Your fav 5 factions in wrestling history

[CM Steel]

It's about time that the WWE came out with DVD about the greatest factions in wrestling history. But you personally, who would you put as your personal favorite five factions inn wrestling history? As for myself:

5. The Nation of Domination
4. Evolution
3. The Four Horsemen
2. D Generation-X
1. The New World Order

What about yours?

 

[relentless1]

5. Hart Foundation- Brets pro canadian crew was awesome, made for great matches and great story

4. Wolfpac- coolest faction of its time, with sting, luger, macho man and kevin nash one of the most powerful of all time too

3. DX- loved the original and the DX army the same, made for great memories

2. 4 Horsemen- no explanation needed

1. nWo- the original run was one of the greatest stories ever told in wrestling period. Single handedly brought us into the modern age of wrestling

 

[JJV]

Honorable mention: The Nation of Domination, The Ministry of Darkness, Wolfpac and The Shield

5) The Hart Foundation

4) Evolution

3) Four Horsemen

2) D-Generation X

1) nWo

I would love to see a Paul Heyman faction. They can put in some talented but wasted superstars in it. Cesaro, Damien Sandow and maybe even Alberto Del Rio to name a few. They can have a diva in it as well. I really wanted Drew McIntyre to align with Heyman.

 

[mesl]

5). Nation of Domination
4). The nWo
3). IV Horsemen
2). The Shield
1). The Heenan Family

The Heenan family are the winners for me.. Regardless of the stature of the wrestler Bobby Heenan was able to give them purpose and direction. From Andre, Rick Rude, Big John Stud, Haku, Barbarian to working with Hennig. The formula of the Heenan family was gold for creating feuds, developing characters and gaining heat.

Second purely for the enjoyment factor of the shield and for what they were able to bring to the ring.. In ring they are top notch entertainers and The Shield will most likely be the beginning of star careers. I do think they still had more to offer with the other factions of the Wyatts, Evolution, Heyman guys etc.

Horsemen for obvious reasons..

The nWo had their moments. Pioneered a generation of wrestling, did huge things the careers of Hall, Nash and Hogan.. But ultimately it quickly became a wrestling farce and ruined the careers for so many.

The nation of domination are 5th.. The image of the Nation of Domination in the centre of the ring was powerful.. Rock, Henry, Simmons, D'Lo, Godfather.. They had a gathering of serious talent and was certainly the launching pad for The Rock.

 

[MCMG]

The Shield - It seems a little ridiculous but this was truly an awesome stable. I loved everything they did. The ring work, the promos, the entrance, the look. Everything clicked and the quality of in-ring work was simply incredible. Their first match at TLC plus the matches with The Wyatt Family and Evolution were all classics and they constantly delivered. In time these three will all be stars and their legacy will be cemented. While they might not be comparable to other top stables; it was such an enjoyable run.

DX - They were brilliant. It was fun and epitomised the Attitude Era. It really helped to make Triple H into a top guy and he broke free from Shawn's shadow. Even their second run was pretty enjoyable and was refreshing for both Michaels and HHH.

Horseman - Such a classic stable. Flair might be the greatest pro wrestler of all time and The Horseman was his baby. He was so talented and the others were vital in helping Ric add another element.

NWO - Before it got out of hand. Hall, Nash and Hogan. They completely revolutionised the business and were an awesome stable.

Evolution - They didn't have classic matches like The Shield or classic feuds like the horsemen but there were 1) enjoyable to watch and 2) the making of two big stars. If their legacy is simply being a unique way of bringing up Orton and Batista then that is fine because the pair of them are top stars. It didn't help they were short of good people to feud with but Raw, in general, experienced a downturn and there wasn't many good opponents.

In terms my personal enjoyment: 1) Shield 2) DX 3) NWO 4) Horseman 5) Evolution.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I love Championships and Stables. My 5 favorite Factions in Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment history consist of Championship Stables.

5. Main Event Mafia – A Stable exclusively consisting of World Champions. They literally were a Wrestling All-Star Team.

4. Evolution – A Stable represented by the past great, the present great, and the future greats. They have evolved into greatness.

3. D-Generation X – A Stable fighting against the authority and winning. They were one of the most entertaining acts in history.

2. New World Order – A Stable invading and taking over an entire company. It was fun to see “Superman” not only join, but lead the “Legion Of Doom”.

1. Four Horsemen – A Stable controlling an entire promotion. Whether you loved them or hated them, they were the best thing going in the 80s. WOOOO!!

