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WWE has managed to bring together exceptionally talented Superstars to form some of the best factions we've seen in all of pro wrestling. Evolution, The New Day, Undisputed Era, and The Shield are among the most successful and well-known factions formed in WWE.
Even though WWE has gone forward with the concept for several factions over the last few years, they've changed original plans and even switched around the Superstars who were supposed to be a part of certain factions.
CM Punk revealed that The Shield was his idea and that the faction was supposed to consist of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Chris Hero (Kassius Ohno).
On the other hand, there are several ideas and rumors regarding the formation of factions that WWE has shot down. While some of the faction ideas seemed very interesting, others may not have fared too well if they were actually given a go-ahead.
In this article, we will look at the three ideas for factions that WWE canceled and two that never materialized.
#5 Did not materialize: Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, and Mike Kanellis
In 2019, Dolph Ziggler appeared on an episode of Busted Open Radio and revealed that he wanted to start and lead his own faction in WWE. He aimed to pick up some of the underutilized Superstars and give them a much-needed push.
Ziggler wanted to build a faction called the "Misfits" with Superstars like Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, and Mike Kanellis.
"I just noticed that the Major Brothers are getting a chance back on TV again and maybe people are getting a shot here or there that normally wouldn’t get one. I actually had three days off so I could figure things out. I was wondering if I could help guys The Major Brothers or Mike Bennett or a couple of guys just sitting around chomping at the bit in the best shape of their lives looking to do something kinda like a Misfits crew of guys who have all the pieces ready to go, but just don’t have management behind them."
He went on to say that he could have been the manager of the faction.
“Maybe someone like me could be a mouthpiece and lead them on to greater things. Maybe make a stand like the guys behind the scene against the hand-picked guys to be the stars. I always wondered if something like that could work and that’d be pretty neat I think.”
Ziggler had all the right intentions as he saw a lot of potential in these men. However, the idea was scrapped, and instead, the company put Ziggler in a rivalry against then WWE Champion, Kofi Kingston.
Ryder, Hawkins, and Kannelis were all released from their WWE contracts earlier this year.
#4 WWE canceled: Bobby Lashley, MVP, and others as part of Nation of Domination 2.0
Comprised of Farooq, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, D’Lo Brown, Mark Henry, and several other top WWE Superstars, the Nation of Domination were seen as one of WWE’s most influential factions for almost three years.
According to a report from The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, WWE tried to revive the faction recently on WWE RAW but decided to pull the plug on the idea.
“There was an idea, I don't know if it was dropped. Originally, it was going to be on the show for a revamping of The Nation Of Domination and Ron Simmons was going to be a part of that angle, but they dropped that angle for this show. They may be building to it later, they may have dropped it completely, but they had brought him in for that angle. So, therefore, that is why he was on television.”- Meltzer said.
Many fans see The Hurt Business as a revived iteration of The Nation of Domination. However, MVP has silenced the rumors on Say Less With Kaz & Lowkey in July, saying:
“No, no, short answer is no, because I’ve been hearing the chatter and I’ve been seeing that and I don’t wanna do the new anything. The Nation was done, it was awesome in the time that it was done. It was needed, stars were made. I don’t wanna rehash something else, I wanna bring something new, and I don’t necessarily, in our approach to The Hurt Business, me and Bobby, as you know are legitimate friends away from wrestling. We boys. Shelton is one of my closest friends. I just like making money with my friends, you know what I’m saying?
"I have no interest in rehashing the Nation of Domination and while I do wanna present myself and Bobby and Shelton as strong black role models, successful, we’re businessmen. We’re not trying to make a statement on race. We’re trying to just make a statement."
Looks like WWE had a grand idea that they decided to cancel and allow MVP to work towards building his faction without basing it on past ideas.
#3 WWE cancelled: Triple H, Samoa Joe, and Kevin Owens
Triple H has been the brainchild behind several top WWE factions and ideas. After being a part of DX, Evolution, and The Authority, rumors started to circulate in 2017 that The Game was planning to create a new faction.
Samoa Joe made his debut on WWE RAW in January 2017 where he attacked Seth Rollins from behind before aligning himself with Triple H. Kevin Owens was the WWE Universal Champion on RAW at the time, and the rumor mill was abuzz with the reports that the company was planning to make a big faction comprised of these three WWE Superstars.
Triple H, who heads up WWE NXT, had a lot of trust in these Superstars from black and gold brand. So, it seemed likely that the company would allow him to take the reigns and lead them in the right direction.
During an interview with Main Event Radio, Owens responded to the the possibility of the faction's foray into WWE.
“I don’t know anything about a faction to be honest. I know that Triple H has shown a lot of faith in me when he helped me win the Universal championship. Samoa Joe happens to be a fortunate ally. I’ll never turn down someone like him for help. It’s interesting to see where it goes.”
Unfortunately, WWE never went ahead with the idea of pairing Owens, Triple H, and Joe together.
#2 Did not materialize: Finn Balor and former WWE Superstars The Authors of Pain, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson
Finn Balor has been one of the most successful men in WWE since 2010. The Prince recently managed to win the NXT Championship for the second time after returning to the black and gold brand.
Balor is famous in the wrestling industry as the creator and original leader of the infamous Bullet Club. The WWE Superstar attempted to recreate a the core of the faction in WWE when he teamed up with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
During an interview with Ringside Collectibles at Ringside Fest in 2017, Balor later revealed that he wanted to have a much larger faction with WWE.
"I'd definitely have Karl Anderson. Luke Gallows, probably the most underrated big man in the game. Here's the kicker: I would add in The Authors Of Pain. Who's gonna mess with me then? I could just stand in the front and I can have Karl Anderson here, Gallows here, The Authors Of Pain on each side."
WWE did allow The Prince to allign ith Gallows and Anderson. However, he didn't gain the services of The Authors of Pain, possibly because the duo were heels onn WWE NXT at the time while Balor was a big babyface.
#1 WWE cancelled: Former WWE Champion Randy Orton and The Revival
In 2019, WWE SmackDown seemed to have formed a new group that was slowly taking the brand by storm. Randy Orton and The Revival joined forces in a storyline against The New Day when Orton was aiming for Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship.
Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson were also looking to challenge Xavier Woods and Big E for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
The trio picked up a major following as fans thought that they worked well together. Judging by what the three men had to say about their partnership, it seemed like they were also ready to form a proper faction.
Fightful Select reported the following regarding the faction that never came into existence:
"We're told by multiple sources that Orton pushed to do more work with them [The Revival], even going as far as pitching a faction to Vince McMahon personally. The idea fell on deaf ears and Orton and the Revival were put on different brands in the WWE draft."
However, WWE never developed the idea of the faction. The company ultimately decided to cancel it and the three men went their separate ways during the WWE Draft.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Widler divulged that he too felt like WWE missed a major opportunity when they split up The Revival and The Viper.
"There was a lot of money left on the table when that was dissolved. We could have done a lot of good things for the WWE but that's not how they saw it unfortunately.”
WWE released The Revival earlier this year, but Orton continues to strive to become WWE Champion once again.
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