Factions make the wrestling world go 'round. They've been a key part of the business almost as long as there's been a wrestling business. It's a great way to get a group of wrestlers over at the same time. And when all members of the faction gel perfectly, there's honestly nothing better in pro wrestling.
Like individual wrestlers, factions usually fall under one of the usual heel or face categories. But sometimes, heel factions end up crossing the line and acting more like faces. The lines can get really blurry sometimes, but that actually kind of makes it even more fun.
10 The Dark Order Help Out "Hangman" Adam Page
When AEW debuted, one of their earliest heel factions outside of The Inner Circle was The Dark Order. It initially began with the tag team of Stu Grayson and Evil Uno but quickly grew to include more members such as Anna Jay, John Silver, and Colt Cabana.
After the tragic death of their leader Mr. Brodie Lee at the end of 2020, The Dark Order began to make a bit of a shift. While they are still technically a heel faction, they're so over with AEW fans that they are basically faces at this point. Befriending "Hangman" Adam Page and repeatedly watching his back might be the official beginning of their face turn.
9 D-Generation X Win The Fans Over
When the original group of D-Generation X members got together, they were intended to be a heel faction. Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude were bucking the system and driving the rest of the roster nuts.
Things turned a corner when they started running up against other heel factions like The Corporation. DX hadn't really changed that much, but challenging an evil authority figure was a big part of getting the fans behind them. Watching Mick Foley's back as he fought The Rock for the WWE Championship was a huge moment for them, heels or otherwise.
8 The Inner Circle Gives MJF The Boot
In the short run of AEW, The Inner Circle has proven to be a top heel faction. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz have been quite dominant, keeping in mind that Jericho is the only member who has held gold in AEW.
Letting MJF into the group was never going to end well. As literally everyone watching expected, he started trying to take control of the faction. The Inner Circle saw through him and kicked him out. It was a face move for an established heel faction that ended with their butts getting kicked by The Pinnacle.
7 The Shield Turns On The Authority
Some have said that The Shield might be the top, most impactful faction in the history of WWE. That's a pretty bold statement, but it's also hard to argue with. Seth Rollins, Jon Moxley (formerly known as Dean Ambrose), and Roman Reigns were a dominant heel faction working for The Authority for a while.
But at one point, The Authority pushed them too far and they turned on their employers. The Shield laid a beating on Corporate Kane, utterly demolishing him. It was a huge face moment for a team that had long been hated heels.
6 The Main Event Mafia Returns To Fight Aces & Eights
Impact has had its fair share of factions over the years, many of them with impressively ridiculous names. True to its kind of silly name, The Main Event Mafia was loaded with well-established main event players like Booker T, Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash, Samoa Joe, and Scott Steiner.
After being gone for a while, The MEM returned to take on the villainous Aces & Eights faction headed up by Bully Ray. The MEM weren't necessarily faces at this point, but they would be considered the faces of that specific feud.
5 The Undisputed Era Takes Pat McAfee To WarGames
For many NXT fans, The Undisputed Era's run on the black-and-gold brand cemented them as the most powerful faction ever. At one point, they held all the gold NXT had to offer and destroyed virtually anyone they faced.
Relatively recently, The UE ended up facing Pat McAfee and his team of Danny Burch, Oney Lorcan, and Pete Dunne in a WarGames match. The UE had been a heel faction throughout their NXT run, but they were the faces in this specific feud. They took on the task of shutting McAfee up on behalf of the rest of NXT.
4 The Hurt Business Beats Down Retribution
After working together in Impact as part of The Beat Down Clan, MVP and Bobby Lashley reunited in WWE as the foundations of The Hurt Business. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander filled out the group, creating a truly commanding heel faction.
As 2020 rolled on, a new faction called Retribution debuted. They basically just popped up randomly and wreaked havoc for no discernable reason. Of all the groups to take a stand against them, it was The Hurt Business to step up. They did it for a butt load of money, of course, but they were still the ones to take the fight to Retribution.
3 The Four Horsemen Ride Again
Easily the most storied faction in the history of the business was, and is, The Four Horsemen. While the faction has gone through an incredible variety of members over the years, it's hard to beat the original lineup of Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Ole Anderson, and Arn Anderson. Wrestling doesn't get more legendary than those four men.
In 1989, the lineup of the group took a shocking turn when long-time rival Sting joined alongside Ole, Arn, and Flair. This incarnation of the faction became the faces in a feud with Gary Hart's J-Tex Corporation, an odd look for The Four Horsemen.
2 NWO Wolfpac Turns Face On NWO Hollywood
Hulk Hogan turning heel to join Kevin Nash and Scott Hall as part of the nWo remains possibly the most infamous moment in the history of professional wrestling. It was a huge angle for a long time. But as pro wrestling is prone to do, the whole story ended up getting beaten like a dead horse until people stopped caring.
At one point, the faction was split into two groups, nWo Wolfpac and nWo Hollywood. Both were heel factions, but the Wolfpac became the faces of their feud by default. It was an odd time in WCW, to say the least.
1 The Corporation Stands Up To The Ministry Of Darkness
WWE's Attitude Era might have been the company's most impactful time in the company. It produced larger-than-life Superstars, not to mention some enduring and iconic storylines that fans still talk about.
During that time, there were two major heel factions. One was The Corporation led by Vince McMahon and the other was The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. While they eventually amalgamated to become The Corporate Ministry, there was a time that The Corporation was ostensibly the face faction in a battle with The Ministry.