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Factions are a key part of pro wrestling storytelling. They're often used to elevate younger talents via association with better established stars or tell stories of teams against teams, or a unit outnumbering a babyface underdog. The WWE Attitude Era saw the rise of a number of memorable groups, from D-Generation X or The Corporation at the top of the card, to mid-card groups like The JOB Squad or Right To Censor. One of the factions that was ultimately least successful and worst received by fans, though, was X-Factor. With X-Pac as their leader, Justin Credible and Prince Albert fell in line for a group that simply never clicked.
X-Pac Wasn’t Equipped To Lead His Own Faction
X-Pac was a key member for both the New World Order in WCW and D-Generation X in WWE, adding a sense of coolness as well as a sense of athleticism as he channeled his ahead-of-its-time aerial offense to turn in a number of excellent performances. It made some sense to think that, in the late stages of The Attitude Era, he might successfully lead his own group.
Related: Top 10 Worst Faction Leaders In WWE HistoryUnfortunately, by 2001, a lot of the luster had worn off X-Pac’s act. His 2000 feud with Kane stretched believability as fans began to reject him holding his own against Kane—twice his size and portrayed as an indestructible force up to that point—in a long program. X-Pac himself claimed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet (h/t NoDQ.com) that his "X-Pac Heat" of the time was overblown by the internet, promulgated by a vocal minority fans who were sick of him. Regardless of whether that's true, X-Pac was still a good worker and had value in the mid-card; but fans were not prepared to take seriously any stable he was the frontman for.
X-Factor Was Overshadowed By And Then Absorbed Into The Alliance Angle
In defense of X-Factor, the group happened to coalesce in February 2001, only three months before The Alliance angle in which the remnants of WCW and ECW joined forces to challenge WWE. While the widely maligned angle did actually have its bright spots, it's nonetheless undeniable that WWE shifted gears to focus almost exclusively on one master storyline—the babyface WWE vs. the heel Alliance.
X-Factor was quickly overshadowed by the influx of new talent, and had an awkward spot for a while as a heel group that was nonetheless still aligned with WWE. That was the case up until Justin Credible defected, embracing his ECW roots in The Alliance. X-Factor—reduced to only X-Pac and Prince Albert—became even less credible and had less direction in the wake of that turn.
X-Factor Had All-Time Bad WWE Entrance Music
It wasn’t so uncommon for WWE Superstars in the Attitude Era to use music by popular artists for their entrance themes. That includes The Undertaker using radio hits by Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit, Triple H adopting his first Motorhead theme, and D-Generation X having a Run DMC remix of their theme to name a few.
The merits of Uncle Kracker as a band, and their song “What ‘Chu Lookin’ At” are up for debate and subject to personal musical tastes. There’s little denying that the mellow intro and chorus sound in particular made it a lackluster choice for a wrestling theme, though. The song wound up taking on a life of its own as critics immediately associated its poor conception as a faction’s song as emblematic of how bad the faction itself was.
There Were Other Bad Factions Of The WWE Attitude Era
X-Factor certainly wasn’t the only bad faction of The Attitude Era. After all this was the period that saw the inanity of The Union of People You Oughta Respect, Shane (UPYORS), the completely ineffectual Pretty Mean Sisters group (clearly there mostly to make a joke about their PMS acronym), the weirdly cast giants of The Oddities, and, of course, The Alliance itself.
Related: 10 Worst Things WWE Did To The Alliance During The InvasionX-Factor may be remembered especially poorly for the matter of X-Pac Heat reaching its peak fervor and the weird space the group navigated from having three fairly credible second-or-third-in-command guys for a faction, but ironically, itself, missing an “X factor” to help them really connect with fans. The heatless group still enjoyed some title glory with the Intercontinental, Light Heavyweight, and WCW Cruiserweight Championships, and the stable had an odd combination of just enough success for fans to resent them and little enough success to actually win fans over.
X-Factor overshot how much fans were prepared to buy into X-Pac in 2001, had bad timing, and had bad theme music that all added up to a flop of a faction run. It’s telling that, aside from Justin Credible bouncing to The Alliance, WWE didn’t even bother to pay off the end of the group. With X-Pac injured, Albert quietly transitioned to a tag team with Scotty 2 Hotty in the fall. WWE would never speak of X-Factor again.
