Faction Wars History

"Faction Wars" was developed over the summer of 2004 by Greg Jovi. The concept was simple enough - take fantasy football, mix equal parts professional wrestling, and there you have it: fantasy professional wrestling. Sure, pro wrestling is pre-determined (as opposed to football), but even when the writing was on the wall, there were a lot of factors that could play out on the television screen during a wrestling program. Enough so, that a fantasy game was entirely feasible.

The feedback was positive, a rulebook was created, and Jovi - along with five of his friends - came together as the first-ever Faction Wars league. They held the inaugural draft, with Jeff Jarrett going down in history as the number one draft pick, captaining Jovi's team the eGo Busters.

Jason Coellner used the second pick to select Triple H, who continues to serve as The !@#$ers' to this day. For the record, we believe Coellner's team is phonetically referred to as The Fuckers.

With these two draft picks, The !@#$ers and the eGo Busters immediately established themselves as the teams to be reckoned with in Faction Wars.

Daniel Woodson served as the general manager of another top contender, Re:Evolution. Frankie Montenguise GM'd Twiztid Reality or - as they lovingly were referred to as in later seasons - Team Six. Soneel Shafi headed up the Pakmen and Patrick McGee led the Hitmen.

The Hitmen, Re:Evolution, and The !@#$ers comprised the "High Spot Division" while the eGo Busters, Twiztid Reality, and the Pakmen made up the "Black & Blue Division."

The eGo Busters demonstrated their dominance right out of the gate, defeating The !@#$ers by the slimmest of margins in Week One, and going on a five-game win streak that would be stopped in Week Six by...none other than The !@#$ers.

The !@#$ers avenged their only loss that week, capping off their own five-game win streak. Their luck would run out the following week, however, as Re:Evolution handed their division rivals their second loss of the season.

The regular season concluded after Week Twelve, with Coellner's !@#$ers winning the High Spot Division with a 10-2 record. This earned his team a first round bye. In the High Spot Wild Card match, Re:Evolution (8-3-1) defeated the Hitmen (2-9-1).

Jovi's eGo Busters finished 9-3, good enough for first place in the Black & Blue Division. Twiztid Reality (3-9) and the Pakmen (3-9) would square off in the Black & Blue Wild Card match, with the Pakmen beating Montenguise's unit easily.

The Division Championships proved to be the undoing of The !@#$ers as Re:Evolution finished them off, earning a spot in the first-ever Faction Wars Championship game. Their opponents?

Faction Wars' powerhouse, the eGo Busters.

The Pakmen put up a valiant effort, but Jovi's unit disposed of Shafi's team, setting up a battle for the ages: Jovi vs. Woodson. Jarrett vs. Orton. eGo Busters vs. Re:Evolution.

In what many consider an upset, Re:Evolution defeated the eGo Busters to claim the inaugural Faction Wars Championship. GM Daniel Woodson would never let the rest of the league forget it, either.

With no off-season in professional wrestling, there was no need for an off-season in Faction Wars. Season two started only a matter of weeks after the completion of the first season. One major change did occur during the off-season, however - Soneel Shafi resigned as GM of the Pakmen. Anthony Calabrese would replace him, renaming the team Team Hey.

The eGo Busters came out of the gate with a vengeance, racking up six straight victories. Much like season one, however, their luck ran out against The !@#$ers in Week Seven.

Week Eight saw another change in personnel within the league; after five straight DQ losses for Team Hey, general manager Anthony Calabrese was ousted from the position. Walt Florio took over the team two-thirds of the way through the season, rechristening his unit Stacy's Freak.

Florio posted a 2-3 record, finishing in last place due to inheriting Calabrese's 1-6 record (3-9 overall), but would scorch Twiztid Reality (4-7-1) in the Black & Blue Wild Card match. Stacy's Freak would give the eGo Busters (10-2) fits in the Division Championship, falling just short of a storybook season turn-around.

Stacy's Freak showed some late season promise; all Florio needed was a full season to rebuild his franchise.

In the High Spot Division, the Hitmen saw a slight improvement, finishing 4-7-1, while Re:Evolution (6-6) and The !@#$ers (8-4) experienced slight drop-offs from season one. The High Spot Division Championship featured a rematch from the previous season's Division Championship - Re:Evolution vs. The !@#$ers. The !@#$ers avenged the previous year's loss, eliminating Re:Evolution, and earning a spot in the Faction Wars Championship against long-time rivals, the eGo Busters.

