D-Generation X. The 4 Horsemen. The nWo. The Freebirds.

A long time ago, every single match was contested as one man versus another. Then someone introduced the idea of two men facing another two men. And as with everything, the business changed with the times and now it seems like the more men involved, the better. With the emergence of the Main Event Mafia, TNA Front Line, Priceless and the New Hart Foundation, stables/factions/alliances are back in style. What I find interesting is how long it took for this idea to hit the main stage once again.

Now alliances have never really gone away. Yes you have the big guns you always remember fondly. Whether it be the era of the Freebirds and the Horsemen. Or the 90s dominant groups of DX, nWo and the Corporation, factions have had their boom period as well as their lows (Spirit Squad anyone?). This week I thought I would take a look at the top 3 factions of all time, the bottom 3 and the 3 with the most promise in the coming year. And damn you WWE.com for stealing my thunder.

Top 3:

3. The Hart Foundation.

Now I went back and forth between ranking D-Generation X or The Hart Foundation as the #3 ranked faction of all time and it was extremely difficult…until I went back and watched some old tapes of the Foundation at its peak. There was not a more hated group of wrestlers in the modern era. Add to that the twist that they were absolutely beloved everywhere but America and it gives you a dynamic that hasn't and may never be replicated. The talent of the group lay solely in the laps of Owen, Bret and Pillman but there was no way to deny the force or absolute loyalty they all had towards one another. That is what defines a group plus they never actually dissolved. And think about it, there really never would have been a DX without the Foundation.

2. The Four Horsemen

This is the group that many would consider to be the standard bearer for all future factions and it's hard to argue that point. Every single member of the Horsemen held gold and lived their gimmick. They were the epitome of champions. Their one flaw would have to be the time in which they were at their peak. Wrestling was still widely a territorial business and the Horsemen were not given the national stage that the group rated at number one had. But there is no denying that the Horsemen were at the top of the talent heap.

1. The nWo

No group, in the history of the wrestling business, had the type of worldwide effect that the nWo did. What started as 3 men launched a company into the general populace's mind and established WCW as a viable contender to the WWF/E's throne. While the core group eventually grew too large and watered down for its own good (there was nWo Mexico and nWo Japan!), there is no denying the impact this one idea had on the landscape of wrestling. It can be argued that this one idea is the basis for what we watch weekly. The Horsemen might have been the original group that everyone after wanted to emulate but the nWo was able to do it on a larger stage and with a larger historical impact.