of Domination

The Nation of Domination went through a lot of changes during the Gang Warz. Savio Vega left to form Los Boricuas. Crush went off with the Disciples of Apocalypse. Ahmed Johnson’s tenure with the group was cut short by injury. They needed something big to remain on top of the heap, and they got it when Rocky Maivia joined the group. Rocky’s early face run hadn’t gotten over well with the audience, but the company still saw a ton of potential in him. Creative decided the best thing for Rocky to do was turn heel and embrace the hate of the audience.

Rocky kicked things up a notch right away when he talked about how the fans disrespected him by chanting “Die, Rocky Die”. That charisma we know the Rock for today started to come out during his time in the Nation. This is when he became the Peoples’ Champion. The Nation helped make the Rock what he would become, only the most electrifying man in sports & entertainment.

1. Barry Windham joins the Four Horsemen

It was always going to be hard to top the original Four Horsemen. Even if Ole Anderson was nearing the end of his in-ring career, he was still a tremendous promo that formed a dangerous tag team with his storyline nephew Arn. The combination with Ole, Arn, Tully Blanchard & Ric Flair, with James J. Dillon by their side, was unlike anything most wrestling fans had seen before. Replacing any of the members was going to be a tough responsibility.

Lex Luger tried to replace Ole. Despite Luger’s presence and potential, it didn’t quite work. He ended up leaving the group and forming a tag team with Barry Windham. They would win the tag team championship from Arn & Tully at the first Clash of the Champions. Unfortunately, trouble was on the horizon for Lex. See, the Horsemen had been scouting Barry Windham for a long time. They were impressed with his ability and thought he would be the perfect fourth member. Dillon would convince Windham the Horsemen were the best thing for his future, and he ended up being right.

The Windham version of the Horsemen is widely regarded as the best version of the group. It was the most successful in-ring, holding the World, US & Tag Team Championship simultaneously during 1988. The Four Horsemen somehow managed to improve on perfection by adding Barry Windham to the group.