How WWE's D-Generation X Spun Crudeness Into an Unforgettable Legacy That Redefined the Attitude Era

Even if you consider yourself too cultured for wrestling, you're probably familiar with the WWE's Attitude Era, a bold period in the late '90s characterized by larger-than-life personalities like Stone Cold Steven Austin and the Rock who pushed the boundaries of prime-time television with coarse language and crude gestures.

At the epicenter of this perfect storm of no-holds-barred storytelling was the era-defining group D-Generation X. Armed with an arsenal of mic mavericks and a devil-may-care attitude, this rebellious pack of colorful characters spun juvenile dick jokes into ratings gold, helping the WWE (then WWF) to emerge as TV's most exhilarating guilty pleasure. For their creative efforts, members Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H for short), Shawn Michaels, X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn (as the New Age Outlaws), and Chyna were inducted into the Hall of Fame during this year's WrestleMania weekend. It's an honor that seemed out of reach for several members who were not a part of the group's original blueprint.

Before DX became DX, it was just a loose idea being passed around among real-life friends Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash (collectively known as the Kliq) who had hoped to turn their backstage camaraderie into an on-screen affair. However, Nash's and Hall's departures to WCW (the WWE's then-biggest competitor), in 1996, put the kibosh on that plan. The group's early beginnings were also plagued by fallout from the infamous "Curtain Call," an incident at Madison Square Garden in which Triple H and Michaels broke character, which was unheard of at the time, to hug their friends goodbye after their final match, despite being in the middle of an on-screen feud. While Michaels wasn't directly punished, Triple H's push to win the King of the Ring that year went to Stone Cold Steve Austin, who used that moment to declare himself Austin 3:16 in a game-changing promo.

The setback turned out to be the catalyst for DX, with Michaels and Triple H pushing for, and finally convincing, CEO Vince McMahon to allow them to work together. They also fought to bring in newcomer Chyna, who looked nothing like the other women in the WWE. Standing at 5 feet 10 inches tall and packing muscles just as big as her male counterparts, it was already clear that she'd be a force to reckon with, and both Michaels and Helmsley campaigned hard to get her into the group as Triple H's bodyguard. But the duo received major pushback from McMahon, who wasn't sure that a woman, no matter how well-built, was fit to inhabit that particular role.

"We had gone to Vince [McMahon] and he hated the idea. He just couldn't see a woman in that role, but we badgered him until he decided [it was OK to] bring her in with me," Paul Levesque, who portrays Triple H on-screen and serves as WWE's executive vice president of live events and creative behind the scenes, told TV Guide.

McMahon's change of heart set the wheels in motion and DX was finally born, though they still didn't have a name. (Rick Rude briefly served as an original member before departing WWE in 1997.) Starting off as the bad guys, Triple H and Michaels antagonized live crowds with pointed insults and vulgar gestures like flexing their bare cheeks as a sign of sheer disrespect while Chyna stood by as their silent enforcer. "Both Shawn [Michaels] and I were at a point in our careers where we were like, 'I just don't care. I'm just gonna go out there and do whatever I feel like doing,'" said Levesque.

This brazen conduct irked fellow wrestler Brett Hart, a clean-cut performer from a legendary wrestling family who had approached the business in a more traditional way. After Hart referred to Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna as "degenerates" in an interview with a reporter, Michaels went on to adopt that memorable jab as the group's official name. In a promo for Raw Is War (now Monday Night Raw) on October 13, 1997, Michaels officially declared the previously unnamed group D-Generation X and the rest is, well, history.

Although DX didn't initially catch on, their increasingly outlandish antics, like staging a barbecue in the middle of the ring and referring to Owen Hart as a nugget, elicited passionate responses from the crowd, both positive and negative. What also tipped the scales was the group's main slogan, "Suck It!" and the accompanying crotch chop, in which they'd cross their wrists in an "X" formation and aim it at their crotch. It resonated with those who saw it as a form of rebellion. And to their credit, it was. The obscene gesture stems from Triple's clever attempt to bypass network censors before evolving into a rally cry for DX.

"I couldn't go out there and point at my crotch and say something to somebody. But I could look at somebody and say, 'Man, I'm hurt really bad. It doesn't hurt so much here' and motion towards my face, or 'here,' and motion towards my knees. 'But it hurts right here' and point towards my crotch. And that slowly began to morph. It was like our insider way of saying suck it without saying it," Levesque explained.

DX's defiant attitude toward political correctness and what's socially acceptable was the perfect reflection of the era, which had been teeming with resentment and cynicism in the wake of a politically-charged climate. DX embodied that counter culture of rebels looking for an outlet for that simmering rage. On screen, the group's crassness made them untouchable in the eyes of WWE fans, but behind the scenes, their jobs were frequently dangled over their heads. McMahon, who viewed DX's behavior as unacceptable, tried to reel them in with numerous threats of termination to no avail. "At that time, we were constantly being threatened," Levesque said. "We were pointing at our crotch and saying 'suck it' and mooning and doing all this crazy shit and coming back and having Vince just screaming at us like, 'What are you guys doing? I'm gonna fire you.''"