Jovi would not be denied however, decimating The !@#$ers in the championship, claiming his first title to end a banner season for the eGo Busters.

Season two also saw the league attempt to incorporate an All-Star Game with the best players in the High Spot Division facing off against the best players in the Black & Blue Division...

...unfortunately, the match never took place. The league got a little lazy.

Also during the post-season, teams prepared their "war rooms" for the season 3 draft, when a pair of unprecedented moves took place. The first of which saw the eGo Busters acquire the overall number one draft pick from the Hitmen.

Teams are allowed two players to keep on their team - retainees - who are blocked from being drafted. The !@#$ers chose to retain team captain Triple H and WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Batista. This left TNA main eventer, AJ Styles - on the precipice of winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title - free to be drafted.

Prior to the season two Faction Wars Championship between the eGo Busters and The !@#$ers, eGo Busters GM Greg Jovi declared that AJ Styles would be his number one pick once the draft commenced. With tension rising among the ranks of The !@#$ers, the second unprecedented move was made a reality when angry general manager Jason Coellner agreed to trade AJ Styles to High Spot Division rival Re:Evolution.

Re:Evolution intended on retaining the services of John "Bradshaw" Layfield; Daniel Woodson's second choice, however, wasn't as clear cut. Team captain Randy Orton had gone down with an injury during the season and would be out for a lengthy period of time. Desperate times called for desperate measures and Woodson agreed to deal his first round draft pick to The !@#$ers for their second round pick and Styles.

Re:Evolution retained the newly-acquired AJ Styles; The !@#$ers gained a first round pick; and with nothing in the rulebook to stop the transaction, the eGo Busters were forced to select a different player with their number one draft pick.

In subsequent board meetings, league officials determined that such a trade would be impossible to make in future dealings - an equal number of players and picks would be required to make a transaction legal. A trade deadline was also established, coinciding with the end of the regular season.

Season three started soon after, and if season three stood for anything - it stood for ties! Four ties occurred, hindering the records of every team except the Hitmen.

The Hitmen used season three to turn their franchise around. After only recording six wins in the first two seasons combined, Patrick McGee's unit posted a 7-5 record, including two wins over The !@#$ers and Stacy's Freak and one win over Re:Evolution.

Re:Evolution (7-4-1) still held two wins over the Hitmen, while The !@#$ers had a disappointing 6-5-1 season; this gave Daniel Woodson's team the first round bye, setting up a Wild Card match-up between The !@#$ers and the Hitmen.

In the Black & Blue Division, the eGo Busters continued their dominance, winning five of their first six matches (also experiencing a Week One tie with Stacy's Freak), before the self-proclaimed "eGo Killers" - The !@#$ers - once again put a kabosh on the eGo Busters' winning streak in Week Seven. Jovi's unit finished 8-3-1, earning him his third straight first round bye.

The league board of directors was forced to remove another general manager from power, when Twiztid Reality GM Frankie Montenguise failed to turn in a roster in six of the first eight weeks of the season. Twiztid Reality was handed over to Josh Pennyworth, who rebranded Team Six as the Heroes. Unfortunately, the regime change didn't improve their record, as the Heroes finished 1-9-2; their lone win coming under Montenguise all the way back in Week One.

The Heroes played spoiler to Stacy's Freak, however, with two ties in the final four weeks of the season. While Walt Florio was still trying to rebuild his team, his regular season seemed impossible to salvage; with a 3-6-3 record, Florio was lucky all six teams still advanced to the playoffs.

Stacy's Freak would exorcise their Heroes demon in the Black & Blue Wild Card match; meanwhile, The !@#$ers would be forced to squeak by the Hitmen in the High Spot Wild Card match.

In the Division Championships, Re:Evolution defeated High Spot rivals The !@#$ers and earned a spot in the Faction Wars Championship for the second time in their franchise history. Franchise history would not be on the eGo Busters' side, however, in the other half of the bracket. Stacy's Freak scored the upset victory, preventing Greg Jovi and Jeff Jarrett from repeating as Faction Wars Champions.

