Over 12 hours since Drunk's pick, and my open categories don't conflict with Droopy's open categories, so it doesn't really matter anyway...
For the final selection of Round 11,
Team Malfunction Junction chooses, in the
Stable Category:
The Nation of Domination.
In 1996, the WWF was losing steam and struggling in the Monday Night Wars as WCW Nitro was becoming a juggernaut with the debut of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash and the formation of the nWo.
Vince had lost many of his former top-level performers to WCW, unable to compete with Eric Bischoff and Ted Turner's chequebook. In the summer of 1996, WWF signed a former WCW champion - the first black world champion in any of the major wrestling promotions - Ron Simmons.
What did Vince do with his newly-acquired former champion? He put him in a goofy gladiator costume and changed his name to Faarooq Asad. Oddly, that character didn't get over with the fans.
In late 96, Faarooq dropped his last name, acquired a new manager in Clarence Mason and started up a new group that called itself The Nation of Domination. Early members of the group included Crush and Savio Vega, along with Mason, Faarooq, and D-Lo Brown.
In June 1997, Faarooq kicked Vega and Crush out of the NoD (and fired Mason), and promised to reform a "bigger and blacker" Nation. Faarooq kept his promise, adding Kama Mustafa and his former enemy, Ahmed Johnson. The injury-prone Johnson didn't last long as a member of the Nation, and was soon replaced by some third generation kid who couldn't get over with the crowds named Rocky Maivia.
While in the Nation, Maivia was able to develop the character that fans would soon fall in love with...the People's Champion...The Rock.
The Rock's increasing popularity and ring presence led to a rift within the NoD as The Rock began to act as the leader of the faction, angering Faarooq in the process.
Eventually, The Rock, who was the Intercontinental Champion, became the permanent leader of the Nation (which dropped the "of Domination" from its name as it moved away from its "Black Power" background) and Faarooq left the group ("DAMN!").
Under the Rock's leadership, The Nation became more "fun" and "cool" and Mustafa went from being an angry militant to "The Godfather", a pimp who invited everyone to take a trip aboard the "Hooooooooooo Train!"
After Faarooq's departure, Mark Henry was added to the Nation's roster, and in an odd twist, Owen Hart joined the group in April 1998.
The Nation's most memorable feud was with D-X during the summer of 1998, and included a very un-PC parody of the Nation by D-X wearing blackface make up.
As The Rock's popularity continued to rise, the decision was made for him to become a face, which didn't really fit with The Nation's heelish nature. Eventually, Hart, The Rock and Godfather went solo, and although they remained a tag team, Henry and Brown left The Nation behind in late November 1998, a little over 2 years after it was founded.
D-Lo Brown was the only member of The Nation of Domination through its entire lifespan.