by Too many factions
The Factory, Team Taz, The Wing Men, Matt Hardy’s HFO, The Dark Order, The Gunn Club, The Nightmare Family, The Elite, Death Triangle, The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle are just the factions I can name off the top of my head. Upon further research, there are several more. That’s a bad sign!
I love factions just as much as the next guy, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
I grew up with The Heenan Family, Jimmy Harts stable, and the Four Horsemen. By the time I got to high school, DX, The Nation, The Radicals and clearly The NWO were some of the biggest and best things in wrestling. Even The Corporation and The Ministry of Darkness had its moments. But for every NWO and DX, you can get stuck with a Job Squad and Three Count. Bottom line, not every faction works and there can be overkill.
I admit and fans would agree that The Elite and The Inner Circle are some of the biggest reasons why AEW got off to such a fast start. Even The Dark Order had a bit of intrigue to it in the beginning. The addition of the late Great Brodie Lee very much helped that group as well. AEW saw how successful The Undisputed ERA was in NXT, and did their best to replicate it.
However, along those lines, AEW has become completely out of control with the countless factions and it needs to stop. There really is too much of a good thing, and AEW has jumped the shark in the category as they are also beginning too with the overload of Tag Teams as well. It may be time for them to end all but three factions.
The only one’s working are The Elite, The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle. All other factions need to disband as there is just no room or need for them at this point.
A lot of men in these factions can be stand out singles stars if you allow them to be. Men such as Anthony Ogogo, Aaron Solo, Ricky Starks and Willie Powerhouse Hobbes are just a few that would flourish on their own.
very insightful article as always!