Season three's championship match is widely regarded as the greatest game ever played. GM Woodson and GM Florio are both hyper-competitive and this match-up certainly spawned the latest in a series of Faction Wars rivalries.

The rules of the game require each GM to send their roster into the league board of directors before 8:00 p.m. (Central time) Monday evening - once that RAW open hit, rosters needed to be locked. Typical strategy involved a general manager setting his roster, sending it to the board of directors (and no one else), and then comparing with the opposing GM after 8:00 p.m.

Walt Florio, however, played by his own rules.

As legend has it, Florio settled on his Stacy's Freak roster and - in the ultimate act of hubris - sent the roster to Woodson...long before the Monday 8:00 p.m. deadline.

Florio's arrogance shocked Woodson, who conferred with the board of directors about how to proceed. The board decreed it fair game and Woodson crafted a Re:Evolution roster tailor made for his opposition.

Once the Re:Evolution roster had been submitted to the board of directors, Walt Florio entered phase two of his plan: while he had sent his roster directly to Woodson, he never actually submitted it to the board. With Woodson now brimming with confidence, Florio submitted a completely different Stacy's Freak roster to the board of directors.

Half-way through the week, Daniel Woodson contacted Florio to brag about being in great position to capture his second championship. Silence filled the air moments later, when Florio revealed his real Stacy's Freak roster - a championship-caliber roster, at that.

The wind came out of Re:Evolution's sails. Not only had they been beaten in the championship, but they were duped as well.

Season four saw several rule changes enacted, including the addition of points being awarded for eliminations and finishers; and slight alterations to the awarded points for titles retained, how the injured reserve worked, and the "iMPACT! Rule."

The iMPACT! Rule was a golf-style handicap created so that Total Nonstop Action could compete with the WWE within the Faction Wars format. TNA - at the time of the creation of the rule - only had one hour of television per week. RAW and SmackDown both offered two hours of programming, while ECW only had one hour; ECW did, however, receive the benefit of cross-promotional appearances on RAW and SmackDown. Therefore, the rule only affected TNA talent on a typical one-hour episode of iMPACT! hence the rule name.

Unfortunately, at this time, records for seasons four, five, and six are lost somewhere in the annals of the Internet. What we can tell you, however, is that the eGo Busters won the Faction Wars Championship in season four.

The season five and six championships belonged to Re:Evolution, under dubious circumstances - in season five, Josh Pennyworth's Heroes scrapped their way to the finals and subsequently got themselves DQ'ed, handing the championship to Daniel Woodson on a silver platter.

The league's board of directors acted immediately, ousting Pennyworth from power, replacing him with !@#$er GM Jason Coellner's younger brother, Scott Coellner.

The younger Coellner would rebrand his team the Bantha Fodders and proceeded to post typical Team Six numbers, only to luck his way into the season six Faction Wars Championship. The Bantha Fodders at least put up a fight - turning in a roster, unlike his predecessor - but Re:Evolution walked away the first-ever back-to-back Faction Wars Champions.

Season six also saw the inception of the ECW brand, leading the Faction Wars league to hold the first (and only) "extreme draft." This was done in order to equally distribute the new players - a check-and-balance system to keep one team from stockpiling ECW talent. While the other league GMs clawed for the rights to the Sandman and Sabu, The !@#$ers went with their gut instinct in selecting CM Punk. "Punk-in-ECW" wasn't even a reality, only a rumor; but it was a rumor that paid off for The !@#$ers when Punk debuted later that season.

Despite CM Punk's debut, The !@#$ers had a rough season six, landing them with the overall number one draft pick for season seven. After retaining the services of Triple H and TNA powerhouse, Samoa Joe, !@#$er GM Jason Coellner once again went with his gut instinct. With the entire draft pool at his disposal, Coellner selected CM Punk.

Coellner came into season seven determined to step out of the shadows and into the limelight, and he crafted his team delicately, with precision draft picks. Coellner selected TNA's Homicide in the second round and the recently-returned-to-WWE Jeff Hardy in the third round - two picks widely panned by critics.

