I would definitely have to go with The New Day who are currently 4-time tag team champions and the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history (a record that had previously been held for 28 years). The team is made up of Kofi Kingston, Big E Langston, and Xavier Woods. The group is a great example of turning lemons into lemonade. The three of them were thrown together and as a new faction by the brass. Langston and Woods had come up from NXT and Kingston had been around for quite a while. When they were first put together, it looked like they were going to be a second coming of The Nation of Domination, a stand-in faction for The Nation of Islam (sort of). The idea seemed a little dated but thankfully they did not do that. Instead, they went with a sort of evangelical Christian vibe. Eventually, the three were able to interject their own ideas and they created a zany and nerdy fusion of outlandish ideas that has always been interesting. They started talking about unicorns, pushed the envelope of the PG era, dressed up like anime characters. The three of them are clearly really good friends with each other and they seem to really have a lot of fun doing what they do. They are also all three very talented wrestlers and the chemistry between them has only grown. Now the three of them are pursuing tag titles and potentially singles titles as well, but still together.
Runner-up: I also really like the Usos. Jimmy and Jey Uso are brothers who are the sons of Rikishi. They appeared on the scene and they were really good together but eventually, they got a little stale. More recently, they reinvented themselves and got way better on the mic and their in-ring style evolved too. I could listen to them cut promos with The New Day all day long.
6 – Favorite Tag Team from the Past
I would have to go with Edge and Christian who were a tag team a long time during the Attitude Era. Adam Copeland and Jason Reso were best friends growing up and they entered the business at about the same time up in Canada. When Copeland joined the WWE as Edge, he put in a good word for Reso and Reso earned his way into the company. When they were thrown together as a tag team, they were both thrilled. They started as The Brood, servants of a vampire named Gangrel. At the time, I loved the gimmick because I was a little bit goth myself back then. Eventually, they struck out on their own and that is when they really evolved. They worked hard at being the biggest jerks they knew how to be and they did it through comedy. They insulted the fans, they acted like cowards, they acted like they were God’s gift to the world, and they cheated to win every chance they could. Every match on television would be preceded by a “5-minute pose” so that the crowd could take pictures except that pose would usually insult the town they were in or their opponents. They were goofy assholes but they backed it up with skills in the ring. They were in some of the most memorable tag team matches in WWE history together.
Runner-up: This might be a surprise but I actually think of Miz and Morrison because of their incredible chemistry together. Miz and Morrison were two young guys put together in the WWE’s version of ECW and they were easily two of the brightest parts of it. Eventually, they moved to the main roster together. They had a brilliant comedy web show called The Dirt Sheet where they made up fake inside information, mocking other performers. In the ring, they pushed each other to higher heights and now both of them have been heavyweight champions.
7 – Favorite Current Faction
There are not a lot of official factions currently. I already talked about The New Day so I will talk about the main roster’s newest faction, Sanity. Eric Young has reinvented himself dozens of times in the business and has been a big name but all outside the WWE. So when he showed up in NXT, he went with a crazy cult leader. Sanity is a group of wild men (and one woman) who do not seem to care about wins or losses. They thrash their opponents and often draw disqualifications. Eventually, Young recruited Killian Dain from Ireland, Alexander Wolfe from Germany, and Nikki Cross from Scotland. It feels like it has been a while since there was a faction with both males and females and the female is not strictly arm candy. In fact, Cross is often tougher than the guys. The faction (minus Cross) is being allowed to get some traction on the main roster lately. Time will tell if they get treated right but they look dominant so far. I would love to see them tear things up like they did on NXT.
8 – Favorite Past Faction
I would go with D-Generation-X. When I was a kid, I was already a huge fan of Shawn Michaels so when he started his own faction with Triple H, Rick Rude, and Chyna, I was all in. I was just the right age to be amused by their sophomoric antics. When they added The New Age Outlaws and X-Pac, they had a little bit more talent to fill out their squad. The group constantly just seemed to have fun putting on skits and doing as many crazy things as they could. They were also really talented together in their various formations. They were always compelling and their history has been bound to the history of the WWF and the WWE. They will always be fondly remembered. Of course, the group eventually fell apart mostly because everybody hated X-Pac for real, not just as a heel. Before the group broke up they inducted Kane and I was very fond of the tag team of Kane and X-Pac at the time. Also, they were one of the first (if not the first) factions to have a woman who actually wrestled.
Runner-up: Pretty much any faction that CM Punk ever ran but namely the Straight Edge Society. CM Punk leveraged his real-life straight edge lifestyle to berate the fans and other wrestlers who drank or did drugs. He recruited two members to his society, Doc Gallows and Serena. The group ran roughshod over several other teams and did Punk’s dirty work allowing him to be smug and unbearable. It was great.
Wolf of Words 