Line #46 Wrestling/TheKliq


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kliq_127.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:From left in 1995: Paul "Wrestling/{{Triple H}}" Levesque, Wrestling/KevinNash, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/ScottHall, and Wrestling/SeanWaltman. And [[https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d3/61/34/d3613464c87515d89be868bed4b3dd1f.jpg in 2015]].]]
3
4	->''"When you recruit for an army, you look to your family. You look to your blood. You look to the Kliq."''
5	-->--'''Triple H''' announcing that Sean Waltman would join Wrestling/DGenerationX as X-Pac, ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw WWF Raw is War]]'', March 30, 1998
6
7	The Kliq is one of ProfessionalWrestling's most controversial [[RealLifeWritesThePlot behind-the-scenes]] "supergroups".
8
9	In 1993, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/ScottHall (Razor Ramon) and Wrestling/SeanWaltman (The 1-2-3 Kid, later known as Syxx or [[XPacHeat X-Pac]]) were working for the then-[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]]. Hall and Michaels were acquaintances stemming all the way back to the mid 80's when they were in AWA together, and their similar personalities had them becoming travel mates and friends. Waltman was a young indie wrestler that Hall took a liking to after their famous program and served as his mentor on screen and off. Michaels was a rising star, and Hall and Waltman were solid midcard wrestlers. All three were notorious hellraisers known for drinking and abusing drugs, and they all had ego to spare. Michaels was looking for a way to get himself even more over with the crowd, having just made an infamous [[FaceHeelTurn heel turn]] against his ex-partner Wrestling/MartyJannetty by [[BreakupBreakout kicking Jannetty through the Barbershop window]]. He turned on Wrestling/{{WCW}}'s show, ''WCW Saturday Night'', one night, and found what he was looking for -- Wrestling/KevinNash, who was playing a comedic character named "Vinnie Vegas".
10
11	Nash, who was unhappy over at WCW, asked to be let out of his contract. He signed with the WWF the next week and became Diesel, who served as Michaels' bodyguard (Nash and Michaels also became offscreen friends during this time). For two years, the group of Hall, Michaels, Nash, and Waltman slowly built their careers up; in 1995, the four men were some of the WWF's highest profile stars. Michaels and Nash traded the WWF Championship between them, and Hall had several runs with the Intercontinental Championship (including two revolutionary Ladder Matches with Michaels for that title). The last man to enter the picture was a young Paul Levesque, who -- after his own failed stint with WCW -- signed with the WWF and became Hunter Hearst Helmsley (later shortened to simply Wrestling/TripleH).
12
13	The five men would [[WagTheDirector amass a staggering amount of backstage power]] as a group. All five were close to Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} and had input on booking decisions (including which wrestlers they believed deserved a push). Victims of The Kliq's influence include Wrestling/ShaneDouglas, Wrestling/BamBamBigelow, Wrestling/ChrisCandido, Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith and Carl Oullet; [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] was also supposed to be one of The Kliq's victims, but managed to secure his own place in history even with their objections. Wrestling/BretHart, who would have his career and life changed by the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob (which Michaels, Levesque, and [=McMahon=] were in on), was perhaps the biggest victim of The Kliq's backstage politicking.
14
15	Before the Montreal Screwjob, however, came the "Curtain Call".
16
17	On May 19, 1996, the WWF put on a house show at Madison Square Garden in New York; this show was Kevin Nash and Scott Hall's last show with the company before they jumped ship to WCW. Levesque and Nash were working as [=heels=] at the time, and Michaels and Hall were [=faces=]. At the end of Michaels and Nash's steel cage match, Hall and Levesque came out to hug them goodbye in the middle of the ring.
18
19	This was a ''serious'' problem.
20
21	The vast majority of the wrestling industry were calling for The Kliq's heads, since they'd broken [=kayfabe=] in front of the cameras (by showing that faces and heels were actually friends outside the ring, rather than mortal enemies). Vince [=McMahon=] had few options for punishment, however: Hall and Nash were leaving for WCW, Waltman wasn't in on it, and Michaels was (at the time) the WWF Champion and a big name headliner. [[TheScapegoat The punishment ultimately fell on Levesque]], who [[DemotedToExtra languished for well over a year in the midcard]], jobbing to wrestlers such as The Ultimate Warrior. He was eventually allowed to shine as one of the founding members of Wrestling/DGenerationX (which happened due to Michaels' influence).
22
23	Levesque's punishment for the Curtain Call, ironically enough, was directly responsible for the meteoric rise in popularity of Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament -- which Levesque was scheduled to win before the Curtain Call -- and delivered his infamous "Austin 3:16" speech after the tournament winning match. Austin's incredible popularity following his victory eventually led to the Wrestling/AttitudeEra a year later.
24
25	In WCW, Hall and Nash formed the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]] with Wrestling/HulkHogan, a move that for 84 weeks gave WCW control over the Wrestling/MondayNightWars. The Hall/Hogan/Nash triumvirate wielded tremendous booking power (even moreso than in the WWF), and it was their decisions that either made or sank the careers of many a WCW performer. Waltman would join them a few months later, but he was fired in early 1998 and went back to WWE to become [=X-Pac=], making him the second person, after Wrestling/RickRude, to have been a member of DX and the original nWo. Michaels and Levesque went on to become two of WWE's most successful and celebrated stars, and their behind-the-scenes clout has become both the wrestling business's worst kept secret and a point of contention for both fans and fellow performers when considering the merits of their careers.
