Even the biggest and baddest professional wrestlers need help navigating the dangers of the squared-circle. Enemies lurk around each corner, with the dirtiest competitors often traveling in packs so that they can use sheer numbers to overwhelm foes. Every wrestler needs an ally, someone he can depend on when the going gets tough. These allies take many forms but often mean the difference between becoming a champion or a mid-card performer.
Tag Team
A tag team partner serves as the most obvious form of wrestling ally. Tag teams compete in two-on-two matches, and the team members must work together to find success, building on a solid foundation of teamwork and trust to survive. Tag partners are more like brothers, forming one of the strongest ally bonds in wrestling. A list of history's prominent tag teams includes the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, the Fabulous Freebirds and the Road Warriors.
Stables
Professional wrestling managers often oversee the careers of a number of wrestlers, uniting them into a stable of allies. Whether or not they compete as tag team partners, each member of the manager's stable often will come to another's aid, saving them from ambushes or, if heels, joining in on a devious sneak attack. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan forged one of the greatest stables in wrestling history, managing the likes of Andre the Giant, "King Kong" Bundy, "Ravishing" Rick Rude and "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. No matter the situation, Heenan's clients knew they could always rely on one another.
Groups
Sometimes wrestlers don't need a genius manager to bring them together, instead forming a group simply due to circumstances or common goals. Group members take on a natural hierarchy and often form tag teams and support one another during singles competition. The Four Horsemen of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson and Tully Blanchard still stands as the greatest group in wrestling history, dominating competition in the NWA and WCW throughout the 1980s.
Partnerships
Powerful individual wrestlers who don't have a natural tag team partner or any group affiliations often need an ally to stand up against a rival group. Such drastic circumstances will force the threatened individual to find an ally wherever he can, leading to some unusual partnerships. During the late 1980s, Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage, natural rivals and two of the greatest individual competitors in WWE history, formed a partnership known as The Mega Powers to defeat such adversaries as Andre the Giant, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Jesse "The Body" Ventura and The Honky Tonk Man.
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