These 5 Stables accomplished exactly what they were set out to do. They entertained and they won Championships…lots of Championships. I would put any one of these 5 Stables against any Stable not on my list, and I’m sure there was no other better collection of talent.

 

[RicSpade]

1. Heenan Family - Heenan then is what Paul Heyman is today, just having the guy behind you gives you credibility and he managed multiple tag, IC, and a World Champion.

2. The Horsemen - The original Horsemen not the crap where they put Mongo in and then this guy in and replaced that guy, nothing was better then the originals.

3. The Ministry of Darkness - No explanation here just real good storytelling which this flock of misfits.

4. NWO - whether black/white or red and black I enjoyed both factions until the finger poke of doom.

5. DX - I am calling this the trio version with Chyna, because to me this was the best antics, yeah the 2nd version was good, but nothing compares to the original.

Honorable mentions to the flock, BWO, the Brood, Team Angle, and the triple threat led by Shane Douglas

 

[Wolf Pac]

1) nWo - They changed the industry when they arrived. I like to crown them the fathers of the Attitude Era because they were "attitude" before the Attitude Era. They were the first cool heel rebels, they dominated their company for a over a year, and took part in one of the greatest stories ever told in wrestling with Sting. Hell they were the inspiration for another of wrestling's greatest faction...

2) DX - They were meant to parody the nWo and nothing more. But they became their own thing in time and helped turn things around for the WWF in the Monday Night Wars. Like MCMG said, they were fun and epitomised the Attitude Era.

3) The Hart Foundation - Who would have ever thought that Bret Hart would make a great heel? They had tough competition going up against the nWo in 1997 but they were still a fantastic heel stable. They gained a lot of heel heat from fans, put on great matches, and helped develop Stone Cold Steve Austin into the star that he would become a year later.

4) Evolution - They were just the perfect format for a wrestling stable: Past, Present & Future. It worked, Orton & Batista went on to become top stars, and they were the best thing to come out of a bad period in the WWE.

5) The Shield - It really is amazing how the WWE have booked these 3 guys. They're the first best faction to come along in wrestling in a long time. Like the nWo but not exactly to their level, they were cool, they were badass, they were dominant, and all 3 are gonna be future WWE World Champions for sure.

 

[Catacomb]

The Freebirds
The Heenan Family
Raven's Flock
Ministry of Darkness
The Corporation

These are the factions I personally enjoy the most, I was never big into wcw so the nwo and 4 horsemen dont rank as high for me. The nation was only good with owen and that was so short lived. dx was the best with only hbk and hhh but two doesnt make a faction.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

1) NWO: Lifelong WWE fan who switched over to WCW for the NWO years. I'm not the only one who did so but for that fact alone makes them my favorite faction.

2) Nation of Domination: This would be the last version with Rock as the leader. This is when Rock became my favorite wrestler and the summer of 98 had alot of great Nation moments as they feuded with DX.

3) DX: You would think I'm talking about the version that feuded with the Nation but I'm not. I'm talking about the Shawn/Trips version. Loved the group so much more as a heel stable and the stuff they would say to Slaughter was priceless. As was their presidential address.

4) Evolution: Of course the original version. Trips ran Raw and Orton and Batista where 2 interesting young wrestlers (not Batista so much as he is Trips age but he was new to wrestling). Add in Flair as the mouthpiece and acting all crazy and you got a great group.

5) Heenan Family: I'm talking about the last incarnation in the WWE where it was just Flair, Perfect and Heenan. This is solely based off the crazy interviews we got from Flair and Macho during this time.

 

[Gibby]

CHAOS: the most charismatic man in contemporary wrestling, the dominant young former champion, a brutal henchman, a frog-faced joker troll, the two bookers and former best junior tag team in the world, Black Tiger and a whipping boy who carries a staff. What I really like about them is that they seem like legit bros; they don't really interfere on each others' behalves, they just hang out and make DVDs of themselves going on field trips and getting smashed. Like DX could have been.

The Dudley Family (ECW): mostly a motley crew of weirdoes that surrounded one killer tag team and one fighting little guy wrestler but christ did they change the game in the 90s (for me at least).

Nexus: they botched the angle, sure, and you might not think much of the workers, but this was probably the last thing WWE did that I didn't treat cynically and thought they could really get right. When they smashed up the ring on the night that got Bryan fired I absolutely loved it.

The Four Horsemen: the originals. Four greats in-ring, together they were supernova. No more needs to be said.

