"Gang Wars" WWF (1997)

[Vader]

WWF in 1997 starting looking like an episode of Oz.

I believe this was a Russo idea; for those that don't remember, WWF had three stables the Disciples of Apocalypse.

Los Boricuas

The Nation of Domination

You basically have the Hell's Angels vs. Latino street gang vs. Black Panthers. This definitely marked a transition from the norm for WWF who were running cartoonish gimmicks just a year earlier.

I think they maybe could have done a little bit more with the angle especially leading into Survivor Series. Unfortunately, most of the heat was just really based on the race of the guy wrestlers they didn't have many spots off camera.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

There were more than that...

There was also The Truth Commission, The Hart Foundation and DX all in 1997.

A lot of it was to offset the NWO, which at the time was an ever growing group that wasn't really going anywhere storylinewise other than taking over... Gangs were cool but they took this to the next logical step and had then actually hate each other, feud with each other and make it more a "turf war" than an invasion as WCW were doing.

Looking back the ethnic lines of the groups were somewhat unfortunate but also bear in mind founding members of the other 2 groups you mention were also part of the Nation... Crush was the leader of DOA and Savio the leader of Los Boricuas... so it was as much about a Nation implosion than racial tones... indeed if you fall foul of a gang, the first thing you'd do is find your own.

Guys like the Truth Commission never really took off but became their own offshoots with Kurrgan and The Jackyl forming the Oddities and Recon/Bull Buchanan joining up with Big Bossman and the Corporation.

Could they have done more with it? Not really, it was an interesting mid card feud that was overshadowed by the real dramas unfolding in the company. The Hart Foundation/DX turf war was real and was far more compelling than anything those other 3 groups could produce. It was also clear the main talent was all in the Nation... Boricuas were all solid but uninspiring smaller talents and DOA were mediocre big man workers... The Nation had the pool of talent that mattered like Rocky, and Faarooq and the talent that actually grew into something from it like Godfather and most importantly D.Lo Brown.

Make no mistake, as big as Rock got later the real "winner" of this war was D.Lo, he was a marginal figure in the original NOD group, but through this feud and later iterations of the NOD ended up 1999's surprise package... he was the one who held both mid card titles and seemed set for an even bigger push someday till the Droz accident killed both careers... sadly it killed Brown's confidence and others confidence in him... like Owen and Austin it only takes one mistake, even if it really isn't your fault for people to be wary... Owen managed to recover but it stopped him taking that final step up the card more than Montreal did... Austin wouldn't trust him again... D.Lo arguably lost trust in himself... real shame.

 

[Vader]

I certainly hadn't forgot about DX or the Hart Foundation. DX didn't really come around until later in that year if I remember correctly. I'll never forget the night DX framed the Hart Foundation by spray painting "KFC," "N!gger," and "Go back to Africa" all over the Nation of Domination's locker room. I just didn't really consider the Hart Foundation or DX apart of that feud.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I enjoyed all of those factions, I can't think of any other time in WWE before or after that the WWE had more factions than this, Everyone on the roster seemed to have a place on the card back in those days.

 

[OYDK]

Yeah that was a pretty cool time. WWE would never get away with something like that nowadays. An all black (racist) faction that believed they were being held down by the "white man" vs the typical Latino street gang vs the all white "racist but not racist" biker gang. It started off really well, because the dispute made it feel like a real "turf war", and they gave it a good amount of air time by filming attacks in the back and whatnot.

After a while that particular storyline kind of fizzled out and they all just wrestled for the hell of it for a few more months, but as other poster pointed out, The Hart Foundation and DX were there to pick up the slack.