League of Nations (professional wrestling)

The League of Nations was a professional wrestling stable in WWE, which was composed of Irishman Sheamus, Mexican Alberto Del Rio, Bulgarian Rusev, and Englishman King Barrett.

This article is about the group in professional wrestling. For the intergovernmental organization, see League of Nations.
League of Nations
The League of Nations logo
Stable
MembersSheamus
Alberto Del Rio
Rusev
King Barrett
Name(s)The League of Nations
DebutNovember 30, 2015
DisbandedApril 28, 2016
Years active2015–2016

The concept of the group came from the idea that all members were born outside of the United States and banded together to proudly represent their respective nations while also displaying anti-American sentiments. Formed in late 2015, during a time when WWE was attempting to establish Roman Reigns as the face of the company, critics panned the group for being created by the promotion to fulfill this purpose. Since breaking up in April 2016, League of Nations members have voiced similar criticisms.

History

At Survivor Series on November 22, 2015, Sheamus won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Roman Reigns.[1] Sheamus then defended the title in a rematch on the November 30 episode of Raw, but the match was interrupted by Alberto Del Rio (the then United States Champion), King Barrett and Rusev. Sheamus subsequently announced that the four wrestlers, all born outside the United States, had formed "The League of Nations". The group had their first match together later that night, teaming with then WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to defeat Reigns, Dean Ambrose and The Usos in a 7-on-4 handicap match.[2] On the December 3 episode of SmackDown, the entire League of Nations lost to Roman Reigns via count-out in the 4-on-1 handicap main event match.[3] The League Of Nations were then involved in a 16-man fatal four-way elimination tag team match on the following episode of Raw, facing The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan), The ECW Originals (The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno) and the team of Reigns, Ambrose and The Usos; the match culminated in Reigns pinning Sheamus.[4]

The League of Nations in April 2016

While maintaining a group rivalry with Reigns and his allies, members of The League of Nations also had individual storylines, as Jack Swagger started a feud over Del Rio's United States Championship, while Rusev was written into a story with Ryback.[5] Both of these angles culminated at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, where all of the League members successful in their separate singles matches, with Del Rio and Sheamus both retaining their championships (the latter needing help from his cohorts).[6] However, Sheamus' World Heavyweight Championship run ended the following night on Raw when he lost the title back to Reigns, ending his reign at 22 days.[7] He had a rematch against Reigns on the January 4, 2016 episode of Raw, but failed to regain the title even with Mr. McMahon acting as the special guest referee.[8] On the January 11, 2016 episode of Raw, Del Rio lost the United States Championship to Kalisto,[9][10] only to regain it the following day at the tapings for SmackDown after interference by Barrett.[11] At the Royal Rumble event, Del Rio once again lost the championship to Kalisto. He, Rusev, and Sheamus participated in the Royal Rumble match but were all eliminated by Reigns.[12]

Del Rio got a U.S. title rematch, which was contested in a two-out-of-three-falls match, on February 21 at Fastlane, which was unsuccessful.[13] Also at Fastlane, The League of Nations entered into a feud with then Tag Team Champions The New Day, who had become fan favorites since they had been paired together in December. They mocked The League of Nations in skits by calling them the "league of booty".[13] Sheamus and Barrett unsuccessfully challenged Big E and Kingston for their title at Roadblock on March 12, and Del Rio and Rusev were defeated by Big E and Woods in another title bout the following night on Raw, prompting all four members to attack The New Day after the match.[14][15] The League of Nations then challenged The New Day to a match at WrestleMania 32 on April 3, where they defeated The New Day, but were attacked by Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels after the match.[16]

On the April 4 episode of Raw, Barrett and Sheamus faced The New Day in another tag team title match, in a losing effort. After the match, the other League of Nations blamed Barrett for being the "weak link" and attacked him, ejecting him from the group, before the rest of the team was attacked by The Wyatt Family.[17] This marked Barrett's last appearance for WWE before his release from the company in May.[18] The storyline with The Wyatt Family was cut short later that month after Bray Wyatt legitimately suffered an injury to his right calf.[19][20] In their final appearance together, the group competed in a six-man tag match against Cesaro, Kalisto and Sami Zayn on the April 28 episode of SmackDown, but Del Rio and Rusev walked out during the match and Sheamus, who did the same, confronted Del Rio and Rusev during a brawl, and disbanded The League of Nations.[21] Del Rio also confirmed in an interview that the group had disbanded, stating: "We as a group have never worked very well, so we decided that it is better to separate".[19]

Reception

Critics panned WWE's handling of The League of Nations, as Wrestling Observer Newsletter writer Steve Khan wrote on the League's purpose for existence in December 2015, stating that "You can rightfully complain about the League of Nations losing to one guy on their second night as a team, but we all know they don't really matter. They exist to get Roman Reigns over".[3] In March 2016, Pro Wrestling Dot Net writer Haydn Gleed criticized how WWE squandered the four men's combined potential and still never explained in storyline why The League of Nations had formed, while noting that they had become "bad guns for hire who never accomplish their task(s)" instead of a "credible threat".[22] Also in that month, Pro Wrestling Torch writer Greg Parks said that for the members of the League, "somehow, most of them are less over (and certainly less interesting) than when the group was created".[23]