BURNING: particularly the Kobashi, Tamon Honda, KENTA and Shiozaki era and the feud with Sternness led by BURNING co-founder Jun Akiyama. Wrestling gold.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

1) The Dangerous Alliance. "Ravishing" Rick Rude, "Stunning" Steve Austin, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton, "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson, "The Cruncher" Larry Zbyszko accompanied by Madusa and managed with perfect swagger by the yuppie Paul E Dangerously. They might not have lasted long but I loved this group - the fact that they cosied up with the heel World Champ's Vader and Luger (managed by the great Harley Race) to take on pretty much every WCW face of note. A time of great promos and great matches.

2) The 4 Horsemen. This might go down like a lead balloon but (while I did love the JJ Dillon original Horsemen too) I have a special place in my heart for the incarnation that was Flair, Double A, Sid Vicious & Barry Windham and I will always wonder what they could have been if it hadn't been for Vicious and Flair leaving for the WWF.

3) The Hart Foundation (1997). Bret & Owen Hart, their two brothers-in-law Jim Neidhart and Davey Boy Smith and "The Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman. It amazes me to this day that the contribution surrounding the formation and span of this faction doesn't get it's due as being 'Attitude'. You want to talk anti-heroes? How about a group that was hated in the US and adored pretty much anywhere else?

4) nWo. Argh! So infuriating! The early months of the nWo was soooo good. From the 'invasion' from 'up North' to the third man to the who's who of the initial defectors and new members to the original egotistical boss (sorry Vince), everything felt fresh. It was the watered down version it became as it wore on and splintered and had second string back up and members left and returned seemingly weekly and old enemies joined said factions... (like this sentence) it became a complete cluster.

There are many other factions that I like... but these four are heads and shoulders above them in my affections.

 

[Aquaman6686]

5 - La Familia: I'm probably the only person in the world who will mention this group, and I don't care. La Familia accomplished something NO other faction in wrestling history did, having two of their members hold recognized World Championships simultaneously. That's a damn impressive feat.

4 - The Power Trip: Although other groups had dominated their respective companies, never before had TWO men done it so effectively. Stone Cold was WWE Champion, Triple H was Intercontinental Champion, and they won the World Tag Team Championships together as well. The Power Trip took full advantage of the amazing heel turn Austin had made at WrestleMania, and these few months were the best run of Austin's career in my book. Once Triple H got injured, Austin was quickly turned face and reverted to being the same character he'd been for years on end. Although they turned him heel again later for another few months, it just wasn't the same. If Triple H hadn't gotten hurt, this might have been the best faction of all time.

3 - nWo: The original version of the nWo made WCW the hottest wrestling product on the planet, and with damn good reason. If the concept hadn't become so watered-down due to new members joining practically every week, WCW may very well have won the Monday Night Wars. And on a side note, I don't care what anybody says - DX was nothing but a piss-poor ripoff of the nWo.

2 - The Four Horsemen: Easily the most iconic faction up to that point, and one of the earliest to make such a huge impact. With Ric Flair as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Tully Blanchard as NWA United States Champion, and The Andersons as NWA Tag Team Champions, the Horsemen completely dominated NWA wrestling for such a long time that it seemed like the group would be on top forever.

1 - Evolution: I personally prefer Evolution over The Four Horseman, since I prefer the Triple H and Randy Orton over any of the Horsemen other than Flair. While Evolution was undoubtedly a rehash and homage to the Horsemen, I feel Evolution made more of an impact in a shorter time.

 

[southrnbygrace]

1. The Four Horsemen (Arn, Tully, Flair and Ole) For me no one will ever touch the Horsemen. My favorite incarnation was the original version, but even when Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit were members they were amazing. I've seen so many of their matches live and, especially Tully and Arn, they were all incredible performers every single time.

2. The Freebirds. I can close my eyes and still see Michael Hayes walking down the ring to Freebird. I was so upset when they changed their entrance music to Bad Street USA. For a big guy Terry Gordy was very agile and IMO Buddy Roberts is one of the most underrated stars ever to grace a ring.

3. DX. For sheer fun in the ring, no one can top them. They were funny, irreverent, but able to back up all their smart remarks in the ring.

4. The Shield. Although they were only together for a couple of years, I feel they left an indelible print on the current product that will be felt for years to come. All three members are incredibly talented and I look forward to them reuniting in a few years.

5. The Heenan Family. Everything Bobby Heenan did was entertaining. And he made everyone he managed more entertaining. IMO he's one of the best talkers in the business and as a result his 'family' is one of the best stables/factions ever created.

