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June 13, 2006 – D-Generation X is back!…

WWE RAW, Monday June 12, 2006…

Triple H was battling four of the members of the Squad in what would soon be a 5 on 1 Handicap match. Or so Mr McMahon thought! Suddenly the fifth member flies out of the entrance and lands hard on the stage in front of Mr McMahon. Next we see Shawn Michaels walk out through the entrance and looks at Mr McMahon. Shawn Michaels has returned! He makes a dash to the ring to help Triple H and both men soon lay out the remaining Spirit Squad members. Triple H and Shawn Michaels stood united in the ring, united by a mutual hatred for Mr McMahon. Then we saw the moment that had been hinted at since WrestleMania. Both men signed the signature DX crotch chop towards Mr McMahon! DX is back!

The question that we must now ask is… will this be a good move for the WWE?

I remember watching WrestleMania and in particular the match between Shawn Michaels and Mr McMahon. I should point out that Shawn Michaels is my wrestling idol, so I was clearly cheering for him all the way. He stood atop that ladder and did the crotch chop towards a prone Mr McMahon before landing an elbow drop on the fallen chairman. I thought nothing of it at the time, just that Mr McMahon had driven Shawn back to his old ways and this was part of that regression. However, the main event saw Triple H do a crotch chop to John Cena. This was no coincidence. Something was in the making. The next pay-per-view was Backlash and once again both men did the crotch chop either in or after their respective matches. You knew WWE had plans to reunite DX. The question was not if, the question was when. Weeks passed and Shawn’s feud with Mr McMahon continued. Triple H and Mr McMahon slowly sowed the seeds to a feud and it started to become clear where this was heading. Both men would re-unite thanks to a common hatred for the boss. And then we reached the above episode of RAW where it all became official.

But is it a good idea? I would say yes, but then I was a huge DX fan back in 1997/98 (while Shawn was there) and we all love a bit of nostalgia. However, there isn’t a very high success rate for bringing things back to life in professional wrestling. Anyone remember all the updated versions of the nWo? Or how about when the 1998 version of DX reunited in 1999 (how dare JR later say that “DX” (which was Road Dogg and X-Pac at the time) were one of the most successful tag teams in WWE history! It was Road Dogg and Billy Gunn he was referring to – Road Dogg and X-Pac had hardly ever wrestled together!!) Also, look at how WCW and ECW were destroyed during the Alliance Invasion storyline. These are the reasons why I’m cautious about being optimistic for the new ECW and it’s why I’m cautious about being optimistic for the reuniting of DX. Lets go into more detail.

DX began with three members. Shawn Michaels, Triple H (Hunter Hearst Helmsley at the time) and his bodyguard, Chyna. The late Ravishing Rick Rude joined as Shawn Michaels’ insurance policy but shortly afterwards jumped ship to WCW and joined the now (on a side note – does anyone else remember when Rick Rude appeared on both RAW and Nitro on the same night?). Anyway, between September 1997 and March 1998, DX was awesome. It was one of the best times in pro wrestling history because the nWo was in full swing in WCW. However, Shawn was seriously injured and had to take time off. It would later be thought that he could never wrestle again and in fact he didn’t wrestle for four and a half years. When Triple H took over DX on the night after WrestleMania XIV, I didn’t know about Shawn’s injuries and hated Triple H for ousting HBK. “How dare he?” I thought. DX went on to greater heights with new members X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) and were on top of the WWE for most of that year. 1999 saw Triple H and Chyna split from DX and then the aforementioned reuniting later that year. Billy Gunn got injured in early 2000 and, as far as I can remember, the remaining members gradually drifted apart over the next several months.

Can you see my point yet? The original DX was great, the 1998 DX was even better (not in my view, but millions would disagree with me) but it ran it’s course and ended. The reuniting in late 1999 was good for a short time but soon became stale and Triple H was more interested in being a part of the McMahon-Helmsley era. I hope the 2006 reuniting won’t end up the same way and even if it does, I’ll still watch it because of HBK. But I think there’s a way to keep it going and keep it fresh and it’s the same policy that Paul Heyman will have to follow to make a success of the new ECW. Start with the established names but add new faces over time and build a new group that takes the wrestling world by storm once again. I would like to see Chyna return simply to have the original members all together for this version but I seriously doubt that will happen. Ad far as new members? Carlito looks like the most likely option but he wouldn’t be my choice because I just don’t think he’d fit the degenerate mentality. Johnny Nitro (arguably the new HBK – how similar does the Nitro and Melina characters look like HBK and Sherri circa 1992?) would be a perfect fit for a heel DX – perhaps that’s one for the future. The same could be said for Shelton Benjamin. Ken Kennedy might fit in but he’s too crucial to the future of SmackDown that he won’t switch shows. Matt Hardy? He’ll definitely fit in but (not to take anything away from Hardy) is that it? Sorry folks, but looking at the RAW and SmackDown rosters I cannot see a way to add to the new DX in future months to keep things fresh. I don’t know much about anyone in OVW and anywhere else that could fit the bill but anyone with talent will probably end up in ECW. If you’re wondering why I haven’t thought about X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws, I have but I can’t see the Outlaws jumping from TNA and as for X-Pac, well, he might make a return but if he does it won’t help DX. Not unless Scott Hall and Kevin Nash return and join as well to make the new DX all five member of the Clique. Again, Hall and Nash won’t be coming back. There’s always Marty Jannetty – I wanted to see the Rockers back together for a successful tag team title run last year but it never happened then and I doubt it’ll happen now.

So I regret to say that it doesn’t look like the new DX will last long. Triple H and Shawn Michaels are big enough characters to carry it on for months but there’s only so many times you can watch Mr McMahon plot against the same person/people. If I had my way, Triple H and HBK would carry on this feud with the chairman for the next few months before turning HEEL and siding with Mr McMahon. Only THEN could DX make a serious attempt to last by recruiting the likes of Nitro and Benjamin. That’s what I would do.

But, if history has told us anything, it’s that the WWE often does the opposite of what should be done. And if the new DX does only last a matter months, HBK and Triple H will damn sure it’s some of the most memorable months in wrestling history!