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WWE dropped hints about a new faction making their debut on WWE TV. During the recent episode of WWE RAW, lights in the Performance Centre kept flickering, and the sound cut out as the WWE Superstars were talking. Later in the show, the action cut to show CCTV footage of a group of people, dressed in black and setting things ablaze backstage.
Also on the show, we got a bit of a stronger taste of the new faction led by MVP, The Hurt Business. The group made their presence known on the first installment of Shane McMahon's Raw Underground, tearing their way through the fighters and declaring the new segment under their management.
As we start to gear towards us being fully introduced to this new group, as well as considering the rise of The Hurt Business, it seems like a good time to think about what other factions we have had over the years in WWE. Some have made a bigger impression than others, and here are five of the best WWE factions that we have experienced so far.
#5 The Nation of Domination
The Nation of Domination was first established in WWE in 1996, led by Faarooq. The leader was first joined by Crush, Clarence Mason, D'Lo Brown, and Savio Vega, and later removed Crush, Mason, and Vega from the group after becoming frustrated with them.
Faarooq later introduced Kama Mustafa and The Rock to the group, followed by Mark Henry. On the RAW after WrestleMania XIV, Faarooq was ousted from the faction, and The Rock replaced him as the leader, later changing the name to simply The Nation.
The Nation later began to adapt more to the persona of The Rock, with Mustafa developing his Godfather character. The group then feuded with D-Generation X, where fans saw DX parody The Nation, and the two groups went head-to-head at Over The Edge: In Your House.
Shortly after this, The Nation split, with The Rock becoming one of the biggest singles stars in WWE history.
#4 The New Day
Over recent years, The New Day has become one of the most-loved WWE factions. On their debut, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E had a gospel gimmick. WWE fans didn't seem to enjoy the characters and often reacted negatively at shows.
The New Day started to change their characters up a little, becoming more playful and dubbing their rivals, The League of Nations as "The League of Booty" and donning unicorn headbands, with Woods playing his trombone, Francesa, before and after matches. Around this time, the group also became the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, lasting an impressive 331 days with the belts.
In 2019, Kingston was chosen as a replacement for the injured Mustafa Ali in that year's Elimination Chamber, building a rivalry with then WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. The two later went head-to-head at Wrestlemania 35, with Kingston coming out on top
Kingston later lost the title to Brock Lesnar, and in November the same year, The New Day managed to become Tag Team Champions for the eighth time in their career. They dropped the belts at Extreme Rules 2020, and following this, Kingston gave his blessing for Big E to pursue a singles run, as he was injured and Woods was also out of action
#3 Evolution
Evolution was formed in 2003 when Batista and Randy Orton joined Triple H and his manager, Ric Flair. They were dubbed Evolution after Triple H claimed that they represented the past (Flair), present (himself), and future (Batista and Orton) of wrestling.
The group started to dominate when Orton began to develop his Legend Killer gimmick, and in 2004 they took off. Batista and Flair were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, and at this time Triple H was the World Heavyweight Champion, and Orton was holding the Intercontinental title.
The four remained a constant in the title scene until 2005. Batista, Orton, and Triple H began competing against one another, and after Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble, Triple H tried to convince his ally to move to SmackDown to challenge JBL for the WWE Championship rather than his World Heavyweight belt.
However, this backfired when Batista chose to go for Triple H's title and powerbombed his former mentor through a table. At WrestleMania 21, Batista was victorious, becoming the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Evolution was over by this point, but the group has reunited on occasion.
#2 The Shield
The Shield, consisting of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns made their WWE debut in 2012. The group was originally intended to be heavies for CM Punk, but they quickly developed into a dominant force of their own.
The trio first helped CM Punk retain his WWE Championship by interfering in his matches and attacking his opponents. After it was revealed that the group was getting paid to do this by Paul Heyman, they then began a lengthy undrafted streak, beginning at Elimination Chamber and leading into Ambrose becoming United States Champion, and Rollins and Reigns winning the WWE Tag Team Championship.
Following this, The Shield remained in the title picture, but tensions started to rise between the three of them. This came to a head when Rollins turned on his stablemates, aligning with The Authority.
The Shield would have brief reunions through the time that the three of them were members of the WWE roster, and at different points in their WWE every member of the group spent some time as WWE Champion.
The group split for good after Ambrose left to pursue a career in AEW and NJPW as Jon Moxley, and the remaining stars of The Shield are still two of the biggest names in WWE.
#1 D-Generation X
D-Generation X was truly the faction that defined the Attitude Era. The WWE faction was originally made up of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, and Rick Rude. The first feud that the group was involved in was against The Hart Foundation. The group caused chaos at ringside during Michaels' match with the British Bulldog at One Night Only 1997, handing HBK the win.
Just as DX was getting started, Rick Rude left WWE following the infamous Montreal Screwjob, and the group became a trio. By the end of 1997, both Michaels and Triple H were champions in WWE and went into WrestleMania XIV with Mike Tyson by their side, who was to guest referee the match between the Heartbreak Kid and Stone Cold Steve Austin. However, Tyson turned on DX, enabling The Texas Rattlesnake to win.
Following this Triple H kicked Michaels out of the group and recruited X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws to join him and Chyna. Later that year, WWF and WCW were competing to be on top, and the rivalry ramped up when DX invaded Nitro to blast insults down a megaphone. Everything later began to fall apart for the group, with all the members gradually turning on one another, and by the end of 2000, the former leader Triple H was a solo star.
In 2006, there were some small hints at the faction reforming, and after Michaels came to the aid of Triple H, they reformed as a duo. The pair were on and off for the next few years, but when together they mostly played practical jokes on Vince McMahon.
D-Generation X were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 during WrestleMania 35 weekend.
