WWE Faction Breakups That Rocked And Those That Sucked

Factions are a huge part of professional wrestling, especially within the WWE. They have been utilized since the beginning of the sport.

Factions act as a way to develop younger talent while giving the current star a stable to back them up. They are almost always of the heel persuasion and make for great television.

What is also great about factions is when they implode. This inevitably happens but how good it can be is up in the air.

There is a decent split of faction breakups and how well they go off. There have been some that were fantastic and others that just plain sucked.

Here are some of those.

Rocked: The Judgement Day

The most recent faction breakup could be one of the better ones in wrestling history. Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio turning even more heel took the group in a new direction.

With the addition of Liv Morgan, they have become a more traditional heel group. They are getting the boos necessary to make the group a success.

The Judgment Day leaders Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest were on the other side of those heel turns. Both instantly became two of the biggest babyfaces on the roster.

The reactions are getting huge and WWE has some new stars. The implosion by The Judgement Day looked to be the best thing for everyone involved.

Sucked: NWO (WWE)

The NWO, in WCW, was a masterpiece of how to present a faction. They were heels but cool heels and their popularity was unmatched.

They comprised a who’s who of wrestling royalty and were a huge reason that WCW was able to best WWE for nearly two years. Then it came crumbling down when they made their way to WWE.

Bringing in the NWO was a great idea for WWE, but it lacked in execution. The group fizzled out and was rebranded with all but Kevin Nash being new members.

The fans didn’t connect with the new group, and they were disbanded with a whimper. Seeing the once-great faction treated like mid-card fodder was a sad sight.

Rocked: The Shield

Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins were young, hungry, and ready to prove themselves. Their debut was fantastic and over the next few years, they established the group as the preeminent force in WWE.

It was a given that they would break up but how they did it was perfect. Rollins turning on his Shield brethren did everything that WWE wanted it to do.

It was firstly a shock, as many expected Ambrose to be the turncoat and it created three stars in the process. Rollins broke out on his own as a detestable heel, and Ambrose and Reigns became the sympathetic babyfaces that WWE wanted them to be.

All three became top-of-the-card stars, a status that they still hold to this day. They were made men after their faction broke.

Sucked: The Nexus

The Nexus was a perfect storm of talent. The young upstarts from NXT wanted to carve their name into WWE history and did that by destroying everyone on the roster, including the owner.

They were presented perfectly and should have been the future. That is until John Cena decided to go into business for himself.

The well-documented issue with the main event of SummerSlam destroyed the Nexus. They looked like second-rate talent that couldn’t get the job done.

Following that they were never taken as a serious threat and slowly moved down the card. It was a poor way to cause the downfall of a promising faction.

Rocked: Evolution

During his reign of terror, Triple H needed backup to protect his World Championship. Enter Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista.

Orton and Batista were the young talents who backed Triple H. They gained incredible exposure and a seat under the learning tree of two of the best.

It was only a matter of time when they were going to step out from underneath that tree. When Orton, and then Batista, turned on their mentor, it created two superstars.

The fans were clamoring for both to give Triple H what he deserved and both instances were fantastic. They became world champions and were forever put on the same level as the greats of the era.

It took a while of cultivation but the payoff to the breakup of Evolution might be unmatched.

Sucked: Retribution

Let’s be honest, there wasn’t much done right with this faction from the start. Their initial presentation was intriguing and had potential, but WWE just mucked it up.

Retribution was never treated as a real threat. They were jobbed out to just about every wrestler on the roster and any aura around them was shattered.

They were grounded before they got a real chance to take off. By the time the group had come around to breaking apart, no one cared.

They whimpered out of existence and the fans yawned. It is hard to care about a group breaking apart that we forgot was around.

If their introduction hadn’t been so good this wouldn’t have been such a letdown, but they were, and it was. It really was.

Rocked: The Nation of Domination

The Nation of Domination was a perfect faction for the Attitude Era. They were controversial and brought all sorts of heat from the fans.

As a heel group, they were fantastic, and even as they evolved, they were still able to maintain that edge. When The Rock became too big for the group jealously reared its head.

D-Lo Brown, The Godfather, and Mark Henry wanted his spot, and The Rock was never going to give it up. It was a short feud but one that achieved its desired effect.

The Rock became the star he was meant to be and all four went on to have great careers. It was a win-win for everyone.

Sucked: The Hurt Business

WWE hit gold when they put Bobby Lashley, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander together. Lashley needed to establish himself as a top heel while Benjamin and Alexander needed something to keep themselves in the public eye.

It was a partnership that checked a lot of boxes and made for some great television for WWE. So, it begs the question of why the company would break the team up as early as they did.

There was no reason for WWE to split the Hurt Business. The group had only been together for a short period and had tons of life left in it.

Also, Benjamin and Alexander did nothing of not afterward. There were no big plans for them.

Only time left wallowing in catering. It was a move WWE didn’t need to make and one that hurt the Hurt Business.

Rocked: D-Generation X

D-Generation X was the group of the Attitude Era. They were brash, in your face, and didn’t understand the words politically correct.

They were great in the ring, and on the mic, frankly, there wasn’t a thing that the group couldn’t do that turned to gold. Including their break at WrestleMania 15.

On that night in Philadelphia, one of the greatest double turns in company history took place. Chyna turned her back on Kane, realigning herself with Triple H and DX.

Everyone was elated until the grand deception was revealed when Triple H turned on X-Pac to side with Chyna and the Corporation thus ending DX. It was a break that shocked the world and created the Triple H heel character we all loved to hate.

It was a perfect faction implosion.

Sucked: The Straight Edge Society

CM Punk is always going to be better as a heel. His smarmy character works so well, and he leans into it as much as he can.

There is no better example of this when he created his faction, The Straight Edge Society. It was chock-full of great wrestlers and had a CM Punk giving amazing sermons every time he could.

They were better than everyone and had no problem showing it. The group had some great programs during their time but, when it came time to end it, it was done without much thought.

After some backstage issues, Serena was released and was not replaced. The group was left with a big void, one that proved their downfall.

WWE let the group dissolve after this with an argument between Punk and Luke Gallows being the official end. It was an ending that they were not deserving of.

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling

Header photo – WWE – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.