The Kliq

The Clique (sometimes spelled as Kliq) was a backstage group in the World Wrestling Federation during the mid-1990s, which some claim held virtually all booking power and were accused of refusing to put over anyone outside of the group. The Kliq was the primary catalyst for two of the most famous groups in wrestling history: D-Generation X in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and the nWo in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Shawn Michaels and Triple H founded DX, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash founded the nWo. Sean Waltman was a member of both.

Members

• Michael Hickenbottom (Shawn Michaels) The de facto leader of the group
• Kevin Nash
• Scott Hall
• Paul Levesque (Triple H)
• Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid/Syxx/X-Pac)

Other wrestlers known as being real close to the Kliq but not in the core of the group were Peter Polaco (Justin Credible/Aldo Montoya), Louis Spicolli (who wrestled in the WWF as Rad Radford) Joanie Laurer (Chyna) billed as the 9th Wonder of The World who dated Triple H and Tammy Lynn Sytch (Sunny), who dated Michaels for a time and was known as "The Kliq Chick". However, the core group remained the same. More than a year after Nash and Hall left the WWF for WCW, Michaels and Triple H formed the original D-Generation X with Chyna.

Some fans use the terms Clique and Kliq interchangeably. "Kliq" was originally used on-air by the WWF to describe Shawn Michaels' fanbase at the height of his popularity in 1996. It is widely believed that the name "Kliq" was a nod to "smart marks" who knew of the existence of the backstage or "real" Clique.

Interesting enough, Bret Hart claims in his autobiography Hitman, that he was actually asked if he wanted to be part of it, as his relationship with Michaels was far less adversarial back then; "The thing I remember most about that tour was Shawn, Razor, and Nash talking to me in Hamburg about the idea of forming a clique of top guys who strictly took care of their own." (Hitman, pg 360) Hart refused the offer.

Curtain Call: The MSG Incident

File:Hug MSG Incident.jpg

The MSG Incident.

One of the more talked-about actions involving the Clique was the Madison Square Garden Incident (MSG) , which took place on May 19 1996 and involved all of the Clique except for Waltman (who was at home nursing an injury at the time). At the time of the incident, Hall and Nash were about to leave the WWF for WCW. At a major WWF house show in Madison Square Garden, Michaels and Levesque (as Helmsley) worked separate singles matches with Hall and Nash. Earlier in the card, Levesque worked a match, as a heel, with Scott Hall (as Razor Ramon) in which the departing Hall jobbed to Levesque to put him over. Later, in the main event, Michaels, as a face, worked a steel cage match with Nash (as the heel Diesel), in which the departing Nash would job to Michaels to put him over. Immediately after the match, Hall walked towards the ring, entered it, and hugged Michaels. This was not seen as a problem, since both Hall and Michaels were faces in the storylines. But after Hall and Michaels hugged, Levesque walked towards the ring, got in, and also hugged Hall, despite working a match earlier in which Hall was a face and Levesque was a heel. Then, Nash stood up after being pinned by Michaels and all four shared a prolonged group hug.

File:MSGIncident.png

Images of the fan video of the MSG Incident.

Their actions in the "Curtain Call" scandalized WWF management, who at the time wanted to maintain the illusion that the supposed antipathy between faces and heels was real, and that they were not friends outside the ring. It is reported in Michaels' book, Heartbreak and Triumph, that Vince McMahon was initially okay with the incident, but did not expect them to take it so far, nor did he expect a fan in the audience to sneak a camcorder into the event and capture the entire incident on tape (the tape was later procured by the WWF and aired on the October 6 episode of RAW is WAR by (kayfabe) Michaels and Levesque who used the footage to irritate Vince McMahon, who was commentating at ringside). It is alleged (according to Kevin Kelly's commentary on the October 20 1997 edition of RAW is WAR) that the incident created a furor behind the scenes in the locker room, and that several superstars (said to have included Davey Boy Smith) had to be restrained from engaging in physical interaction with the Clique superstars.

Because Michaels was the WWF Champion at the time and was one of the promotion's biggest drawing cards, the WWF feared that punishing him would hurt its business. Hall and Nash were soon to leave for WCW (Hall arrived just over one week later, Nash three weeks later), so they escaped punishment. The punishment fell solely on Levesque, who was demoted from championship contender to a jobber, although he did win the WWF Intercontinental Championship five months later.