26
27	To this date, all five members of The Kliq remain [[TrueCompanions closer than close]] behind the scenes.
28
29	-----
30	!!Tropes that apply to one or all of the members of the Kliq:
31
32	* AffablyEvil: Even when heel (and in RealLife, if you believe certain things about them), they're funny and charismatic.
33	* TheAlcoholic: Scott Hall, uber-example. Kid, nigh constantly. Shawn, before his Jesusification.
34	** Averted with Triple H, who was and still is teetotal.
35	* AppropriatedAppellation: Wrestling/LexLuger took to calling these guys "the clique", which conjured images of cool kids mocking everyone from the safety of the Cool Couch, but it stuck.
36	* ArchEnemy: Bret Hart ''really'' disliked The Kliq, especially Shawn Michaels. [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob Not that he doesn't have ample reason, though]]. Although he did seem to get along with X-Pac and, for the most part, Kevin Nash.
37	** There are also rumors that Wrestling/TheUndertaker did a lot to try and keep them from using too much of their backstage power to make themselves look good at the expense of newer guys on the roster. This is unconfirmed, however.
38	** However, in RealLife and onscreen, Shawn and Bret seem to have buried the hatchet, and Undertaker has stated that after The Kliq broke kayfabe, he gained respect for Levesque when, after being DemotedToExtra, he took his punishment without complaining.
39	* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: The legacy of the Kliq? Well, wrestlers have more control over their residuals and work rates than they did in the bad old days. The genius of HBK (Sensei Hogan's greatest pupil) and Nash was to, basically, unionize and put pressure on the likes of [=McMahon=], [[Wrestling/EricBischoff Bischoff]], and [[{{Wrestling/TNA}} Carter]] to accept their terms or else. No-cut contracts, guaranteed appearances, creative control: These are the weapons of a modern athlete. Nash would later perfect Kliq politics with a sister group, the [=nWo=].
40	-->'''[[http://wwehalloffameblog.com/2015/03/27/wwe-hall-of-fame-class-of-2015-kevin-nash/ James Ferrarella]]''': From 1996 on, the Monday Night War necessitated guaranteed money for a wrestlers’ loyalty. Nash was a businessman who helped make wrestling more of a business, a practice which still exists today...Nash changed that for the better, but in doing so politicized money within wrestling in a way it hadn’t been. Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/BrockLesnar would continue his salary negotiations tactics to their advantages later down the line.
41	* BashBrothers: Shawn and Hunter in DX. Kevin and Scott as the Outsiders in the nWo. Shawn and Kevin. Scott and Kid. It's pretty safe to say that they've all teamed with each other at one time or another.
42	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: They're extremely well-known for doing this to others in both real life and kayfabe, but amongst themselves this only happens in kayfabe.
43	** The 1-2-3 Kid turned on Razor to join Wrestling/{{Ted DiBiase}}'s Million Dollar Corporation immediately before ''Survivor Series 1995''.
44	** Hall turned on Nash to side with Hogan's nWo Hollywood as opposed to Nash's red-and-black wearing nWo Wolfpac. This, along with firing Syxx, was an apparent move by Bischoff to split up Hall and Nash and keep them in line.
45	** [=DX=] set up Shawn to be beaten up by The Corporation on the January 4, 1999 ''Raw.'' This was in retaliation to Shawn turning on [=DX=] on his first night as Commissioner.
46	* CoolOldGuy: What they've all grown into.
47	* DrugsAreBad: Let's put it this way, the only one of the five who was ever even rumored to be totally clean from alcohol, pills, and steroids was Triple H, and even he's debatable (considering he suffered from severe quad tears on both legs, the likes of which are generally only present in heavy steroid users, and that he went from [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Hunter_Hearst_Helmsley_in_1996.jpg this]] to [[http://thewrestlingwrapup.com/files/2010/10/Triple-H.jpg this]] in one year, though it could just be the angle and the lack of a tan).[[note]]As far as Triple H goes, if Wrestling/ScottSteiner is to be believed, let's remember that back when he was in WWE, en route to ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble'' 2003, he claimed that he was asked to take a steroid test, and said he'd only take one if Triple H took it with him... and WWE promptly dropped the subject altogether.[[/note]] The other four, though? All addicted to alcohol (especially Scott), pills (only Shawn kicked the habit), and steroids (Shawn denies it, as does Kevin). As for Sean Waltman: The reason he missed the Curtain Call? He was in rehab at the time.
48	* [[FourPhilosophyEnsemble Five Philosophy Ensemble]]:
49	** ''The Cynic'' - Triple H.
50	** ''The Optimist'' - Shawn Michaels (especially so in later years).
51	** ''The Realist'' - Kevin Nash.
52	** ''The Apathetic'' - Sean Waltman.
53	** ''The Conflicted'' - Scott Hall
54	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Shawn and Hunter. Scott and Kevin, at times. Scott and Kid, at others.
