10 Things Fans Forgot About WCW's Filthy Animals Stable

The Filthy Animals remain a fun underrated act from WCW that barely gets any discussion these days. WCW had two versions of the factions in the company’s final few years trying to elevate younger talents. Respected names like Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson spent time in the group.

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WCW's Filthy Animals Faction: Where Are They Now?WCW had another version the following year with a few changes. The group represented the better energy of the hungry talents of WCW rather than the malcontent veterans when things got ugly. Any fan of the time to still watch WCW likely holds a soft spot for the group. The following tidbits will provide a deeper look at the Filthy Animals faction.

10 Was Reportedly Meant To Be WCW's Version Of DX At First

Few fans realize that the Filthy Animals started out as WCW’s hopeful answer to D-Generation X. WWE found massive with DX, especially when Triple H led the face version of the group. DX playing pranks and having fun at the expense of the heels was how the Filthy Animals took inspiration from them.

RELATED: 5 Reasons The nWo Was WCW's Best Faction (& 5 Why It's The Four Horsemen)

Billy Kidman having a camcorder (popular technology item at the time) showed his Kid-Cam filming other wrestlers while he played pranks. The other members joined in for some funny moments, but they never reached anywhere near the success that DX did for WWE.

9 Master P Leaving Helped Set Up The Group

Rey Mysterio and Konnan were already placed together months before the Filthy Animals became a faction. WCW paired them up due to Master P joining the company and needing a couple of wrestlers to represent him.

Master P leaving WCW ended the No Limit Soldiers faction and required something new for Konnan and Mysterio. The Filthy Animals became the perfect opportunity to continue working together with their other friends Eddie Guerrero and Billy Kidman joining them.

8 Konnan's Promo Created Group Name

The term “Filthy Animals” was first used by Konnan during a promo talking about the WCW locker room. Konnan personally thanked Kevin Nash, Eddie Guerrero Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman for having his back throughout the years.

Nash didn’t fit into that group on-screen, so he was the only one to not join that core. Konnan said some veterans didn’t believe in the younger talent, but they were “filthy animals” out for blood. The faction formed shortly afterwards with the Filthy Animals name finding success.

7 Four Different Pairs Of Wrestlers Won WCW Tag Team Championship

WCW never pushed any of the Filthy Animals in the main event picture, but they were often used in tag team or cruiserweight action. There were surprisingly four different partnerships throughout the multiple versions of the faction to win tag gold.

Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio is the duo most fans remember since they have stellar matches as a team. Both wrestlers ended up having title runs with Konnan as their partner as well. Juventud Guerrera and Rey joined the list as the fourth Filthy Animals combination to win the WCW Tag Team Championship.

6 Disco Inferno Changed His Name To Join

The later version of the Filthy Animals saw some new members joining after Eddie Guerrero left for WWE and Billy Kidman did his own thing. One of the odd inclusions of the group was Disco Inferno due to his friendship with Konnan that still exists today in attention seeking podcast form.

WCW decided to have a joke of Disco changing his name to Disqo mirroring the popular music artist Sisqo of the time. The “Thong Song” and a few other hits made Sisqo a figure relevant enough for Inferno to have a name change inspired by him.

5 Torrie Wilson Betrayed David Flair To Join The Filthy Animals

Torrie Wilson joining the Filthy Animals was a nice boost to add another dynamic to the group. The storyline of Torrie dating David Flair ran its course and benefited the Filthy Animals when WCW wanted to end it.

RELATED: Why Torrie Wilson Was Better In WCW (& Why She Was Better In WWE)

Billy Kidman flirting with Wilson set up her leaving David when he was away from television for a few weeks. The Filthy Animals ended up feuding with David when he returned from his time away. Torrie and Kidman became an on-screen and real-life couple during their time in the faction.

4 Ric Flair Was Robbed By The Filthy Animals

The next step of the David Flair storyline saw his father Ric Flair getting involved. WCW fans were more behind the Filthy Animals at the start as faces, especially since both David and Ric were coming off obnoxious heel runs.

However, it was an odd double turn when the Filthy Animals viciously attacked Ric in the ring for defending his son. The members of the group robbed Ric by stealing his jacket, Rolex, socks, shoes and other odd items to sell the heel run.

3 Had Fun Matches With Insane Clown Posse

The first WCW feud for the Filthy Animals was surprisingly against the popular musicians Insane Clown Posse. Despite being famous in pop culture, the duo loved wrestling and worked for WWE, ECW, WCW and TNA throughout their careers.

Vampiro was paired with ICP to form The Deadpool faction with Raven leaving after a short stint with them. The Filthy Animals had some underrated matches against Vampiro and Insane Clown Posse that felt like good fun bouts instead of the usual celebrity spectacles.

2 Rey Mysterio Had A Romance Angle

WCW tried to change things up for Rey Mysterio occasionally after he unmasked. The Filthy Animals adopted a new style in 2000 for their second run. Vince Russo wanted the Nitro Girls to move into bigger character roles like how WWE utilized female talents.

Tygress was one of the more popular members of the Nitro Girls and entered a relationship with Mysterio. The Filthy Animals segments featured Rey and Tygress as an item, with the occasional mixed tag match. This remains a forgotten but fun chapter of Mysterio’s WCW career in the faction.

1 Eddie Guerrero Started Some Of His Cheating Tricks With Group

Eddie Guerrero’s cheating tactics will live on in infamy for decades in wrestling. Many current talents still utilize his spot of throwing a chair for his opponent to catch and falling down to fake the referee into giving him a DQ victory.

This spot was actually originated by Eddie in WCW before he made it part of his WWE character. WCW wanting the Filthy Animals to have fun at the expense of their heel opponents made it perfect to test out here. The chair spot didn’t connect as strongly as it did in WWE, but it helped set up a future major part of Guerrero’s career.