With the pieces to his dynasty in place, Coellner led The !@#$ers to a 9-2-1 regular season record and a first round bye. The Hitmen (4-8) ended Re:Evolution's (5-7) reign as two-time defending champions in the Wild Card. The !@#$ers then dominated the Hitmen in the High Spot Division Championship, reaching the finals for the first time since season two.

In the Black & Blue Division, the eGo Busters once again had the best record at 7-4-1; however, they had to share honors with Stacy's Freak, also 7-4-1. Stacy's Freak also held the tiebreaker, forcing the eGo Busters to play a Wild Card game against the Bantha Fodders (2-9-1).

The Bantha Fodders - despite their regular season misgivings - would go on a playoff tear, returning to the championship game for the second straight season, with upset victories over both the eGo Busters and Stacy's Freak.

The Faction Wars Championship was set. Brother vs. brother. Coellner vs. Coellner. This would go down in history as the most important match-up in the "Stairway Series."

Destiny would be on The !@#$ers' side, as they defeated the Bantha Fodders to claim their very first Faction Wars Championship. The !@#$ers' core unit - the same five since draft day - took on the moniker of The !@#$ing Kings: "The King of Kings" Triple H; the ROH "Three Kings" Samoa Joe, CM Punk, and Homicide; and the "King of the Fairies" Jeff Hardy.

Season eight saw several more changes implemented to make the regular season matter. Too often in the past, a team with a losing record had advanced to the finals. The division format was abolished. Only the top three teams advanced to the playoffs, with the team with the best regular season record earning a first round bye. The regular season was expanded to fifteen weeks, allowing each team to play the other five teams three times apiece. This was done in order to establish a tiebreaker system.

In addition to this change, season eight also introduced the "Bobby Lashley Amendments" - a series of alterations to how points are to be awarded for finishing moves. "Fuck You, Bobby Rule Pt. 1" was that any one wrestler could only have two Faction Wars-sanctioned finishers; "Fuck You, Bobby Rule Pt. 2" was that a wrestler must finish four matches in a row with a new move for a finisher to be changed.

Later in the season, "Fuck You, Bobby Rule Pt. 2a" was added for clarification - based on the ability to have two finishers, a wrestler with only one Faction Wars-sanctioned finisher needed to finish two matches in a row with the new move to add it to his finishers list; at four, it would replace his previous finisher.

Under the new format, only two teams were out of playoff contention going into Week Fifteen - the defending champions, The !@#$ers (6-7-2), and the Bantha Fodders (3-12). The eGo Busters (8-4-3) would clinch their playoff spot while eliminating the Hitmen (7-7-1). And Re:Evolution (8-5-2) would defeat - and pull even with - Stacy's Freak (8-5-2) in the standings. The victory also gave the eGo Busters the first round bye, putting Greg Jovi's unit back in the Faction Wars Championship.

Stacy's Freak had no problem earning his stripes, as they defeated Re:Evolution in the Wild Card, and then captured their second championship with a win over the eGo Busters.

The general managers started to really dislike one another as season nine got under way...it was only a matter of time before the league imploded upon itself. Nonetheless, another new rule was implemented, the "Sudden Death Rule." With so many ties occurring, the teams agreed to book an eighth player to be used only when the teams would be tied based on the seven-on-seven results.

Season nine saw the league's most prosperous trio rise to the top of the ranks again - or remain there, in some cases - as the eGo Busters (10-3-1), The !@#$ers (9-5), and Re:Evolution (8-6) advanced to the playoffs.

The Hitmen had a moderately successful year at 6-7-1; Stacy's Freak failed to defend their championship, finishing 6-8; and the Bantha Fodders brought up the rear at 2-12. As made apparent by these results, with the playoffs determined in Week Fourteen and the GMs burnt out on playing, the results of Week Fifteen have been lost in the annals of the Internet, alongside a majority of information on seasons four, five, and six.

The !@#$ers built another strong team in season nine, topped off with an end-of-the-season trade to acquire John Morrison and Jeff Hardy from Stacy's Freak. With strategy and talent on their side, The !@#$ers won their second Faction Wars Championship by advancing past long-time rivals Re:Evolution in the Wild Card match; and then defeating also-long-time rivals the eGo Busters in the finals.

