Freddie Prinze Jr. Recalls Trouble Getting This WWE Faction Over With Vince McMahon

Actor and podcast host Freddie Prinze Jr. served several stints with WWE as a writer and producer, giving him plenty of stories to share over the years. On a recent episode of "Wrestling with Freddie," Prinze recalled a struggle to get Vince McMahon to approve of CM Punk's Straight Edge Society group in the late 2000s.

"Vince, when I worked there, hated factions," Prinze said. "He was done with it. He was like, 'Oh, God. Another faction.' ... It was so hard to get Straight Edge Society over. My buddy ... co-created that whole thing. And obviously Punk had a lot to do with it. But yeah, just to get that over, it was like pulling freaking teeth. Multiple teeth. Jagged teeth."

The Straight Edge Society debuted in 2009, with Punk as the leader and Luke Gallows and Serena Deeb as his followers. While McMahon evidently gave the okay after some resistance, the group didn't last long. Shortly after wrestler Joey Mercury joined in the summer of 2010, the Straight Edge Society was disbanded, and Punk moved on to other storylines.

Prinze acknowledged that McMahon did frequently make use of factions in his earlier days as a booker, especially during the Attitude Era. However, by the time Prinze arrived, McMahon had largely moved on, seeing them as a worn-out trope.

Wrestling has taken a shift back in favor of stables in recent years, with both WWE's Paul "Triple H" Levesque and AEW's Tony Khan building up multiple groups within their promotions. The discussion surrounding the Straight Edge Society came after Prinze complimented WWE for their establishment of the new heel faction featuring Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman, and he believes that the group may do wonders for Bron Breakker and JC Mateo.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Wrestling with Freddie" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.