Brian Damage

When we think of the all time greatest wrestling factions…we think of units like the 4 Horsemen…The original nWo….DX…The Freebirds and more recently with The Shield. This piece isn’t about those teams, but rather the teams that strived to be like them only to falter. Factions that were forgotten or perhaps would like to be forgotten.

A.P.P.L.E.

Team Members: Santino Marella, Evan Bourne, Mark Henry and Daniel Bryan

This was more of a comedic team to go against the Corre at the time in 2011. (Get it…Apple vs Corre…Apple Core?!?) A.P.P.L.E. stood for Allied People Powered Loathing Everything….ugh! The team lasted only one appearance before dissolving and going their separate ways.

Dudes With Attitude

Team Members: Sting, Lex Luger, The Steiner Brothers, El Gigante, Paul Orndorff and The Junkyard Dog.

In WCW in 1990, the top babyfaces of the company united to fight off the top heel faction in the promotion…The Four Horsemen. Since it was the early 1990’s, WCW liked to associate their good guys with the term “Dude.” Look at the Dynamic Dudes and of course the Dudes with Attitude. I guess it was their way to seem hip. What wasn’t really hip ultimately was this faction and they soon broke up after a brief feud with the Horsemen.

The J.O.B. Squad

Team Members: Al Snow, Bob Holly, Scorpio, Gillberg and The Blue Meanie

The term J.O.B. Squad was actually an acronym that stood for “Just Over Broke.” It was an interesting concept where lower card and enhancement talent formed their own group to start winning matches and move up the card. Once they started winning matches though, the team sort of lost its way and in 1999…the team disbanded.

The South African Truth Commission

Team Members: The Commandant, The Jackyl, The Interrogator, Tank, Recon and Sniper.

The team lasted from 1996 to 1998 but never really got off the ground as a serious threat to anyone. The Commandant and Tank quickly left the group and The Jackyl took over as its leader before fading away.

The Oddities

Team Members: The Jackyl, Kurrgan, Giant Silva, Luna Vachon, Golga, George ‘The Animal’ Steele and The Insane Clown Posse.

A sort of spin off from the Truth Commission…the group was originally a heel faction called…”The Parade of Human Oddities.” Soon however, the team lost the Jackyl as their leader and were joined by the ICP and Steele and became babyfaces. They lasted from 1998 to 1999.

The Dead Pool

Team Members: Raven, Vampiro and The ICP

This was a relatively short lived stable in WCW that went nowhere because Raven would leave the company and the team would be repackaged…

The Dark Carnival

Team Members: Vampiro, The Great Muta and The ICP

The Dead Pool would be renamed the Dark Carnival with basically Raven being replaced with Muta.

The Cartel

Team Members: Max Andrews, Scott Anthony, Rip Rogers, Cactus Jack and Makhan Singh

This was the top heel faction in the old Global Wrestling Federations with some pretty noticeable names….Scott Anthony (Raven)…Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) and Makan Singh (Bastion Booger/Norman the Lunatic)

The Union

Team Members: Mankind, Big Show, Ken Shamrock and Test

The Union aka U.P.Y.O.U.R.S. aka Union of People You Oughtta Respect, Son was a babyface faction created to counter the Ministry of Darkness and the Corporation in 1999. They only lasted a couple of months in the WWF.

X-Factor

Team Members: X-Pac, Albert and Justin Credible

The heel faction was only together a few months in the WWF back in 2001. The X-Factor members all won championships including the Intercontinental (Albert) Light heavyweight (X-Pac) and Hardcore titles. (Credible) The biggest memory I have of them however, is their awful entrance theme that was done by musician Uncle Kracker….

Kirachi Vice

Team Members: The Great Gama, Vulkon Singh, Steve Disalvo, Makhan Singh and Gerry Morrow

The Kirachi Vice was a top heel faction in the Hart Family’s Calgary Stampede Promotion in the mid 1980’s. They would feud with members of the Hart clan as well as friends of the Harts.

The New Brood

Team Members: Gangrel and The Hardy Boyz

When fans think of the Brood…they think of the much more popular faction with Gangrel and Edge and Christian in 1998. Some fans may have forgotten, that after Edge and Christian took off as a tag team….the Hardy boyz briefly took their place to form the “new” Brood in 1999. They only stayed a unit for about 2 months before the Hardys themselves became an established team with Lita as Team Xtreme.

Team Lesnar

Team Members: Paul Heyman, The Big Show, Brock Lesnar, Matt Morgan and Nathan Jones

It seemed this was going to be a faction of really large and powerful men led by Paul Heyman. They had a match at Survivor Series in 2003 and then Morgan and Jones vanished.

The Blackbirds

Team Members: Iceman King Parsons, Action Jackson, Brickhouse Brown and Harold T. Harris

The Blackbirds were an all black heel faction that competed in places like WCCW, USWA and the GWF in 1987-1989. They feuded with the Freebirds and the Von Erichs mostly.

Unnamed Latino Faction

Team Members: Hunico, Epico, Primo, Camacho and Rosa Mendes

This was a faction that got started in the WWE but never really got off the ground because creative directions changed and Epico, Primo and Rosa went their separate ways.

The World Elite

Team Members: Eric Young, Kiyoshi, The British Invasion, Kevin Nash, Homicide and Sheik Abdul Bashir

A heel faction formed in TNA in 2009 that consisted of wrestlers from all over the world. They didn’t last a full year before disbanding with members going in different directions creatively.

TNA, WCW and the WWE weren’t the only ones with factions that fans may have forgotten about…WWE’s developmental system had a couple of interesting stables you may not have heard of….

The Polynesian Power Package

Team Members: The Usos, Tamina Snuka, Brodus Clay and Donny Marlow (Camacho)

This was a faction based in the WWE’s old FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling) developmental territory. It consisted of only Samoan or wrestlers with Polynesian decent. It was a heel faction.

The Kliq 2000

Team Members: Jason Sensation, Shooter Schultz, Spanky (Brian Kendricks) and Daniel Bryan

This was a heel faction that was formed in the WWE’s Memphis developmental territory Power Pro Wrestling. It consisted of wrestlers who were trained at Shawn Michaels old wrestling school…the Texas Wrestling Academy. It also featured Jason Sensation as the manager/mouthpiece of the group. Jason Sensation does a dead on impersonation of Shawn Michaels.