WWE's greatest families - Part 1

Eddie Guerrero

Everybody loves a good family story even the WWE. After all what’s not likeable about family members having each others backs or even better smashing each other up. Be it families coming together to defend each other or going at each others throats, a family saga has always brought the eyeballs to the television sets and the arenas.

There have been many so-called families that have been part of the WWE folklore – the most famous of which are the Undertaker, Kane and the late Paul Bearer. The latest bunch of demons – The Wyatt’s also refer to themselves as a family( though they seem to be more like bunch of loonies let out from the asylum). However, if we look for real families that fight together or against each other, there are a few that rise above the rest in terms of both charisma and success. Lets take a look at the best 6 families that have fought inside a WWE ring

5) The Guerreros

The Guerrero family is one the most well known and loved families from Mexico who have fought inside the ring.

The family’s first ever pro wrestle was Salvador Guerrero Quesada better known as Gory Guerrero. Best known for inventing Submission holds like the Gory special – a back-to-back backbreaker submission hold and the Camel Clutch.

All four of Gory’s sons joined the wrestling business but it was his youngest – Eddie who won over the hearts of the fans. Be it the WWE, the WCW, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, he always won the Gold. Add that to his infectious attitude and personality, he easily became a fan favourite.

Such was his popularity that he claimed every title available in the WWE. His biggest achievement in the WWE came when he won the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at No Way Out in 2004. Tragically, he passed away on Nov 13, 2005 after suffering an acute heart failure.

His wife Vickie(Excuse me) is currently the GM of Smackdown and has become one of the most hated and most entertaining characters in the sport. His daughter Shaul currently wrestles in NXT and was the only FCW Womens’s champion who also held the Queen of FCW tiara at the same time.

Randy Orton

4) The Ortons

Randy Orton the current ‘face’ of the WWE comes is a 3rd generation wrestler who comes from a family with a rich wrestling history. His grandfather Bob Orton Sr. started his wrestling career way back in 1951. In a time when the United States was divided into numerous wrestling territories who all wrestled under the Guidance of the National Wrestling Association(NWA), Bob Orton Sr. along with his tag-team partner Eddie Graham held the coveted NWA Tag-Team titles twice.

He also held multiple championships in Florida’s Championship Wrestling and the Central States Wrestling territory as well as various other territories including the American Wrestling Association, NWA Big Time Wrestling and NWA Western States Wrestling.

His son ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton really brought the Orton name into the spotlight when he joined the WWF as the enforcer for Roddy Piper. He became rather famous for his ‘cast’ gimmick. During a match against Superfly Jimmy Snuka, he broke his arm which was then put in a cast for protection. Cowboy Bob instead of ruing his bad luck added the cast to his gimmick and used it claim numerous tainted victories.

It was however the third generation Orton that lifted the family name into the stratosphere. Randy Orton, a marine corps deserter joined Evolution in 2003 a year after he joined the WWE. His career graph then exploded as the WWE pushed his character as he became the youngest ever World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Chris Benoit at Summerslam 2004.

Three reigns as the World Heavyweight champion and Seven as the WWE champion, Randy Orton is the current face of the WWE and quite a lot more is expected of him.

The Rhodes Family

3) The Rhodes

‘The son of a Plumber’ and his sons are currently the hottest property in the WWE and their match at WWE’s PPV Battleground against the Shield was one of the high points of the PPV. The story though began way back in 1985 with Jim Crockett Promotions. However he became famous when he debuted the Character of the ‘American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes, who represented the aspirations of the common man.

He went on to feud with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen pitting the common man against the flash and flamboyant crowd which got him instant superstardom. He is also credited for naming most of WCW PPV’s. Dusty is the current GM of WWE’s developmental program NXT.

Dusty has two sons who joined the Wrestling business. The elder of the two half-brothers is Dustin Patrick Runnels better known by the name of his infamous in ring persona – ‘The Bizarre One’ Goldust.

Goldust who wore golden face paint, a sparkly robe and a blond wig oozed attitude before the attitude era was cool. His character is still considered to be one of the most controversial characters that have graced the ring. Using overtly homo-sexual antics he spooked his opponents and provided the WWE universe with a character that was totally fresh and unique and something that they never had seen before and have seen since. In the WWE, he has won the Intercontinental Championship three times,the Hardcore Championship nine times, has one World Tag Team Championship to his name. In the WCW he won the US title and world tag team championship twice. He also won the six-man tag team championship and the the NWA tag team championship once.

The youngest of the family, Cody Rhodes is the rising star in the WWE. Cody received his first major push when he and Ted Debiase were put under Randy Orton in the Legacy storyline.

Already a four time tag team champion (3 World tag team and 1 WWE Tag team) as well as two-time Intercontinental champion, he has just recently received a big push and is expected to be a big highlight especially under the WWE’s current storyline of the Authority. With the return of his brother Goldust to the WWE, the Rhodes dynasty is here to stay.

Click here to go to Part 2.