55	** The whole Kliq could be counted as this. The moment which made them infamous in wrestling history was a group hug.
56	* InsistentTerminology: Remember, that iconic hand signal is obviously called the "Too Sweet", guys. That's what Wrestling/KevinNash used to say when he threw it up in the [=nWo=]. In actuality, while The Kliq themselves have fully embraced the background of the Turkish Wolf from the very first time they adopted the gesture, fans and peers in the industry took Nash's verbal cue and ran with it, all but codifying Too Sweet as its wrestling name off the back of said assumption alone.
57	* {{Jerkass}}: Take your pick.
58	** While all still have some vices, all members have become steadily less assholes and more CoolOldGuy, although that took a while.
59	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Shawn and Hunter referenced the Curtain Call in the first iteration of DX, during their feud with Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation.
60	** They [[http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j188/staff_of_magius/HOFCliqueReunion.jpg did it again fourteen years later]].
61	* MentorArchetype: Curt Hennig. Hennig was never a member of the Kliq, but had a lot of influence on their philosophy. He also mentored Hall and Michaels early in their careers. It especially influenced Hall, who routinely took younger wrestlers under his wing.
62	* NotSoDifferentRemark: From Hulk Hogan's clique of backstage allies (Hogan, Wrestling/RandySavage, Roddy Piper, and Bob Orton), which Michaels uses as justification for some of their backstage clout:
63	-->''"If you're on top, you want to make sure you stay on top. The difference between us and Hogan's crew was that we actually liked each other... We didn't resent each other's success."''
64	* OddFriendship: Initially. Scott, Kid, Kevin and Shawn were all troublemaking, partying drug addicts, while Hunter was and still is known as being a pretty calm, collected, sober guy. Shawn mentions in his book that the main reason Hunter hung with them was social-climbing, but eventually became Shawn's caretaker and driver. Nowadays, Shawn's gotten sober and he seems like the odd one out.
65	* OnlySaneMan: Even wrestlers who hated The Kliq generally agreed that Kevin Nash was the most reasonable member to deal with.
66	** Can also apply to Hunter. Wrestling/JimRoss stated that if he ever had something to address with to the Kliq, he'd always go through Hunter and it would get done.
67	* PowerStable: A real life example.
68	* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: A few times, after the mid 1990s. Kevin and Scott resurrected the nWo in 2002, and when Shawn came back from his back injury, he joined as well. Kevin, Shawn, and Hunter feuded mainly with each other throughout 2002-2003. In 2006, Shawn and Hunter reformed [=DeGeneration=] X. And in 2010, Kevin, Scott, and Kid formed a faction in TNA [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin actually called "The Band"]].
69	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: "The Kliq" or "The Clique".
70	* SpiritualSuccessor: They were one to Wrestling/HulkHogan's crew, and they've got their own in Wrestling/BulletClub. The Bullet Club even uses the "Too Sweet" hand gesture (as homage to the Kliq), which seems to have been legitimized by a little torch-passing moment of Wrestling/TripleH sharing a "Too Sweet" with Wrestling/FinnBalor (Bullet Club's founder) at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries'' 2017.
71	* SpotlightStealingSquad: 1995 through 1997 marks the height of their success, and also the period when the company nearly went out of business. It's probably not hyperbole to say that, had Nash and Hall not migrated to WCW, the same fate would have awaited the WWF. It should be pointed out that the company almost going out of business was not the fault of the Kliq, but just a sign of the times. The early-to-mid '90s were an ''awful'' time for wrestling and both companies were losing tons of money, but while WCW could always rely on Creator/TedTurner's [[UnclePennybags seemingly bottomless pocketbook,]] the WWF relied on traditional wrestling earnings (merchandise, ticket sales, PPV buys and the like) and the numbers were dwindling fast[[labelnote:*]]This is said to be one of the forces behind the Montreal Screwjob. Vince was pushing Bret to go to WCW because he could no longer afford Bret's large salary but wanted to make absolutely certain he couldn't trash the belt the way Medusa did[[/labelnote]]. Coincidentally, The Kliq - or, at least, its individual members - would actually help ''save'' both companies (albeit, more as on-screen characters rather than any backstage pull): Hall and Nash, of course, would help form [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder the nWo]] (which eventually included the Kid), which is said to have helped generate enough money in those famous 83 weeks that it wiped out all of WCW's financial losses from the previous ''four years.'' Shawn and Hunter, meanwhile, would form the popular Wrestling/DGenerationX, which would only get more popular under Hunter's leadership (and would also eventually include the Kid) and Shawn would famously lose the WWF Championship to Steve Austin at [[Wrestling/WrestleMania WrestleMania XIV]], helping kick off the Wrestling/AttitudeEra, possibly ''the'' most lucrative and popular period in wrestling history.
72	* TheTeetotaler: Hunter only drinks at weddings, and post-conversion to Christianity, Shawn never drinks.
73	* TrueCompanions: One of wrestling's best examples. All five became lifelong friends in the early nineties.
74	* VitriolicBestBuds
75	* WackyFratboyHijinx

Context Wrestling / TheKliq