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Over the years, we have seen numerous factions that have left a mark on the promotion, dominating WWE by winning titles and having a big influence on weekly programming. Some of them, like D-Generation X, Evolution, The Hart Foundation, and The New Day, went on to win singles and tag team titles in WWE.
Most of these factions stayed in WWE during their prime years, before splitting up to start feuds with each other, or because their career at the company was coming to an end.
In the recent past as well, there have been some prominent factions in WWE. But, quite a few of them have split up and there's no chance of them reuniting in WWE as some members are in rival brands like AEW and IMPACT Wrestling.
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Here, we take a look at 5 WWE faction reunions that are impossible due to members being in AEW and IMPACT Wrestling:
#5 The Wyatt Family
The Wyatt Family, in a lot of ways, helped give wings to the career of Bray Wyatt, who had gone through a few incarnations before settling on the gimmick that made him popular. The faction, which began when the members were in NXT, made their debut on the main roster in 2013.
The Wyatt Family consisted of Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan, and was then disbanded. The second version of The Wyatt Family saw Braun Strowman added to the group, and this incarnation was far more popular. Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton were the two other Superstars that were briefly in The Wyatt Family.
Fast forward to 2020 and Wyatt and Strowman are feuding for the WWE Universal Championship, with Wyatt using his latest, popular Fiend gimmick. The two other members of the original Wyatt Family, Harper, and Rowan, were released by WWE earlier this year. While Rowan is still a free agent, Harper is with AEW, where he goes by the ring name, Brodie Lee.
With Harper now in AEW, and him previously expressing his frustration with WWE, it's unlikely that he will return, which rules out the return of the original Wyatt Family.
#4 Randy Orton and The Revival
This faction may not have had the success or the longevity of The Wyatt Family in WWE, but it was one that had fans excited. Randy Orton, one of the greatest heels of his generation, teamed up with The Revival, a tag team of great caliber.
Randy Orton and The Revival first teased a potential partnership on SmackDown in August 2019, and after SummerSlam that year, the trio engaged in a feud with The New Day on the blue brand. The signs were there of a promising faction, but WWE pulled the plug on it, despite Orton wanting to work with The Revival.
The Revival, while appearing on Jim Cornette's podcast, revealed that Orton fought with WWE and Vince McMahon to work with The Revival:
With Randy, who has become one of our mentors and one of our really close friends, we talked to him every single day. He fought for us so hard to get us on TV with him every single week because he believed in our work ethic and he believed in what we brought to the table. And we watched him go to Vince every single week, or Hunter or whoever, and say, 'we gotta keep this up'.
The Revival are now in AEW, and go by the name FTR. And after being less-than-impressed with the end of their stint with WWE, and Orton signing a new contract with WWE, the trio will possibly never work again.
#3 3MB
3MB, the faction consisting of Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater, and Jinder Mahal, were a faction in WWE between 2012 and 2014, The trio did not achieve much during their time as a group in WWE, and eventually, McIntyre and Mahal were released.
Both Mahal and McIntyre eventually returned and went on to become WWE Champions. The duo look very different from how they did when they were released as they put in a lot of work on their bodies as well as their characters.
Slater, meanwhile, was released earlier this year by WWE, and we never got to see a 3MB reunion. After his release, he did make one appearance, facing off against McIntyre on RAW, but Mahal had suffered an injury that kept him off television.
Heath Slater then debuted on IMPACT Wrestling at Slammiversary, as a host of released WWE Superstars joined the promotion. With Slater at IMPACT, and McIntyre and Mahal in WWE, a 3MB reunion may take a little longer.
McIntyre joked when asked about a 3MB reunion, that it could happen ten years from now:
"Finally, in about 10 years when we’ve all won the world title a few times, we will reform 3MB – just I don’t have to take bumps anymore."
#2 The Club/The OC
AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows made the switch from NJPW to WWE in 2016, and the trio were put together as a faction a few months after joining the company, just like they did in Japan. They were called The Club, a name similar to Bullet Club, the faction that dominated NJPW, which includes Styles, Anderson and Gallows.
But they were a team for just a short while as they were split following the WWE Draft in 2016. They reunited once again in 2019 and this time had a stronger run. The trio's last appearance together on WWE television was at WrestleMania 36, where Gallows and Anderson came to the aid of Styles during The Phenomenal One's match against The Undertaker.
WWE released Gallows and Anderson in 2020
Gallows and Anderson were released by WWE, and have now joined IMPACT Wrestling. The duo were unhappy at the manner in which they were released, with Styles also unhappy, particularly with Paul Heyman, who was said to be behind Gallows and Anderson's release.
It's unlikely that Styles will leave WWE, considering he's a top guy in the company and signed a new long-term deal recently, while Gallows and Anderson may not return following their bitter experience.
#1 The Shield
One of the most popular factions in recent WWE history is The Shield, who achieved a lot as a team, as well as singles competitors. The trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose quickly won over the fans after they were teamed up together.
Ambrose left WWE in 2019
All three Superstars won world titles in the company, as well as tag team and other singles titles. But the faction ended after Ambrose declared that he would be leaving the company in 2019, after the expiry of his WWE contract.
They were so popular that the company put together a show WWE The Shield's Final Chapter, which aired on the WWE Network. The show took place on April 21, 2019, where the trio faced against the team of Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre.
Ambrose signed with AEW and NJPW, while also wrestling in independent promotions, under the ring name Jon Moxley. Moxley has been critical of WWE and their Chairman Vince McMahon, and has ruled out returning to the WWE, stating that he would rather "work at McDonald's" than be a producer in WWE.
With Reigns and Rollins still important players in WWE, and Ambrose unlikely to return, The Shield will probably never reunite.
