Stables and factions are integral in wrestling. In life, people get together in a group around a united cause. They do the same thing in wrestling. Often, a new stable jumps into a federation and completely upends the story. They win the belts; they beat the good guys, they make it their own. But sometimes, factions fail. They’re lame, derivative, unoriginal, or the bosses just get cold feet.
So we’ve compiled a list of the best wrestling stables and factions. We’ve also included the less-cool versions of each popular faction. Sometimes imitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery. We take a look at everyone from the above-mentioned iconic NWO to the flat-out embarrassing “New Blood.” Let’s start with the team that brought the fireworks and had TWO WORDS for you!
15. D-Generation X
Who won the Monday Night Wars? WWE. And it was thanks to DX and their Attitude Era tactics. Triple H, HBK, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, and Chyna broke and re-wrote the rules of what wrestling was supposed to be. While they got their fame by feuding against Vince McMahon, they truly came into their own in a feud against The Rock and the Nation of Domination.
14. The Voodoo Kin Mafia
Billy Gunn and Road Dogg eventually left WWE. They joined back up in TNA and tried to create some of the controversial magic they had in WWE. Calling themselves the “VooDoo Kin Mafia” (VKM), the New Age Outlaws spent most of their time on TV attacking their previous employer and calling them out for public fights ala DX vs. the NWO. It never took off as TNA was never able to capture WWE.
13. The Four Horsemen
Ric, Arn, Ole, Tully, and their Manager, JJ Dillon. A group of some of the most feared men in the wrestling world. They ran the NWA and made the Mid-Atlantic region “Horsemen Country.” Fans and wrestlers still throw up the “Four” hand signal. They were the original “do what we want” bad-asses.
12. Fourtune
Are you noticing a running theme? TNA tries to re-create stables and fails at it. When Ric Flair came out of retirement to join up with TNA, he decided to bring the Horsemen name with him. Well..sorta. Flair teamed up with AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, Kazarian, and James Storm. It isn’t like this group wasn’t cool, but it was just so blatantly a rip-off. Points off for lack of originality.
11. The NWO
What needs to be said? They completely changed American wrestling. The American hero Hulk Hogan became the villain. It became cool to cheer for the bad guys. Who didn’t have an NWO shirt? Even to this day, my friends who only know the minimum about wrestling will bring up how much they loved the NWO.
10. Main Event Mafia
TNA is at it again. Apparently tired of trying to grow and promote their homegrown talent, TNA brought in a large group of WWE and WCW megastars just nearing their “Best By” date. Kevin Nash, Sting, Booker T, Kurt Angle, and Scott Steiner wreaked havoc on TNA, even creating their own title to put themselves on top. This kind of lazy crap is what happens when you try to get the band back together.
9. Evolution
Past, Present, and Future. Or as WWE could call it, “Then. Now. Forever,” Evolution was the ultimate stable that showcased where wrestling was, where it is, and where it is moving towards. Ric Flair, Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton were the ultimate force of success and wrestling power. Before the Shield, there was no more powerful and influential faction in WWE.
8. The Wyatt Family
The team of hillbilly wizards still gives me goosebumps. Casting themselves as a dark force of evil, the family terrorized the entire roster. A cult that people wanted to join. The team has split up now, but I would love to get the Family together again sometime.
7. The Dungeon of Doom
Oh, hey, here’s one that isn’t from TNA! Now, this isn’t a rip-off of the Wyatts. In fact, they existed nearly 20 years before the Wyatt family. They’re just another group of weird magic people. You’ll notice that it is a lot of former WWE wrestlers who ended up at WCW. So not different than TNA. Early 90s American wrestling was a dark, weird, and sad place.
6. The Shield
Cool-looking dudes who beat everyone up. SIGN ME UP! With their subsequent singles success, it is hard to argue that The Shield isn’t the most successful faction of all time. All three former members have held multiple titles and continue to be the top three stars of WWE.
5. The Elite Guard
This one is a bit of a stretch. A group of young wrestlers that was doing the boss’s bidding. From TNA. They even wore SWAT team stuff.
4. The Corporation
What happens when the boss pays all the most dangerous guys to be his goons? You get the Corporation. Looking at this line-up, it is hard to believe their entire creation was just to take out one man. Stone Cold.
3. Sports Entertainment Xtreme
TNA is at it again. This time, “The Corporation” was just a band of wrestlers defending…Vince Russo. This is from a time when TNA was mostly just on PPVs and barely on TV, but it did give me my favorite wrestling-themed gif of all time
2. Nexus
More than just another group of invaders. Nexus attacked WWE with legitimate grievances about being fired and losing their shots at the main roster. For a few months, Nexus tortured the best of WWE. Eventually, John Cena overcame the odds, but Nexus secured its legacy by then.
1. New Blood
Here’s everything you need to know. WCW. Vince Russo. Young guys fed to Hulk Hogan. They had a PPV named after them, but they disbanded MONTHS before.
