7. The Four Horsemen
WWE.comNow, although it may often seem the case, I am not stupid. Since WCW and ECW folded we have had several factions that ran roughshod in WWE. From the NWO to Evolution, from Nexus to The Shield, there have always been groups of wrestlers working towards a common goal. But not like The Four Horsemen. The original incarnation, featuring Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson and Tully Blanchard, with J.J. Dillon as their manager, were a breath of fresh air in the NWA. (Personally, I prefer the version that had Barry Windham in it, but I digress!) Unlike the NWO, they lived the gimmick outside of the ring and the trio of Flair, Arn and Tully were unbelievably tight outside of the ring. The Horsemen had everything - they kept the members of the group small, so that there was a main event singles wrestler (invariably Flair), a set of tag champs and a US Title challenger. They had it all, and had a manager that also added a sense of reality to everything.
I think that a version of the Horsemen could work in WWE today, but it would have to be with wrestlers that the fans knew were friends outside of the ring, not just thrown together in a storyline. Flair could be their manager, someone like Dolph Ziggler could be used as the headliner (although admittedly WWE management would have to bite the bullet and give him a chance) and you could add some of his crew to make up the rest of the group. It would combine reality (friendship and respect) with wrestling storylines and make the fans care again and invest emotionally in the product again.