The Dangerous Alliance

The Dangerous Alliance will be remembered for the massive impact that it's formation had on the TWF. The group's founder was the then TWF Commissioner, Paul Heyman. During his tenure in World Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s, Heyman built a Dangerous Alliance of superstars. Considered by many as one of the greatest gatherings of talent in professional wrestling history, Heyman managed superstars including "Stunning" Steve Austin and "Ravishing" Rick Rude, as well as the TWF's own "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson.
Heyman wanted to bring back the Dangerous Alliance in 2007 and wanted to do it with two of the TWF's biggest names.
Mastermind was on a roll. He became TWF World Champion at When Worlds Collide, the TWF's return show, and was a dominant and popular champion whose work-rate was second-to-none. His arch rival was The Assassin, a former TWF World Champion who, in fact, won the belt from Mastermind at Cyberslam in 2005. Heyman also wanted to create a moment where he could be remembered for sparking up something unique. Knowing that Mastermind and The Assassin would settle their differences at Take No Prisoners that September in front of a sell out crowd in Los Angeles, Heyman approached the two men and informed them of his plans. To his surprise, they agreed. Unbeknownst to the TWF roster, Heyman ran the idea past Mr. BIG, who allowed the plan to go ahead, a moment that would come back to haunt the CEO of the Total Wrestling Federation.
Franklin D. Roosevelt might well have said that Sunday, September 23, 2007 would be "a date which will live in infamy". In the main event, a packed crowd at the Staples Center was expecting a classic confrontation between two men who absolutely hated each other. After wrestling for over 30 minutes without a winner, suddenly, Paul Heyman approached the ring, which many speculated was to ensure a winner would be decided on the night. They were right, just not in the way they were thinking. On Heyman's word, Mastermind laid down for The Assassin, with over 18,000 fans standing in stunned silence as The Assassin was crowned the new TWF World Champion. Not even Chief Referee Pete Cavalli was aware of the decision and walked away from the ring afterward shaking his head violently. The three men were pelted with garbage, but not before Heyman gave a now infamous speech which included references to "real wrestling" and the TWF's notorious backstage politicking. Stating that his new Dangerous Alliance would put some fear into the TWF, Heyman grinned a Cheshire Cat-smile as he walked backstage with his men. Fans were incensed. How could the belt which they believed so much in, the Total Wrestling Federation World Championship, and the company they loved so much, be so cruel to them?
Heyman was removed from his Commissioner's role by Mr. BIG just four nights later and replaced by the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, a man who Heyman was never a big fan of. Heyman then made it his mission to rid the TWF of both Biggie and Flair. Flair would leave the company when he found an offer from Stanford too appealing, which was memorably ripped apart by an impassioned Heyman on the Grit BasH following the event. Biggie gradually saw his CEO position undermined after he (secretly) allowed Heyman's proposal through. Biggie suddenly found himself being booed by fans who would usually scream their lungs out for the TWF's most legendary superstar. Biggie's relationship with Sophie, his manager and valet was also under scrutiny, since it was common knowledge she had a boyfriend outside the business. Heyman attacked Biggie smartly and precisely, and at PayBack 2007, Biggie lost his Managing Director and CEO positions in a Ladder match to Mastermind, a friend who he mentored through tough times. Biggie broke down in tears at the end of the match, when Sophie told him she was pregnant. Heyman then announced he had made himself MD and would abolish the CEO position, stating "it reminded him of the past".
Biggie lost his mind, and after losing to The Assassin in a re-match of the "Match of the Decade" from months earlier at Total Annihilation in January 2008, Biggie snapped, giving his now infamous parting shot to the TWF, berating Paul Heyman and the company's new direction in his tenure. Biggie stated that he would not return to the company to save it once more, after he saved it in 2002 and he would enjoy watching it die a slow and painful death under Heyman. He was cheered as he walked out and the crowd uncharacteristically giving him "The Goodbye Song". Heyman's aim was finally achieved. He backed up the recruitment of main eventers Mastermind and The Assassin when he picked up the brawler, Blade, stating that he had the potential to be a huge star.
Heyman's era was largely seen as another fresh start to the company. He introduced a company uniform, a new logo, brought in his own backstage team, which oversaw a new writing staff, production team and referees to work the new style. Whilst initially a success, Heyman's critics suddenly started to get larger and the noises they were making became louder. The Heyman team's policy of putting his Dangerous Alliance stars near the top of the card, even if they weren't World Champion drew large criticism. To counter this, Heyman negotiated the return of NJS to the company, which was considered a huge shock, but it was later revealed it was rushed together to gain a higher approval rating, which it did, even for a short while. However, it was on one Friday night in March 2008, Heyman's approval rating would hit a low from which it would never truly recover.
Sophie was backstage visiting friends and Heyman was cordial with her, asking her if she minded becoming the focus of a segment later in the show. Sophie agreed, but it was a decision she would regret. Sophie returned to plug her new fashion studio and Heyman would invite her down to the ring to discuss the venture. He would never enter that line of questioning. When Sophie appeared in the ring, Heyman questioned her about her relationship with Mr. BIG and Heyman the proceeded to laugh in the face of Sophie when she told him that she had suffered a miscarriage. Even Heyman's own Dangerous Alliance members came out to stop Heyman in his rant, but the damage was done. Sophie was a hysterical mess, with few friends who could comfort her as Heyman's team had spread stories about her, and Heyman's psychotic smile as his stable lead him backstage became the image that defined his era. Heyman's popularity would further plummet when NJS walked out on the company prior to a US tour, claiming that the only person who could save the sinking ship would be BIG himself. Blade then found himself disillusioned by the faction when Heyman announced that impressive rookie and reigning King of the Ring, Justin Polaris, joined the faction with the Commissioner that Heyman appointed, Alexis Polaris, joining as well.
Polaris's arrival actually solidified the group as a genuine threat and a collective of great stars, but Heyman's attitude got the better of him. He would predict that all of his stable members would be victorious at Summer Break IX and if not, he would leave the TWF. Whilst former member Blade emerged victorious in his match, keeping his unbeaten Summer Break streak alive, Polaris would go down to Jean Claude Van Slam, a nemesis of the Alliance for many months, whilst Mastermind would lose to Hades in a match where Ric Flair was special referee and Deadman upended The Assassin for the TWF World Championship with the help of a returning Sophie and Mr. Edwards, who returned to help the TWF go back to it's former glories.
Whilst history books and profiles like this are unlikely to be kind to the faction, Heyman achieved exactly what he set out to, and dominated the TWF in a way very few groups and collectives have been unable to in the company's history, and for that, they should at least be remembered.