The most controversial and rebellious faction in the history of WWE, and one of the cornerstones of The Attitude Era, D-Generation X, will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2019. ESPN broke the news earlier today, WWE confirmed it a few hours after, that Triple H, Shawn Michaels, who will join Ric Flair as a two-time inductee, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, X-Pac and the late Chyna will take their place in sports-entertainment history on Saturday, April 6, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., during WrestleMania 35 Week.
DX was born in 1997, out of the friendship between Shawn Michaels and Triple H, along with Chyna and their “insurance policy,” “Ravishing” Rick Rude, at a time where WWF and WCW were fighting for ratings. The group’s gimmick was best known as a gang of rebels who broke the rules, acted and spoke as they pleased, and wrestled whomever they wanted no matter how provocative and insulting, with their crude, profane humour and sophomoric pranks. Their penchant for crossing the line with regularity led to Bret “The Hitman” Hart calling Michaels “nothing more than a degenerate,” which HBK embraced, sparking the idea behind the alliance’s name.
When Michaels went on a hiatus from the squared circle following WrestleMania XIV, Triple H expanded the membership of the group, welcoming in Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and X-Pac. DX’s defiance wasn’t just limited to WWE. In one of the most infamous and groundbreaking moments of the era, the rebels hopped aboard a tank and drove from Monday Night Raw to rival WCW’s Monday Nitro, launching one of the biggest attacks in The Monday Night War.
The group eventually went their separate ways, but the DX name would not be limited to the history books after that. Following a long rivalry against each other, Michaels and Triple H patched things up and donned the green and black once again. The reunited DX may have only been the tag team of The Game & HBK, but that did not stop them from making Mr McMahon’s life a living hell around 2006.
“I think it’s the most meaningful for us all to go in together and to be recognized together,” Triple H told ESPN. “Because I think both groups were [just] as impactful.” Triple H told ESPN that the idea to induct DX as a group had been “swirling around” for some time before a few key events and decisions allowed everything to slide right into place.
“It’s a funny thing, because DX was something that, before Kevin [Nash] and Scott [Hall] left, at the time we all talked about using ‘The Kliq’ as it was — kind of morphing that into television, since it was so out there anyway,” Triple H said. “But things worked out the way they did — they left, and the timing was right. Shawn and I still wanted to do it. Vince saw the value in it, I guess, and finally, let us go at it. By that point in time, I was looking for a heater, and we had brought Chyna.”
ESPN is noting that, among this group of six entering the WWE Hall of Fame together, Chyna’s inclusion in the Hall of Fame class is likely to garner the most attention. With the recent push toward expanding the spotlight on women’s wrestling, fans have clamoured for Chyna’s role in WWE history to be better recognized, and her inclusion as part of DX’s induction into the Hall of Fame is a major step forward in that regard.
Triple H confirmed. “Look, people believe what they want to believe. When I said a few years ago on the Austin podcast or show, or whatever you want to call it, there’s complexities around it. But absolutely, definitely deserves to be in there. It’d be tough to pick a female that was more impactful on the business. She did something that was completely so out of left field that it wasn’t even being considered when we first brought it up for her to come in. It wasn’t even a consideration … it wasn’t an easy thing, and against all odds, she did all of that. She earned everybody’s trust. She won over the fans. She won over the boys. She did all of it.
He added, “From that standpoint, absolutely 100 percent deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and should probably be more than once — as a group, but individually as well. There’s more complexity to that than meets the eye, but here we are. I’m just happy that it’s here. I’m happy for her family, the people that she was close to, that hopefully, this is super meaningful to them. I know it would be to her. It’s a great thing — very deserving.”
The fact with DX is, like Triple H stated, depending on your age group and time, everyone has his own personal memories about the faction. Because from 1996 to now, they’ve done it all, they’ve made all possible pranks, they’ve made cringe and laugh, they’ve driven wrestlers and fans nuts. The only rule DX has ever followed has been no rules. Will they be as rebellious as usual when they take their place in the WWE Hall of Fame? For sure, they have two words for you, be patient…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQUD-PbgG04]