Professional wrestling factions are a staple of the wrestling industry, and ever since the 1980s when the Freebirds and the Von Erich family had legendary battles down in Texas, to the revolutionary NWO, they have been one of the more entertaining phases of the business. No matter what professional wrestling organization in the world you can think of, stables will have been a major part of their growth and development, as there is quite honestly nothing better than seeing two big time stables going head to head (such as The Wyatt Family vs. the Shield back in 2014). Or, unfortunately, it can be a disappointment (just like the poorly booked Invasion angle from WWE in the early 2000s), but when done correctly it can make absolute magic that the wrestling business will never, ever forget.

From New Japan Pro Wrestling, to TNA, to ROH, to Pro Wrestling NOAH, all the way back to WWE, there is no denying that there is an abundance of entertaining factions within the business today, all of which are unique and serve different purposes within their wrestling company. Here are the 15 best, who display what is so exciting and unique about the prospect of a great stable in the wrestling industry.

29 15. The Black Label

via twitter.com
via twitter.com

Without a doubt the least known stable on the list, coming from a small yet ever growing promotion in Scotland called Insane Championship Wrestling, the group combines European industry veteran Jack Jester with ICW GM Red Lightning, and is spear headed by WWE reject Drew Galloway who has led the group and ICW to new heights within the European independent wrestling scene. Since returning to his native Scotland following his head scratching release from the WWE, Galloway dominated the main event scene and revitalized the promotion, but surprisingly turned heel and aligned himself with former rival Jester, and the trio have run roughshod over the roster since this occurred in 2015. Despite their combined efforts, Galloway lost his title to fan favorite Grado at Fear and Loathing VIII, but they still remain one of the biggest draws in the independent scene in Europe, and are contributing to the significant growth of professional wrestling in that part of the world.

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27 14. The Helms Dynasty

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

During TNA’s current revival (which yes, is actually happening, as many, including myself feel the week to week product is better than what WWE is putting out), their home grown stars have been able to take the spot light more and more, and this is very true in the case of the Helms Dynasty (yes, I know it’s named after WWE has-been Shane Helms, but that’s not the point!), as it is showcasing two of the brightest stars TNA have had in years, Andrew Everett and Trevor Lee. Coming together to help against Eddie Edwards and DJZ, the duo were both trained by Helms with the Hardy Boyz in their home promotion OMEGA, a mutual factor that has helped them to success, as Lee held the X Division title for 155 days with the factions help, and although it is still very young, there is much potential for this group to do great things in TNA, as either 2 solo performers or a tag team.

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25 13. The Worldwide Underground

via wrestlingcentral.xyz
via wrestlingcentral.xyz

The only Lucha Underground stable to appear on this list features 3 highly talented high fliers, who are all regarded in the highest respect within the industry, yet have somehow managed to become the most hated group in Lucha Underground, due to the wacky yet effective story telling, and the ability of all three members (Jack Evans, PJ Black and Johnny Mundo) to play the cocky, arrogant heels. Despite losing their Trios Championship titles at Ultima Lucha dos (looking strong in doing so), the group were still one of the focal points of the entire second season, and with their undeniable talent, there is no doubting Lucha Underground will be looking to feature the three stars prominently in their third season (which has already been filmed, but I don’t read spoilers, so it’s just a guess).

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23 12. Decay

via voicesofwrestling.com
via voicesofwrestling.com

As mentioned earlier in the article, the reason behind TNA’s renaissance is the better treatment of their home grown stars, and this is also being used to great effect with Crazzy Steve, Abyss and Rosemary who have become the creepy cult like group led by Rosemary, and this has led them to the TNA World Tag Team Championships which they currently hold and won from Beer Money Inc. (after kidnapping a women to trick them into a match no less… so they’re basically the Wyatt Family, yet can actually get results in the ring). The formation of the group in early 2016 helped Crazzy Steve find his footing and save himself from becoming a quirky comedy act, and saved the career of TNA stalwart Abyss who has been with the company since 2002 (one of only 2 stars still with the company since their first year, the other being James Storm).