After a very long hiatus, it seems that the Faction Wars league is returning. The four still-surviving original franchises (eGo Busters, The !@#$ers, Re:Evolution, and Hitmen) are set to return, with the addition of two new franchises: the Tee-Hee Tickle Party, with general manager Nathan Elliott; and Left Nut Number 2, with general manager Matt Fitchett.

Stacy's Freak has unfortunately been required to take a leave of medical absence, but has vowed to return to Faction Wars 2.0 next season. Will he replace one of the new Team Sixes? Could he overtake one of the old-timers' storied franchises? Or could Faction Wars 2.0 possibly see the introduction of the first-ever seven-team league? These questions will be answered very soon, as the GMs begin Faction Wars 2.0!!

Overall Regular Season Records (1-3)

eGo Busters - 27-8-1

The !@#$ers - 24-11-1

Re:Evolution - 21-13-2
Hitmen - 13-21-2

Twiztid Reality - 8-23-1
Stacy's Freak - 5-9-3

Pakmen - 3-9
Team Hey - 1-6

Heroes - 0-2-2

Incomplete Regular Season Records (5-6**)
eGo Busters - 9-4
The !@#$ers - 5-8
Re:Evolution - 8-5
Hitmen 5-8
Stacy's Freak - 8-5
Bantha Fodders - 4-6
Heroes - 0-3
** - three weeks worth of season five; ten weeks worth of season six

Overall Regular Season Records (7-9*)
eGo Busters - 25-11-5
!@#$ers - 24-14-3
Stacy's Freak - 21-17-3
Re:Evolution - 21-18-2
Hitmen - 17-22-2
Bantha Fodders - 7-33-1
* - missing one game from season nine

Overall Regular Season Records (1-3; 5-6**; 7-9*)
eGo Busters - 61-23-6 73%

The !@#$ers - 53-33-4 62%

Re:Evolution - 50-36-4 58%
Stacy's Freak - 34-31-6 52%
Hitmen - 35-51-4 41%

Twiztid Reality - 8-23-1 26%

Pakmen - 3-9 25%
Bantha Fodders - 11-39-1 22%
Team Hey - 1-6 14%
Heroes - 0-5-2 0%
* - missing one game from season nine
** - three weeks worth of season five; ten weeks worth of season six

These numbers are obviously in no way accurate, since we're missing stats from seasons four, five, and six. We're also missing (as noted) one game from season nine. Just an interesting look at the stats we DO have, though...

EDIT 12.7.09: Realized there were some results listed in season five and season six, so I added those in here. Overall, they didn't change much. The winning percentages for Jovi, Woodson, McGee, and Pennyworth stayed the same. The winning percentages for Florio and S. Coellner improved slightly. J. Coellner saw the biggest change, dropping from 66% to 62%.

Faction Wars Champions
S1. Re:Evolution
S2. eGo Busters
S3. Stacy's Freak
S4. eGo Busters
S5. Re:Evolution
S6. Re:Evolution
S7. The !@#$ers
S8. Stacy's Freak
S9. The !@#$ers

Franchise Histories
eGo Busters (Greg Jovi; nine seasons; S1-S9)
The !@#$ers (Jason Coellner; nine seasons; S1-S9)
Re:Evolution (Daniel Woodson; nine seasons; S1-S9)
Hitmen (Patrick McGee; nine seasons; S1-S9)
Twiztid Reality (Frankie Montenguise; three seasons; S1-S3)
->Heroes (Josh Pennyworth; three seasons ; S3-S5)
->->Bantha Fodders (Scott Coellner; four seasons ; S6-S9)
Pakmen (Soneel Shafi; one season; S1)
->Team Hey (Anthony Calabrese; one season ; S2)
->->Stacy's Freak (Walt Florio; eight seasons ; S2-S9)

Faction Wars 2.0 Franchises
eGo Busters (Greg Jovi; tenth season)
The !@#$ers (Jason Coellner; tenth season)
Re:Evolution (Daniel Woodson; tenth season)
Hitmen (Patrick McGee; tenth season)
Tee-Hee Tickle Party (Nathan Elliott; inaugural season)
Left Nut Number 2 (Matt Fitchett; inaugural season)

Footnote: I have no idea what Josh's last name actually was, so I just decreed that - for Faction Wars purposes - he will forever be enshrined in our history as Josh "Pennyworth." I don't know why, it just sounded good.