The Bloodline story has been hailed as arguably the greatest ever in WWE. And it deserves to be in that conversation. Yet if you take a step back and ask the question of why that is the case, I think you will see something greater than the performances of Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, Solo Sikoa and Paul Heyman.

What you will see is the importance of factions to long-term storytelling in pro wrestling that was missing in WWE for so long. That’s because Vince McMahon had made the decision to go away from factions outside of a few three-person stables here and there. Now that it’s back, it feels new again.

Simply put, by having a larger group, you are able to highlight different personalities, get fresh match combinations, give the performers more people to play off of and develop storylines with. Adding Zayn infused humor into The Bloodline and created branches of stories with both Jey Uso and Reigns. Each member doesn’t have to be on every show, every week — creating anticipation for what will happen when a Reigns or a Jey Uso gets added back into a specific story arc.

In addition, a two- or three-person group usually turns on each other and breaks up. A larger group can have members leave, add new ones, change leaders and have people return. WWE had very few larger groups, such as the Wyatt Family, for about a decade after the Nexus. And we wonder why people complained about the creative.

As you look across the history of pro wrestling, its greatest performers had their most memorable stories around factions. Hulk Hogan had the Mega Powers and then the nWo, Ric Flair had the Four Horsemen and Evolution, Bret Hart the extended Hart Foundation, Triple H and Shawn Michaels had Degeneration-X and the former Evolution. The Rock had the Nation of Domination and then the Corporation. Even the Undertaker had the Ministry of Darkness. If you look at other promotions, AEW has The Elite at its core. New Japan Pro-Wrestling has Bullet Club and Chaos. Impact’s greatest story revolved around Aces & Eights. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin may be the exception to the rule, but there is always one.

Even look at Roman Reigns himself. The most fulfilling portions of his career were with The Shield and The Bloodline. When he was on his own, he was floundering and getting booed out of buildings as a babyface.

If you look even more broadly at movies and television, where people are accustomed to digesting great stories, how many of them are about the relationship between just two people? Sure, some in the romance genre are, but those people usually have friends or family involved. Most of the greatest TV shows revolved around larger groups and their interactions with fresh faces each season.

“The Sopranos,” “Seinfeld,” “The Simpsons,” “Friends,” “The Wire,” “Cheers” and “Mad Man” are all like that. Heck, that even holds true for the likes of “Saved by the Bell,” “Full House,” “Married with Children” and “Family Matters.” Why do you think the Avengers and Justice League movies hold such weight? It’s because people want to see how these characters interact with each other.

That same principle applies to wrestling, and it’s something WWE got very far away from for far too long. The Bloodline has gotten us back to that, the relationships constantly evolving with Heyman there trying to hold it all together like the TV dad or consigliere in a mob drama. Sikoa is the looming wild card. It’s all made for fantastic television and should serve as a reminder of the importance of factions to long-term storytelling.

Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes officially put the American Nightmare and Roman Reigns’ story for WrestleMania 39 on track in a both beautifully touching and cold-blooded segment on Raw that included tears and lip quivers while blurring the lines of reality. The duo smashed any hopes of a Sami Zayn revolt by turning the heat up on WrestleMania’s main event. It’s personal now. (Rhodes even wished the former honorary Uce luck now that he has his championship opportunity at Elimination Chamber in Montreal.)

The word “personally” was used three times in the segment, first by Heyman first referencing how it affected him listening to Rhodes’ heartfelt thank you for helping his father Dusty Rhodes and for teaching Cody how be a disruptor in the industry. He says it again before delivering the lines about Dusty seeing Reigns as the “son he always wanted” — just after a long pause that signaled almost a reluctance to hit Rhodes with his mic-drop moment.

Things quickly flipped from cordial to tense. Heyman, who on Friday wouldn’t even dare touch an angry Roman Reigns’ shoulder, said with the challenger in his face he was just delivering the message. Rhodes, who was stunned into silence for a moment by the cutting remarks, says “personally” again when telling Heyman how he will take the titles from his “boy” Reigns. Just a masterful effort from both.

AEW needs to start doing a better job with the storytelling around MJF — and fast. I can’t be the only viewer getting fatigue from watching the now-world champion set up weekly matches or challenges to try to keep his opponent from earning a match with him. Last week, it was Timothy Thatcher failing and Rush then getting a briefcase of money to be next to try to thwart Bryan Danielson from getting to Revolution.

