WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H recalls when he was on the verge of getting fired by Vince McMahon after receiving a warning from The USA Network.
The early days of the Attitude Era birthed one of the most controversial and entertaining stables ever in the history of pro wrestling, Degeneration X. The group was led by Shawn Michaels with Triple H and Chyna as the other main members.
DX was instrumental in the increasing popularity of WWE due to its unconventional and raunchy segments. The group was officially formed on August 11, 1997. The group eventually evolved to be a mainstay in WWE. The iconic stable expanded when new members were introduced such as Road Dogg, Billy Gun, and X Pac.
DX’s State of the Union Address
One of the members of the group Triple H, now The Head of Creative in WWE recalled when DX was almost fired by Vince McMahon after he received a warning letter from The USA Network. The USA Network took umbrage to the DX’s explicit segments and sent out a letter condemning their conduct on TV.
This infuriated Vince McMahon who then almost went as far as to fire DX. Speaking with Sport Bible, Triple H explained how they used the letter and turned it into one of the most infamous segments of wrestling that featured, a parody of President Bill Clinton.
“Vince brought us the letter, and he’s like ‘Well, here it is. And if these demands aren’t followed to a tee, you will no longer be on the air on USA Network. What are we gonna do about this?’ And we said, ‘Let us take the letter and use it on TV.’
“He was like ‘alright, make sure its funny”
“We did like a presidential podium and the three of us got up there as if Shawn (Michaels) was President and we were standing behind him.
“We went through the list of words and they beeped the words we weren’t allowed to say. We said, ‘this is direct from the USA, we in D-Generation X apologize for our attitudes, we will no longer say the words…’ and we went through the list.
“The next day we got a letter from the USA that said ‘Congratulations on the ratings last night, what DX did with our letter was hilarious. Congratulations on the success here’s to many more years.’”
Lucky for DX, the next day The USA Network wrote back praising the comedy skit. The Comedy sketch shot up the ratings and took a shine on the Network. The spirit of DX was kept alive over the years when Shawn Michaels and Triple H reunited after a rivalry in the mid-2000s. The faction was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
Triple H looks back on being present during the controversial moments in wrestling
Later during the interview, The Chief Content Officer recalled his journey as a wrestler. After gaining notoriety for his involvement with DX, The Game became the leader of the dominant stable of 4, Evolution. After dominating the business for many more years, The Cerebral Assassin donned a suit and became a core member of ‘The Authority’ alongside Stephanie McMahon.
“I’m in the Curtain Call, I’m instrumental in the Montreal Screwjob, positively or negatively. You go to the attitude era, I was sort of at the forefront of that. You go to the Monday Night War, I’m the guy driving the tank over to WCW”. He added.“It’s just me being so lucky and so fortunate to be a part of all those things, also to have such incredible people to work with.”
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