The Dangerous Alliance was a Professional Wrestling Power Stable in WCW from 1991-1992. WCW Halloween Havoc 1991 on October 27th started with a scene in the parking lot where Larry Zbyszko attacked Barry Windham and smashed his hand in a car door. Later that night, The WCW Halloween Phantom
Squashed Tom Zenk. Then Paul E. Dangerously and Madusa walked out and Madusa unmasked the Phantom as "Ravishing" Rick Rude, who cut a promo running down WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Sting. The group would come to include WCW World Television Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin, WCW World Tag Team Champions The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko) and Bobby Eaton. At Clash of the Champions XVII, Rude defeated Sting for the US Heavyweight Title and never lost it, since he had to forfeit it due to injury before Starrcade in December 1992. Dustin Rhodes and the returning Ricky Steamboat defeated Anderson and Zbyszko for the Tag Titles that same night, though Anderson and Eaton later won them back for the D.A. The group proceeded to fall apart after Sting's Squadron (Sting/Steamboat/Rhodes/Windham/Nikita Koloff) defeated them in War Games at WrestleWar 1992 on May 17th.
"The Dangerous Tropes":
- Alliterative Name: Ravishing Rick Rude.
- Arch-Enemy: Everyone in WCW, but particularly Sting.
- Bastardly Speech: It's Paul Heyman, so this one was inevitable. From WCW Clash of the Champions XVII, after Jim Ross said that the Sting-Rude match could be in jeopardy."First of all, let me state this on behalf of Mr. Rick Rude. It was a terrible tragedy what happened to Sting tonight. Both Mr. Rude and myself are ashamed to have ever met Lex Luger. We're even more ashamed to have met Madusa, to be honest with you. But business is business. And this, gentlemen and ladies, is the official contract for the United States Heavyweight Championship match tonight. It has been negotiated by my lawyers. Right now, in the locker room, the WCW Championship Committee, the Board of Directors, my attorneys and my good friend Mr. Jim Herd, and they're all back there pondering over one clause, Page 12, section 6.1, article 6. You want to get a close-up, go ahead, too late. It states, and you can see right here, and I'm not lying this time, 'Should by accident, Acts of God, or injury, the United States Heavyweight Champion not appear in the ring by bell time, the United States Heavyweight Championship will be forfeited, and the title will be assumed by Ravishing Rick Rude.' Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry that Sting will not be here tonight, but I had nothing to do with this. Should he not appear here by bell time, there will be a new United States Heavyweight Champion. Nothing you can do about it, nothing that Jim Herd, nothing that the Championship Committee, nothing that WCW can do about it, and the new Champion, without even breaking a sweat, will be Ravishing Rick Rude."
- Dark Action Girl: Madusa was the Director of Covert Operations and, at Clash of the Champions XVII, she walked out dressed like a harem girl to distract Sting so that WCW World Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger could clip Sting's knee before his match with Rude. She also climbed up on the roof of the cage during the War Games match while holding Paul E.'s phone until Sting chased her down.
- The Dog Bites Back: At WCW Halloween Havoc 92, October 25, 1992, Big Van Vader (w/manager Harley Race) defended the U.S Heavyweight Title against what remained of The Dangerous Alliance. After the match, Paul E. kicked Madusa out of the Alliance, saying that he only hired her "because the other hooker had prior engagements." Madusa, of course, took some exception to that. This is made funnier by Vader and Harley seeing the rage in Madusa's eyes and "noping" out of there. (Vader, who had just retired "Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, would go on to become the company's resident monster heel, and Race is an eight-time NWA World Champion.)
- Hoist by His Own Petard: During the War Games match, one of the turnbuckle rods came loose, and Zbyszko tried to fix it (with commentator Jesse Ventura saying that Zbyszko "should concentrate more on wrestling.") He tried to hit Sting with it but missed, hitting Eaton instead. Sting wiped out Zbyszko and forced Eaton to submit to an armbar.
- Insistent Terminology: Paul said that they weren't a "stable" or a "family," they were an "alliance of businessmen."
- Ninja: Paul E. disguised himself as one for the Rude-Steamboat match at WCW SuperBrawl II as a way to set up his nailing Steamboat with his cell phone.
- Oh, Crap!: Arn and Zbyszko's response when Dustin's partner, who had walked to the ring in a dragon costume, unmasked to reveal Steamboat.
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Spiritual Successor: The stable was conceived and assembled deliberately as a new version of The Four Horsemen, filling the void since Horsemen leader Ric Flair was in the WWF at the time, right down to having Arn Anderson as a member.note - Take That!: The D.A. was Paul's revenge for getting fired as an announcer, since he still had his manager's license and set out on a campaign to destroy the company.