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21 11. Mount Rushmore 2.0

via adamcolepro.weebly.com
via adamcolepro.weebly.com

Before he came into WWE as Kevin Owens, Kevin Steen was competing in PWG down in California, and brought together 4 men who were being mistreated by the fans in that promotion, Adam Cole and the ever controversial Young Bucks, but rather then fold when Steen left, the group has gone from strength to strength. Losing Steen, the group has now become 5, with the addition of then PWG World Champion Roderick Strong, Adam Cole and the surprise return of Super Dragon, the group is quite possibly the most talented in all of wrestling, but find themselves so low on this list due to the frequency at which they wrestle together, as PWG only runs shows once every 6 weeks. Despite this, the group, whether competing on their own or together are still one of the most impressive in ring units in the history of wrestling, and manage to make their presence known on every PWG show they perform on, making them a no-brainer for this list.

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19 10. Los Ingobernables

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

This CMLL faction came together in 2014 when Rush, La Mascara and La Sombra, who were all portrayed as hero’s for the longest time began to embrace the darker side of their characters with increasingly negative crowd reactions, they decided to band together and ended up creating one of the most dominant factions in Mexican wrestling history, one which is still going strong even to this day, despite the loss of La Sombra (Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas) to WWE. The group may now in the present day only be down to three members (founder Rush, Pierroth and Rey Escorpión) but have founded a sub group which compete in Japan, giving them a great global presence, and took Rush from an effective hero character to one of the better genuine headline characters in all of CMLL and helped further solidify La Sombra as a once in a generation talent.

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17 9. The House Of Truth

via cagesideseats.com
via cagesideseats.com

Led by arguably the greatest Ring of Honor Champion in history, Jay Lethal and the group's name sake Truth Martini have been dominant throughout ROH since Lethal joined the faction in early 2016, a group which has housed such stars as Michael Elgin, Roderick Strong and Christopher Daniels since its inception in 2009. While the early stages of this incarnation (with Lethal, Joey Daddiego and Taeler Hendrix) the group was one of the more hated parts of the ROH product, in March of this year they took part in one of wrestling’s great rarities, the double turn, when the group turned face after Donovan Dijak and Prince Nana attacked Martini only to be saved with a face turn from Lethal, proving the talent of the wrestlers involved, and also how effective Truth Martini is as a character. While they may not be one of the most complete factions in the wrestling business, the fact that throughout its lineage every main figurehead wrestler of the group has held a ROH title shows just how effective Martini is as a manager.

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15 8. Los Ingobernables de Japón

via iownsomemovies.tumblr.com
via iownsomemovies.tumblr.com

The aforementioned sub group of the CMLL Los Ingobernables have been running since 2015 when Tetsuya Naito began representing the group even upon his returns to NJPW, adding members such as Bushi, Evil, Sanada and American duo Truth Martini and Jay Lethal, who compete with the group to this day on a part time basis. While this group may not have the historical success of its founding group, the sheer talent alone within the faction is incredible, as every performer has the potential to put on amazing matches and be a championship caliber competitor, with Naito winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 2016, before losing it to Okada, and of course Jay Lethal as one of the longest reigning ROH champions in that companies history.

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13 7. The Wyatt Family

via wwfoldschool.com
via wwfoldschool.com

Though the Wyatt Family suffered a loss during the draft (with Strowman going to RAW while Wyatt and Rowan remain together on Smackdown, and Luke Harper will presumably come back to join them), and the poor booking they have experienced so far, there is something about the aura and charisma of Wyatt and his henchmen that warrant a spot on this list. Many fans and experts within the industry have agreed that the treatment of the creepy, charismatic cult leader Bray Wyatt and his followers has been deplorable, especially when his spot is being taken by veterans like Big Show & Kane, and the ever popular (sigh) Roman Reigns. Hopefully this brand split will give the stable more spot light and championship opportunities, as a dominant faction holding the tag and rumored Smackdown world title would be very much deserved for these very talented workers.

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11 6. The Club

via forbes.com
via forbes.com

Though they may have technically been broken up by the WWE draft (although Finn Balor is on RAW now with them, you don’t need me to connect the dots), the Club have been one of the most dominant and enjoyable parts of RAW since their heel turn on John Cena. Since this time they have been terrorizing the ‘Face that runs the place’, and even helped AJ Styles to a win in the dream match 14 years in the making with Cena. Comprised of former Bullet Club members AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, although the two partners who were absolutely dominant in Japan have looked at times more like AJ’s henchmen rather than a great team in their own right, they shook up the status quo in the WWE from the time of their debut, and hopefully going forward with Finn as their leader they will look just as dominant and important to the product.

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