Friday, March 29, 2024
NewsColumn: New World Order: How To Create The Perfect Faction

Column: New World Order: How To Create The Perfect Faction

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When I was slightly younger, I grew up watching factions like the NWO and D-Generation X, as well as Evolution. The 4 Horsemen were before my time, so I could not say I was a major fan. I didn’t become a wrestling fan until about 1995. Being born in 1989, I could not tell you my first wrestling memory, but I just knew I was hooked from the get-go.

The way I really became a fan was by watching great tag team matches. Teams always seemed to be cool to me. So naturally I gravitated toward factions. The issue with my faction love is that I have seen so many and only a few were memorable.

Most of the time, TNA and WWE doesn’t give us a grand faction that stands the test of time. Evolution was a great team that ruled RAW and even SmackDown a bit from 2003-2005. Then Triple H and Ric Flair remained paired for a slight while after.

To me, it was the last great faction WWE had. The previous factions like Nexus and Shield have had their merits. And the jury is still out on how great The Shield can be. They are still hot and could always remain a great team. But will they make history and be the greatest ever? It’s too early to tell.

Nexus and The Corre fizzled out quick. They did not end well or make much sense. There was also no title dominance with them. A few Tag Team titles and an Intercontinental Title does not make a great faction.

Meanwhile with Evolution, we had Triple H winning 5 World Heavyweight Championships. Randy Orton won one as well along with an IC Title. Batista and Flair won tag gold and Batista later won the Royal Rumble which set up for a match against Triple H at Wrestlemania 21.

It was how a faction was supposed to be done. If you’ve noticed, every faction of great note was led by an established main event star. Sometimes more than one.

In WWE nowadays, we don’t seem to see that with factions. It is mainly new guys coming up the roster that get the shot as a group. This helps multiple guys come up at once, but kills the possibilities for it to be a massive team because at the end of the day, they are stoppable.

They are new, so they are unique for a while. But how long can they last without an already established threat?

Legacy was a nice idea for a faction. Orton was a main star, and Ted DiBiase, Jr./Cody Rhodes were great as lackeys for him. However the execution of the group was horrific. This is why I feel that WWE has to eventually create a faction that can be an actual threat to the main event scene and take over a show.

The Shield is a great team with a ton of potential. But the reality is, eventually we know these guys will split to enjoy great singles careers.

All three are well established singles competitors. Dean Ambrose is obviously the star of the group and he could see a major singles push in the future. Rollins and Reigns are by no means bad. They are terrific as well and will probably be World Champions one day too.

But how do we create the ultimate group? And more importantly, who do we add to it?

There are two major possibilities for top tier groups.

Many would like to see a group that was references in a past WWE video game. It would pair Drew McIntyre, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, and William Regal together. I assume it would be called the “United Kingdom”.

This faction idea works out well and could be a major threat if WWE wants to expand its International audience. Sheamus is a noted World Champion. He is a main event man all the time.

Drew and Wade are former IC Champions in their own right. Regal is also a former champion of many titles. But the one thing he brings in is managerial services. On top of this, he brings in experience that could be used well.

This faction would do well because all 4 are established stars. All 3 are main event talents, and adding Regal to the mix would make them almost unstoppable. If they added Cesaro, they’d have a major group that could be even better.

This group would be feared as a heel faction. But they could be a face group as well. There is no way that they would get pushed down the ladder to the mid-cards like the Shield has.

The fans would probably be quite into this group, making them a top contender for several titles and their faction cred would go up the more titles they bring in. The dominance would also be essential. And I feel this group could do that. They have enough talent to make it happen.

The next idea for a group would be putting The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, and Leo Kruger.

2 former World Champions, one great singles star in need of a chance, and then a monster who just wants a place to hurt people. Kruger is currently in NXT with literally the most potential among most there. In my opinion, he will be pushed to the moon as a singles star once he arrives. But a great way to introduce him and move him along slowly, but also in an impressive way, would be to pair him with these men.

Miz and Ziggler bring in a great ability on the mic. Ziggler brings in the flash that is needed with any group. Miz brings leadership, mic work, and story presence. Rhodes brings in character as well as wrestling skill.

Kruger could learn a great deal. But on top of this, they’d simply be feeding the monster for an eventual move out of the group.

He’d help them rule the land, and all men would enjoy great success. 3 are established names currently, but you also move a Superstar up who has major potential. Some say that Kruger should be used quick because of his age (34).

To those people I say the name Batista. Dave was actually around the same age when he was put in Evolution. Yes Kruger is not the size of Batista. As Kruger is slightly over 6’0, but he is all muscle with a power style. But Kruger is in great shape without major injuries in his past. So he’s perfectly fine for this role.

Having this group on TV would be great because they give everything you could want in a group, and they cannot be beaten greatly due to it. The eventual way they are broken down is from within, like every major group seemed to go down.

Whether we have the United Kingdom or this group, or maybe you have your own group that could fit, one thing is a constant. We cannot continue to bring up groups from NXT and expect them to go down in the history books as the greatest ever faction. Mainly because WWE is always in to make people singles greats. This is why tag teams rarely stick together these days.

If we have established stars as the core of a group, there is no way to go wrong. As we know each star’s potential already. And then we add in that all involved could benefit the others. So by doing this, you create more than one major star. So each still get to have their day in the sun.

Some do more than others. This would be where some professional jealousy could come into play.

The best factions were made of people who didn’t have to be together to be successful. But they got together anyway to forcibly change the company they were involved with. From the 4 Horsemen to the NWO, all the way down to DX and Evolution. None really needed to be together. But they were because they knew they could be even greater with numbers than they already were alone.

TNA’s Main Event Mafia proved this. And they are bringing them back because of the success. The formula is sound to create history. The Corporation proves this too.

Vince McMahon is the owner of WWE. Did he need a faction? No. But he had one because it worked for TV and it worked to get characters over. Stone Cold, Mankind, and Rock all were major fixtures with the Corporation and it’s story. The Undertaker later was with the Corporate Ministry.

Whether a group is to help get one or all members over, it really doesn’t matter. The new groups of unestablished stars start out nice but end without making much note. Do we need more of these or more of the established stars creating groups that can also involve new faces?

To me, we need more Evolution/NWO/Horsemen groups. Not so much that we have to demand them to get the greatest stars all together in one group. But WWE has so many guys that need a push. On top of that, they have several guys they never use who have loads of potential.

Groups give the option to use those people. So get some of these people together. This not only helps the singles area. But it can help the tag scene. The ladies can get involved as well, which can help get them over too.

So essentially by creating a few great groups, you help solve established issues and fill holes where needed.

However, this is one man’s opinion on how to create the best faction that we can have this era. But what do you think? If you could create a faction with 5 members or less, who would you use? What would be the group name? Let me know in the comment section below.

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