The Kliq (sometimes spelled as
Clique) was a backstage group in the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the mid-1990s, which some claim held substantial
booking power, were shown favortism by owner
Vince McMahon and were accused of refusing to be fair to anyone outside of the group.
The group was composed of Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, and Triple H. In 1996, The Kliq broke character at a house show at Madison Square Garden in an incident referred to as the "Curtain Call", an event that affected the WWF's subsequent storylines and development.
The Kliq was also the primary catalyst for the two most controversial stables in wrestling history: nWo in WCW and DX in the WWF.
History
Formation and early history
The Kliq was formed from real-life friends Michael Hickenbottom (known as Shawn Michaels), Kevin Nash (who wrestled as "Diesel"), Scott Hall (then known as "Razor Ramon"), Sean Waltman (who performed as "The 1-2-3 Kid"), and Paul Levesque (known then as
Hunter Hearst Helmsley). By 1995, they had a heavy influence on the
booking power—the power to schedule and decide who wins matches—in the WWF. Michaels claims that the name "The Kliq" was originally coined by
Lex Luger, due to the closeness of the five friends backstage. At the suggestion of
Vince Russo, Michaels began referring to his fans as his "Kliq". Michaels disliked the idea, and claimed that it "was not a huge hit" with the fans. The match between the two ended in a
double-countout. In his book, Michaels said that "we (The Kliq)
buried him (Ouellet)" because he did not want to put Nash over. Lafitte was released soon after. Contrary to rumors, Michaels also stated that WWF Chairman
Vince McMahon did not fire Lafitte.
Curtain Call: The MSG Incident
One of the more talked-about actions involving The Kliq took place on May 19, 1996 at
Madison Square Garden. At the time, Hall and Nash were about to leave the WWF for rival
WCW, and this was their last contractual obligation for the WWF. At a major WWF
live event, Levesque (as the
villainous Helmsley) wrestled
the
fan favorite Scott Hall (as Razor Ramon). WWF Chairman,
Vince McMahon was reported to be initially okay with the incident but did not expect them to take it so far. Because Michaels was the
WWF Champion at the time and was one of the promotion's biggest drawing cards, he could not be punished. He did, however, win the WWF Intercontinental Championship five months later.
The Undertaker stated in
HHH: The Game DVD that when Levesque first arrived in the WWF, he saw him as an arrogant person who only looked out for himself, but when Levesque took his punishment and did not complain, he earned his respect. This punishment turned out to have a major impact on the WWF's future. Before the "MSG Incident", Levesque had been booked into the finals of the
1996 King of the Ring tournament during the following summer, but his place - and the
push that usually went with it - would instead go to
Steve Austin, igniting his and helped the WWF defeat WCW in the
Monday Night Wars.
The nWo and D-Generation X
Because WWF officials disliked the Kliq and their influence in booking matches, Hall and Nash's contracts were allowed to expire to break up the group. When Hall and Nash went to WCW, they formed the New World Order (nWo) stable, along with
Hulk Hogan. When Waltman later jumped to WCW, he also joined the nWo. Many fans criticized Kevin Nash for his booking tenure in WCW since it displayed the same self-promoting behavior associated with The Kliq on an even larger scale. Fans often pointed to Nash booking for himself to win the
WCW World Heavyweight Championship from the then-undefeated
Goldberg and the subsequent "
Fingerpoke of Doom" as the most grievous of his "offenses". Nash, however, claims that he did not have booking power at the time of the incident.
was a member of both D-Generation X and the nWo.]]
Meanwhile, Levesque and Michaels began to persuade WWF management to let them pair up on screen, but management was hesitant and wanted to keep The Kliq separated on-screen. After Sean Waltman was fired from WCW, he was hired by WWF and joined DX, replacing the injured Michaels. In the nWo, Hall and Nash brought the hand sign with them, and it became widely used by the nWo members and fans worldwide. The year after, Nash returned from injury as a fan favorite and sided with Michaels against Evolution (Triple H, Ric Flair, Batista and Randy Orton).
Recent formations
On more than one occasion since these events, Michaels and Triple H have reformed D-Generation X, first returning together for a six month stint on the June 12, 2006 edition of Monday Night Raw. They would feud against the
Spirit Squad (
Kenny,
Johnny,
Mitch,
Nicky, and
Mikey), the Big Show and Vince McMahon, and later the team of Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton), until Triple H's legitimate knee injury in the beginning of 2007. They would reform again on August 2009 during Shawn Michaels' last year in the WWE. During this year, D-Generation X would capture the
Unified Tag Team Championships at against Jericho and the Big Show, which would become the start of the first and only title reign for Triple H and Shawn Michaels as a tag team. D-Generation X would later go on to disband in March 2010 (after losing the Tag Team Titles to
The Big Show and
The Miz). Michaels would then focus heavily on ending the winning streak of
The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, having failed to do so at
WrestleMania XXV, he would put his career on the line for their second Wrestlemania encounter at
WrestleMania XXVI which he would go on to lose and therefore end his career.
Hall, Nash and Waltman (then working for TNA Wrestling) would reform the nWo, in a stable called The Band, where Hall and Nash won the TNA World Tag Team Championships, but Hall and Waltman were released shortly after (and Nash's contract would expire later on in the year).
On April 2, 2011, The Kliq, consisting of Nash, Waltman, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, made a special appearance as Shawn Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame 2011. Scott Hall decided not to attend the Hall Of Fame ceremony or other Wrestlemania XXVII festivities due to concerns of remaining sober. Hall has battled many drug and alcohol problems and suffered from various health problems in the past year and credits his friends in The Kliq for helping him through his battles.
See also
D-Generation X
New World Order (professional wrestling)
The Outsiders (professional wrestling)
X-Factor (professional wrestling)
The Band (professional wrestling)
References
Category:WWE teams and stables
Category:History of professional wrestling