In a September 2016 interview, Sheamus said: "The whole League of Nations thing wasn't everyone's cup of tea for those of us involved, it didn't do any of us any favours".[24] Sheamus has stated that he felt "stuck in a rut" for the first time in his career while he was part of the group, which he said was "set up to make Roman Reigns a babyface".[25]

In an interview shortly after his departure from WWE, Barrett also said that the stable was merely a foil for Roman Reigns.[26] According to sports journalist Dave Meltzer, the faction "wasn't a success" and, along with his pairing with Zeb Colter, saw Del Rio take a less prominent role onscreen as his high-profile feud with John Cena was halted.[27] Upset with his spot in the company, Del Rio requested his release and it was granted in September.[28] The poor reception was also worked into a 2016 in-character interview with Rusev, who said the faction was a "bad idea" and that he was "thrown off" during his time in it.[29] During an out of character interview in 2020, Rusev said: "Theoretically, on paper, it could have been the best faction in history, but they never had a chance. They were there to be a punching bag for Roman Reigns, which is okay. We did great, we built him up and he went on to win the title [at WrestleMania] so we did our job right."[30]

Championships and accomplishments
Del Rio as United States Champion in January 2016
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References
  1. Caldwell, James (November 23, 2015). "11/22 Survivor Series Results – Caldwell's Complete PPV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  2. Caldwell, James (November 30, 2015). "11/30 WWE Raw Results". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  3. Khan, Steve. "WWE SmackDown results (12/3): Roman Reigns vs. The World". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  4. Caldwell, James (December 7, 2015). "12/7 WWE Raw Results". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  5. Tedesco, Mike (December 7, 2015). "WWE Raw Results – 12/7/15 (Final hype for WWE TLC)". Wrestleview. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  6. Caldwell, James (December 13, 2015). "12/13 WWE TLC PPV results – Caldwell's Complete Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  7. Tedesco, Mike (December 14, 2015). "WWE Raw Results - 12/14/15 (New WWE Champion)". WrestleView. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  8. Tedesco, Mike (January 4, 2016). "WWE Raw Results - 1/4/16 (Reigns vs. Sheamus)". WrestleView. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  9. Trionfo, Richard (January 11, 2016). "WWE Raw Report: When one is all ... all is one, when Brock Lesnar comes out ... you run, Becky shows some fire, US title match, a lot of matches announced for SmackDown, and more". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  10. Trionfo, Richard (January 7, 2016). "WWE SmackDown Report: New Network ... New Announcer ... New Champions?, Will This Be The Year of Interrupting Promos?, John Cena Appears, and the Most Importute Minute of Your Take is On This Show". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  11. Trionfo, Richard (January 14, 2016). "WWE SmackDown Report: US Title Match, More Matches for Royal Rumble, Tables Match, and More". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  12. Johnson, Mike (January 24, 2016). "Complete Coverage of 2016 WWE Royal Rumble". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  13. Johnson, Mike (February 21, 2016). "Complete WWE Fast Lane PPV Coverage". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  14. Caldwell, James (March 8, 2016). "Heel vs. Heel title match added to WWE Roadblock special". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  15. Caldwell, James (March 14, 2016). "3/14 WWE Raw Results – Caldwell's Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  16. Caldwell, James (April 3, 2016). "4/3 WrestleMania 32 PPV Results – Caldwell's Complete Live Report on Main PPV". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  17. Caldwell, James (April 4, 2016). "4/4 WWE Raw Results – Caldwell's Complete Report on post-WM32". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  18. Montgomery, James (May 6, 2016). "WWE Releases Damien Sandow, Wade Barrett, Alex Riley and More". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  19. Caldwell, James (April 24, 2016). "Del Rio says League of Nations will be ending soon, Bray's injury sealed future". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  20. "Update – Bray Wyatt injured on WWE's European Tour". Pro Wrestling Torch. April 13, 2016. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  21. Martin, Adam (April 26, 2016). "League of Nations dissolute". Wrestleview. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  22. Gleed, Haydn. "Gleed's Blog: The State Of WrestleMania 32". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  23. Parks, Greg (March 3, 2016). "3/3 WWE Smackdown – Parks's Complete, Real-Time Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  24. Johnson, Mike (September 9, 2016). "Kevin Owens Era Begins Tonight, WWE Panel At NY Comic Con, WWE in UK and China This Week & More News". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  25. "Roman Reigns and Sheamus make their presence felt: WWE's The Bump, Feb. 19, 2020". WWE. February 19, 2020. 53:29 minutes in. Retrieved April 11, 2020 – via YouTube.
  26. "Wade Barrett Talks About How He Thinks The League Of Nations Should Have Been Presented, What Does He Think The Purpose Of The LoN Was?". Wrestlezone. August 9, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  27. Meltzer, Dave (August 30, 2016). "Alberto Del Rio not returning to WWE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  28. Currier, Joseph (September 9, 2016). "WWE comes to terms with Alberto Del Rio on his release". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  29. Calwell, James (May 4, 2016). "WWE Video – Cole gets the Rusev Experience in weekly interview – eating Kalisto's big heart, failed League of Nations, Total Divas". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  30. Toro, Carlos (February 17, 2020). "Rusev: On Paper, The League Of Nations Could Have Been The Best Faction In History". Fightful. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
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