Wrestling brotherhoods in the 1980s were interesting. There were real-life brothers such as the Von Erichs and a lot of stables, but some were better than others. Some had big time guys and looked ready to take off but as an actual brotherhood, they were lacking in how they could be loyal to one another. Others were just bad from the start and worse as time went on.
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Yet some of these brotherhoods stood out nicely between the wrestlers involved and how close they were. You bought them as a makeshift family of sorts and each guy willing to lay down his body to help the other out. Here are five of the best and five of the worst brotherhoods in the 1980s judged by their loyalty and bonds with each other to show even the biggest stars couldn’t always gel this way.
10 WORST: Heenan Family
In terms of star power, Bobby Heenan always had a great roster under his care. At one point or another, he had Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, the Brainbusters, Haku and many more. But for all the talk on “family,” it was rare to see these guys really coming together.
Often, they’d be in separate feuds, not the type to back each other up in a fight and a few bits like the Royal Rumble pit them against each other. Heenan himself was hardly the “fatherly” type aiding them either, ready to sell one out if he could get ahead. So this “family” wasn’t that big a deal.
9 BEST: The Superpowers
Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA were one of the hottest friendships in JCP, both guys wildly popular with crowds. When Magnum had his career-ending car crash, Dusty had the genius idea of turning Russian heel Nikita Koloff into a babyface championing Magnum’s career.
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Dusty and Nikita made an offbeat but strong team backing each other up in fights, holding titles at the same time, winning the Crockett Cup and Dusty giving Nikita the rub. Magnum coming back to be in their corner was emotional and made this unlikely brotherhood a good one.
8 WORST: The Garvin Brothers
Technically, they were related but not brothers. Ronnie Garvin was known for his rugged ring style and a brief run as NWA World champion. Jimmy Garvin was a flashy heel in World Class and JCP until Jim Cornette threw fire in Ronnie’s face and Jimmy defended his brother.
The kicker: Ronnie was actually Jimmy’s stepfather. That no doubt, was a reason their on-screen partnership never came off that well, their tag teams were short and Jimmy soon became a Freebird with Michael Hayes. Thus, the odd touch of a real-life family couldn’t be a fake one on screen.
7 BEST: Wild Samoans
Debuting in 1980, Afa and Sika were one of the best tag team acts of WWE’s Golden Age. The Samoans were famous for keeping up kayfabe, even once being arrested because they refused to speak English.
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That was a good bond in the ring as well, led by Captain Lou Albano to a few runs as tag team champions and terrific seeing them so wild in the ring. They’d add a few more family members over the years and a fun on-screen brotherhood that always entertained fans.
6 WORST: Megapowers
This may seem an odd choice as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage sure made for a dream team. But in terms of friendship, it was obvious from day 1, these two were going to implode.
It was clear as day even as they teamed up with arguments and Savage thinking Hogan was after Elizabeth. When they were together, it could be good, but the breakup was only a matter of time. It led to a pretty great feud and they had an on/off relationship in WCW, but the Megapowers never ranked as a real brotherhood.
5 BEST: Ole and Arn Anderson
It’s amazing how this was an act pulled off so well, many fans did indeed think they were related. Ole Anderson was a popular worker for a long time, a stellar heel in Georgia and he and brother Gene were great as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.
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When Gene had to bow out for injury, Martin Lunde was picked as between his rugged ring style and resemblance, he could pass for an Anderson. Together, Ole and Arn held several tag titles while forming the Four Horsemen and made one of the best fake brother teams in wrestling history.
4 WORST: The Hillbillies
Hillbilly Jim was a fun character for 1980s WWE, a “fan” who came to the air of Hulk Hogan. Fans took to his act well and he worked out until he had an injury. To fill the gap, WWE tried to bring in a “clan” including Uncle Elmer, Cousin Luke and Cousin Junior.
They weren’t as fun, even with stuff from Uncle Elmer’s wedding to facing Adrian Adonis at WrestleMania 2. WWE didn’t seem to give them enough TV time, but what fans saw was annoying and sucked a lot of the fun out of Jim to make this a clan fans were happy to see go back to the hills.
3 BEST: The Fabulous Freebirds
The bond between Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts was amazing. In the ring, they were the perfect trio with Hayes the flashy showman, Gordy the powerhouse and Roberts fighting on. Their war with the Von Erichs boosted World Class to monster success and earned them numerous titles.
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They would refer to each other as brothers and were always there to back each other up. Their bond was a true one outside the ring to make one of the most awesome heel teams fans couldn’t help but cheer for.
2 WORST: The Varsity Club
Kevin Sullivan forming a pack of workers could have been a good idea if it went for his usual devil-worshiping/cult ways. So it made little sense they were all based on collegiate wrestlers.
Mike Rotunda, Rick Steiner and Steve Williams were all good workers but never gelled this way with a bit like wrestling under “college rules” of rounds. They had some titles from Rotunda as TV champ to various tag team championships but never felt like a real unit. This club quickly faded before earning any true varsity colors.
1 BEST: The Four Horsemen
It’s hard to find a better stable in all of wrestling than the Four Horsemen. No matter what membership they had, the Horsemen were a unit to back each other up and ready to brawl it out at any time.
Sure, they had defections like Lex Luger and Ole Anderson but when they were united, the Horsemen were unbeatable. They inspired scores of groups afterward but few brotherhoods in wrestling, real or fake, could top these guys as “diamonds are forever and so are the Four Horsemen.”