But McMahon never actually followed through with handing them their pink slips, even with USA Network, which aired WWE programming, breathing down his neck. On one occasion, in 1998, USA sent the company a letter addressed specifically to DX with a list of instructions on what they could and couldn't say and when; failure to comply would result in Raw's cancellation. Rather than feel threatened by it, DX saw the network's warning as an opportunity to do what they do best: rebel.

"We were emboldened by it. When Vince came to us with the letter, he was hot and said, 'Look at this thing. They threatened to take us off the air. What do you wanna do with it?' Vince was a bit of a maverick, too, and we were in a fight at this point in time. We convinced Vince that we should use that, and that we should say all the things that the letter said."

Earlier that day, President Bill Clinton held the infamous press conference in which he denied sleeping with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Riffing off that, DX staged their own State of the Union presser to respond to USA Network's threat, with Michaels serving as Clinton. It was a monumental moment that solidified the group's status as bold, creative geniuses. It also marked a turning point for the group as USA realized it was sitting atop a ratings goldmine and quickly changed its tune.

"It was kinda like, OK, we get it now. People like it. We see what you're doing and it's clever and go ahead. It took the cuffs off us a bit and then we started running with it. All of a sudden, we were geniuses and we were being encouraged to do those things as opposed to being yelled at that we were gonna get fired immediately thereafter," Levesque said.

Although USA Network was no longer an obstacle, the group hit another wall when an injury during the 1998 Royal Rumble forced Michaels into early retirement. But Michaels' predicament only served as a minor setback. Triple H took over as leader, adding the New Age Outlaws and X-Pac to what would become the most famous iteration of the stable to date. Imbued with the creative freedom to let loose, the crew dominated the airwaves with memorable sketches and unforgettable feuds with the Hart Foundation and the Rock's Nation of Domination. This showcased their charisma on the mic as well as their undeniable skills as top in-ring performers. Collective support from the live crowds, USA Network, and backstage creative put the gang at the top of WWE's lineup and culminated with their most iconic moment: invading WCW.

At the time, WWE and WCW were engaged in the Monday Night Wars, which saw both entities clamoring to top each other in the ratings on Monday nights. And while both companies were constantly poaching talent from each other, WWE strictly forbade any acknowledgement of the competition on air. But that all changed on April 27, 1998, when DX, decked out in army gear, rode a tank from Hampton, Virginia, to Norfolk, where WCW was holding its Monday Nitro show, and persuaded the crowd of fans to shout their support of DX while putting WCW on blast. The unforgettable moment stemmed from a phone conversation between WWE executives about WCW's underhanded tactics, in which the company would book a venue nearby as a way of luring WWE fans over to its show. Levesque's offhand comment about wanting to drive a tank over to WCW's show was translated into a fully-realized skit that elevated DX from loud-mouthed goofballs to legends.

"It's hard to even explain it to the talent now how unbelievably mind-blowing of a moment in the business that was at that time. It was just unheard of, that we would do something like that," Levesque explained. "While crazy things were happening -- Mike Tyson being on the show and all of those things -- that was something that was just within the wrestling business itself, other than Vince becoming a character and getting stunned, that was the most shocking 'Oh my God' moment. So, for me, it stands out by far."

The group would go on to have more standout moments, like getting Kane to speak for the first time when he used a vocoder to utter their famous catchphrase on Raw. But with their individual stars rising, DX was operating on borrowed time. By 1999, the group's cohesiveness eroded due to in-fighting and frequent betrayals as part of a storyline. Triple H's on-screen marriage to Stephanie McMahon (Vince McMahon's daughter) that year also served as a game-changer for DX, with most of WWE's programming shifting the focus on that McMahon-Helmsley team up, and the group fizzled out by 2000. In more recent years, DX revamped its image when Triple H and Michaels (who returned to in-ring action in 2002) resurrected the stable as a more family-friendly tag team, keeping in line with WWE's shift toward PG programming.

DX's time together was relatively short, but over the course of those remarkable three years together, ushered in a new era for the WWE. As hallmarks of the Attitude Era, alongside the Rock and Stone Cold, their popularity transcended the wrestling world and penetrated the pop cultural zeitgeist in a way that never had been done before, with everyone from NFL athletes to late-night hosts imitating these wildly popular characters.

However, DX is also a product of their time, one that hadn't reckoned with ingrained sexism and racism in the way that mainstream culture has today, and so much of what they did back then doesn't age well. In pushing the bar, they sometimes crossed the line, and those few moments we'd like to forget, like when several members participated in blackface to parody the Nation of Domination, have marred their legacy a bit.

But even with a spotted past, there's no denying that DX is one of the most unforgettable and influential groups in WWE history. They walked so that the New Day could run, pancakes and all. DX taught us all to be a bit bolder, more creative, and to be true to ourselves no matter what others thought. If you can't recognize that, I've got two words for you.