Clique (professional wrestling)

The Clique (sometimes referred to as the Kliq) was a backstage group in the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) of the mid-1990s, made up of the following members:

• Michael Hickenbottom (Shawn Michaels)
• Paul Levesque (then Hunter Hearst Helmsley, now Triple H)
• Kevin Nash (Diesel)
• Scott Hall (Razor Ramon)
• Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid/X-Pac)

The five were best friends in real life; most of them remain close friends today. When all five were in the WWF together, they held virtually all the booking power (the power to make matches and determine storylines), and refused to put over (elevate, usually by losing a match) anyone outside the group. Other wrestlers were on the fringes of the Clique from time to time—most notably Joanie Laurer (Chyna), who was in a real-life relationship with Levesque for several years, and Justin Credible —but the core group remained the same. After Nash and Hall left WWF for WCW, the three remaining Clique members, plus Laurer, formed the nucleus of D-Generation X, which started out as a heel stable but became fan favorites over time.

Some fans use the terms Clique and Kliq interchangeably. "Kliq" was originally used by the WWF to describe Shawn Michaels' fanbase at one period in the mid-90s. It is widely believed that "Kliq" was a nod to smarks who knew of the existence of the Clique.

Contents

1 The MSG Incident 2 The Clique and the nWo 3 Quotes 4 External Links

The MSG Incident

One of the more talked-about actions involving the Clique was the so-called MSG Incident, which took place in May 1996 and involved all of the Clique except for Waltman. 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 would job to Levesque to put him over. Later, in the main event, Michaels, as a face, worked a steel cage match with Nash (as Diesel), as a heel, in which the departing Nash would job to Michaels to put him over. Immediately after the match, Hall walked towards the ring. He got in the ring, 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.

Their actions 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. Because Michaels was holding the WWF championship belt 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 beyond punishment, as they were soon to leave for WCW. The punishment fell on Levesque; he was demoted from championship contender to jobber to the stars for about a year.

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 "tournament" late that spring. The winner of this "title" traditionally received a large push toward stardom. However, the incident led the WWF to change the booking for the tournament. The King of the Ring "title" would instead go to Stone Cold Steve Austin; his "win" started his meteoric 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.

The Clique and the nWo

When Hall and Nash went to WCW, they formed the "New World Order" stable, or nWo; when Waltman later jumped to WCW, he also joined the nWo. Then, blurring the fourth wall even further, rumours began to spread among smarks that Shawn Michaels wanted to be fired from the WWF so he could join his friends in WCW, which was more popular at the time. These fans eagerly watched every new episode trying to see what Michaels would do to get himself fired. Michaels kept doing controversial acts, including things which were supposedly edited out. It was later revealed that the WWF itself had started this rumour to help attract the viewership of those smarks.

In 2002, after WCW had gone out of business, the nWo was re-formed, originally with Hall, Nash and Hollywood Hogan, the group's initial members. Hogan soon left the group, and other former members, including The Big Show and Waltman, joined, as did Booker T, against his will. When the brand extension took place, the nWo became affiliated with RAW.

The biggest nWo-related shock came when Shawn Michaels, after years away from the ring, joined the group. He kicked Booker T out of the group (literally; he used his "Sweet Chin Music" superkick on him) soon afterward, and promised the rest of the group that he would soon deliver Triple H (who at the time was on SmackDown!) to the nWo.

Shortly thereafter, Nash suffered a severe leg injury during a six-man tag-team match, and the following week Vince McMahon disbanded the nWo. The story became, "Can Shawn Michaels convince Triple H to come to RAW?" He succeeded in that effort, but Triple H turned on him shortly thereafter, setting off a long and heated feud that has not yet fully been resolved.

Quotes

• "Bret, you didn't destroy the Clique. Don't confuse expansion with destruction. The Clique owns this business and at Survivor Series, the Kliq and the Heartbreak Kid are going to own you."

-Shawn Michaels, RAW is WAR October 6, 1997, following the departure of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.

External Links

• Kevin Nash (http://www.kevinbigsexynash.com/)
• Sean Waltman (http://www.seanwaltman.com/)
• Triple H at WWE.com (http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/triple_h/index.jsp)
• Shawn Michaels at WWE.com (http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/shawn_michaels/index.jsp)
• Scott Hall biography (http://www.cooldudesandhotbabes.com/hall.html)
• Clique fansite (http://www.clique4life.com/index.html)