
The Revolution was formed by Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Shane Douglas and Perry Saturn on the July 29, 1999 edition of WCW Thunder. When the group first came together as fan favorites, it was with the idea that they were a group of younger wrestlers who had felt slighted by WCW management, never giving them the chance to be stars, while always giving older, more established wrestlers the top spots.
In October of that year, the gimmick of the group changed to one that was anti-America and anti-government. This was established with Benoit taking a microphone, looking toward the entrance stage, and stating that they were "tired of the politics going on in the back". The group even went so far as to create their own flag and claim to have left the United States and formed their own government.
Benoit and Malenko left the group in October, but Malenko turned on Benoit in a setup where Malenko had never really left The Revolution. The Revolution then added Asya and feuded with The Filthy Animals. The Revolution kidnapped Torrie Wilson and put her freedom up in a match against The Filthy Animals, which they lost.
In January 2000, Malenko, Saturn and Benoit left WCW along with Eddie Guerrero and formed The Radicalz in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), while Douglas took a hiatus, before returning to WCW in April.