This punishment turned out to have a major impact on the WWF's future. Before the MSG Incident, Levesque had been booked to win the King of the Ring 1996 tournament late that spring, but instead was booked to job to Jake "The Snake" Roberts (a finalist in the King of the Ring that year). The winner of this title traditionally receives a large push toward stardom. However, the incident led the WWF to change the booking for the tournament. The King of the Ring title instead went to Stone Cold Steve Austin. His win (and subsequent "Austin 3:16" speech) started his rise toward mainstream superstardom and helped the WWF defeat WCW in their business wars. Levesque's punishment only delayed his rise to prominence in the business, as he would go on to win the following year's King of the Ring and later went on to become a eleven time world champion, beginning with his WWF Championship victory over Mick Foley the night after SummerSlam 1999.

The Clique, the nWo, and D-Generation X

When Hall and Nash went to WCW, they formed the New World Order stable, or nWo, along with Hulk Hogan. When Waltman later jumped to WCW, he also joined the nWo. Many fans often criticized Kevin Nash for his booking tenure in WCW since it displayed the same self-promoting behavior associated with the Clique on an even larger scale. Fans often pointed to Nash booking for himself to win the WCW Championship from the then-undefeated Goldberg and the subsequent Fingerpoke of Doom as the most grievous of his "offenses."

Meanwhile, Levesque and Michaels went on to align together in the faction D-Generation X alongside Chyna and Rick Rude. DX eventually became as influential to the Monday Night Wars as the nWo. DX's antics also went on to help spark the WWF Attitude Era.

The nWo's hand sign, often referred to as the "Wolf Head", was originally used by the Clique members in the WWF. Shawn Michaels was often seen flashing the sign, most notably at the Royal Rumble 1995, where he had "TK" written on his taped hands (Standing for "The Kliq"). At In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies, Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash both flashed the hand sign before the match, signifying their friendship. In the nWo, Hall and Nash brought the hand sign with them, and it became widely used by the nWo members and fans worldwide. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman often gave "shout-outs" to their friends - Shawn Michaels & Triple-H - using the hand gesture on live television.

During a brief period in 1998, after Waltman's return to the WWF as X-Pac, D-Generation X made numerous references to their friends in the WCW (though not by name) in their non-match and pre-match appearances and speeches. They even went so far as to stage a protest/paramilitary take-over of the WCW office in Atlanta. Triple H, riding in a Humvee, chanted "Let our people go!" through a megaphone during the incident. Sean Waltman also called out "we just wanted to say hey to our buddies Hall & Nash" during the WCW invaision segment. But any hope of Nash and Hall jumping ship to the WWF did not materialize until WCW eventually folded.

X-Factor was formed in 2001 by Kliq members X-Pac (Waltman) and Justin Credible. They were later joined by Albert. Credible left the group when the ECW alumni joined WCWs Alliance. The group died off when X-Pac was sidelined by injury in his last major singles run with WWF.

File:Litorazor.jpg

Hall with tights that read "KLIQ".

In 2002, after WCW had gone out of business, the nWo was reformed in the WWF with Hall, Nash, and Hollywood Hogan, the group's initial members. Hogan soon left the group after being attacked by Nash and Hall as a result of his turning face at WrestleMania X8. Other former members, including Big Show and Waltman, joined as did Booker T against his will. When the brand extension took place, the nWo became affiliated with RAW. Then, Shawn Michaels, after years away from the ring, was introduced by Kevin Nash as the newest member of the nWo. He literally kicked Booker T out of the group (using his "Sweet Chin Music" superkick on him) soon afterward, and promised the rest of the group that he would soon deliver Triple H. Shortly thereafter, Nash suffered a torn quadriceps (after returning the same night after time off due to a biceps injury) during a ten-man tag-team match, and the following week Vince McMahon disbanded the nWo. Eric Bischoff (acting as the RAW brand GM) later tried to make Michaels Triple H's manager. This led to a short-lived reformation of DX, as Triple H turned on him the same night, setting off a long and heated feud that took approximately a year to resolve. The year after, Nash returned from injury as a face and sided with Michaels against Evolution (Hunter, Ric Flair, and Randy Orton).

Currently, Triple H and Shawn Michaels are still with WWE. Coincidentally, they are the only members of the reunited D-Generation X. Kevin Nash is currently under a handshake deal in TNA, and Sean Waltman is currently wrestling on the independent circuit. Scott Hall has been mostly inactive from wrestling since his TNA run ended in 2005, but is wrestling on the independent circuit with Waltman as The Wolfpac. During his TNA run and at the beginning of his second WWF run in 2002, Hall wore wrestling tights that had KLIQ stamped on the back of them.