 

[AnthonyM4]

5. The Triple Threat. I loved ecw and they were the elite faction there. Favorite version was Douglas, Candido, and Bigelow.

4. Hart Foundation- Bret, Owen, and Bulldog on the same team= awesome! Plus Bret was great in the anti American pro everything else role.

3. The Shield- WWE booked these guys together so well and they were different from the old factions. I loved how they even had Dean Ambrose emphasize that in their initial promo.

2. NWO. Hulk Hogan as a bad guy was very interesting and he was great as a leader. So many groups have tried to duplicate them, but failed at imitating them!

1. The 4 Horsemen(Flair, Tully, Arn, and Barry). IMO the greatest faction of all time. 4 awesome wrestlers. They were the epitome of cool. Wrestled, stayed up all night, drove in fancy cars, got all the women, partied all night, and the next day they did it all over again. All 4 were great in ring workers, cut great promos, and let's not forget JJ Dillon who was great as the manager.

Sometimes when I watch old wcw stuff and the nwo shows up, my brother always asks me "weren't they the best". No, the Horsemen were. To me no other faction will ever be better!

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

5. The Shield
Was a big fan of the run these three had and they were one of the best and unique stables in years. That they didn't have a leader, they were all three on equal levels, and all brought something different to the table was great. They didn't fully capitalize on their potential. It would have been cool for them to all have held singles titles while still being part of the group.

4. Raven's Nest/Flock
Raven was one of my favourites, so this is an obvious one. The Nest in ECW and feud with Dreamer is one of the best angles of all time, in my opinion. The Flock in WCW had so much more potential than what they did with it. But the feud with Saturn was pretty awesome.

3. D-Generation X
I actually hated D-X in 1997 because I was a Bret mark, and I'd have put The Hart Foundation here instead. I mean, I'm Canadian and individually Bret, Davey, Owen were three of the best of all time, not to mention Pillman and Anvil. But in hindsight, what Michaels and Hunter were doing was entertaining. And the 98 version with NAO and X-Pac took it to another level. I actually prefer the Michaels-less version of D-X with HHH as the leader.

2. The Corporation
I was a big sucker for the heel / corrupt authority angle in the late 90's. It was unique and fresh back then and is completely watered down and repetitive now. But back then, With Vince and Shane running things with Corporate Rock, it was some of the best TV. Even the later version of the "McMahon-Helmsley" era made for great TV.

1. The n.W.o.
Similar to the above, I was a sucker for the corrupt heel power group. And the way the angle started with the WWF guys "invading" was huge and unique.. WCW booking was a little sloppier, and the WWF version of the Corporation seemed more polished. But that's part of what made it cool. It was rough around the edges. Spray-painting and whipping opponents while fans threw trash into the ring.

 

[RedRegan1005]

My favorite probably won't go along with the list of the greatest but here it is.

5)Evolution: Say what you want I liked evolution. The concept was great it was the past - Ric Flair, the present - Triple H, and the future - Randy Orton and Batista. It worked well, it was last heel faction to show dominace in WWE really until the Sheild came along. And it served its purpose, it created new stars.

4)The New World Order: They changed the game, and made bad guys the cool guys. My favorite part was Scott Hall. Wit his catch phrases and his surveys I just found him entertaining and I maintain the opinion that Hall was actually the most talented of the group. To sum it up, NWO Four Life

3) Degeneration X: Unlike many my favorite incarnation was when it was just Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna, and Rick Rude for a short while. It was something new WWE hadn't seen in along time, and was the perfect way to combat NWO in WCW. At the time you never what they would say or do next.

2) The Sheild: Some may think I have them ranked high on my list but I have to be honest The Sheild was my favorite thing on WWE television for the two years they were together. In todays WWE for a faction to stay together, be so dominant, and stay interesting for a whole two years is amazing. Ten years from now we'll look back on the sheild as one of the greats, especially if all three men live up to their singles potential. I think WWE took their top three NXT prospects at the time, all who had different strengths and created a perfect storm.


1) The Four Horsemen: I don't have to say much about them. The faction is legendary, and rightfully in the hall of fame. Of course there were factions before them, but when you think of the first great faction you think the 4 Horsemen.

Honorable Mentions: I thought the concept of TNA's Main Event Mafia was great but like most things in TNA creative ruined it. I also really like CM Punk's Straight Edge Society CM Punk was a great cult leader, and ran his mouth so good you just wanted to see someone kick his ass. I always wish WWE would've gave the group more attention and a bigger push.