This is now the fourth time in four years of the company MJF has done similar programs with Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho and most recently Wardlow. I’m waiting for this to turn more serious, for the “mask” to come off and for the “mental” assault MJF promised to happen. There is still time. But if the rinse-and-repeat angle continues, it feels like a waste of MJF’s talents.

“Hangman” Adam Page has become a master of leaving you with something that has you thinking about what comes next. This time it was his absolute irate frustration after Jon Moxley kicked out of the Buckshot Lariat and then countered an attempt at the bulldog choke to win the rubber match. Does this send Hangman into a darker place? Does it send him back to the Elite? Do he and Moxley need to have one more match at Revolution now to finally find a mutual respect?

It was a strong night for the women’s division on Raw. Bayley and Becky Lynch delivered a and angry and physical cage match that left people wondering whether we will see Trish Stratus help “The Man” and surprise friend Lita to even the odds against Damage CTRL in Montreal. Chelsea Green looks like an entertaining natural in her “Karen” gimmick, Asuka is being presented the right way and Carmella felt like the right call to add to the Chamber match.

It was great to see NXT back in front of an arena crowd for Vengeance Day. I thought Dijak and Wes Lee had a superb match with a great story. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter probably deserved a better end to the reign to a more established team, and I kind of thought Gigi Dolin and Jacey Jay told their story so well it overshadowed Roxanne Perez a bit. Grayson Waller may turn into a better main roster performer than Bron Breakker. We will see.  

Kota Ibushi, who will wrestle “Speedball” Mike Bailey at GCW’s Bloodsport 9 on March 30, is now the hottest free agent in wrestling with his New Japan contract up. Working with AEW would make a lot of sense given his storied friendship with Kenny Omega, but if you’re WWE, you make a hard, hard run with all the dream matches you could offer and the company’s global reach. 

I’d have Jey no-show The Usos tag team title defense two weeks from now and let Solo Sikoa defend the titles with Jimmy. WWE already allowed this with Sami Zayn. I don’t want to see Jey until Elimination Chamber because I want to have no clue where his allegiance lies in that moment.

JBL finally leaving Baron Corbin was the right call, just like having Montez Ford winning the United States championship would be.

After the Pitch Black match underdelivered, all we got was a creepy moment between Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy on SmackDown?

I’ve really dug the Toni Storm and Saraya angle so far. Spray painting Ls on people nWo-style turns things up. Let’s hope it pays off later on.

The slow show if agony on Sonya Deville’s face was actually a nice touch to end a really good match between her and Charlotte Flair.

Have to say I popped seeing Chris Jericho dressed and painted up just like Danhausen on the Jericho cruise.

Extra: Does Brock Lesnar mentioning his “wife”on television for the first time in WWE mean we can finally get Sable inducted into the Hall of Fame where she belongs? We can even let her speech go “about four or five hours” if necessary.

Carmelo Hayes, NXT

NXT Vengeance Day was very much about the rising star of Carmelo Hayes. The former two-time North American champion got a big-time entrance and a clean sweep during an excellent two-out-of-three-falls match with Apollo Crews. He then ended the show confronting NXT champion Bron Breakker, putting them on a collision course for WrestleMania week at Stand and Deliver. With the lights shining bright on him, Melo was money and finally got the feud and title programs he wanted.

MJF vs Konosuke Takeshita, AEW championship eliminator (Dynamite, Wednesday, 8 p.m., TBS)

Takeshita, who is being built very well as a future babyface star, has been the side runner to MJF’s feud with Bryan Danielson after he ripped into him a few weeks back on Dynamite. The former DDT star’s matches have become can’t-miss in AEW, and MJF actually wresting is rare. It will be interesting to see how Takeshita meshes with MJF and if AEW leaves some meat on the bone for the two to go back to down the road.

The GCW/JCW J-Cup tournament — the largest independent wrestling tournament on the East Coast — is returning after nine years to White Eagle Hall in Jersey City on Feb. 11. It will feature 20 wrestlers, including “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Jonathan Gresham, Joey Janela and Lio Rush with sessions at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. that day, also available on Fite+.

WWE announced $1.29 billion in revenue (up 18 percent) and $195.6 million in net income (up 10 percent) for the 2022 fiscal year.

Major League Wrestling’s “Underground” show premieres on Feb. 7 on Reelz at 10 p.m.