DX - Did you ever like it?

[MoS]

If WWE and the MNW series are to be believed, DX single-handedly changed the course of wrestling, and destroyed WCW.

 

While that is revisionism so blatantly misleading it would have been hilarious if it were not so sad and infuriating, DX was actually quite popular during Attitude. Going back, however, the only period of time where I actually liked DX was between January and March 1998, when they were feuding with Austin. It seems to me that even someone as fucked-up as Shawn had realised by then that Austin was hotter than volcanic lava and was going to be the next company ace no matter how much politicking he did, so he just decided to go with it and become a full-fledged, actual heel and he played his part quite well in the build-up to WM 14.

 

The subsequent babyface iteration of the group, which is by far their most remembered, actually annoyed me quite a lot. In real time, I was too young to understand all the dick jokes, so I used to just get annoyed at these idiots who were taking valuable screen time when it could have been Austin on my TV. Now, as someone in their 20s, they are ridiculously juvenile and flat-out unfunny, to the point where I wonder how anyone could have liked them.

 

The 2000 heel run was okay, I guess, but at that point, the other DX members were basically the minions of HHH and Steph, so it doesn't really count. I did like Austin destroying their bus though.

 

I hate, loathe, absolutely despise the 2006 reunion of DX, where they were pushed far too much, were way too visible, and did not do anything of note at all. I still remember how Shawn and Hunter basically single-handedly eliminated all 5 members of Edge and orton's team at Survivor Series, and it was intensely annoying. As was what Shawn called "comedy", which was basically acting like he was spastic, contorting in the most hammy way possible, and then stealing old Friends jokes and doing skit after skit of horrible quality. Not to mention, there was this time when Shawn and Trips on one leg basically destroyed Edge and Orton; on the next night, Shawn actually beat both of them in a handicap match, which has to be the most pointless burial ever. These two were supposed to carry WWE's heel division for the next decade, and here a run-down past-his-prime old dude made them look like chumps.

 

I wish I could give an opinion on the 2009 and beyond reunions of DX, but I have blocked them from my memory. Fuck HBK and his cowboy hat. DX got 2 segments on Raw's 1000th episode, which was 2 more than they shold have got.

 

As an aside, the "invasion" of Nitro has to be the most pointless segment ever pushed as an epic and game-changing moment by the WWE machine. Did it even lead to any ratings increase or even louder pops?

 

Thoughts?

[JerryvonKramer]

I hate DX more than all of the other people on this board combined.

 

Imagine Dylan's hatred for Triple H. Now square it. Now double it again. It's almost at the level for the amount I hate them.

 

I probably even like Strongbow more ...

[sek69]

I didn't mind the DX reunion run, I even thought it was kind of funny how they would find ways to get HBK out of having to make sexual jokes (because Jesus I guess), but their 5 on 2 feud with the Spirit Squad killed it for me. Not only did they beat them easily, they ended it with DX putting them in a shipping crate literally marked "return to OVW". It was so needlessly petty, and it ended the career for 4 of the 5,

[MFoy]

When I was 14 in 1997-98, I thought DX was super cool and the t-shirt was the only wrestling shirt I wasn't embarrassed to buy or wear to high school (I bought it at the MSG house show the week before WM 14, and I did get made fun of a little bit when I wore it to school). That said, by the end of that year I had already started to think they were kind of lame.

[Childs]

DX's initial run from late '97 through Shawn's Mania match with Austin was pretty great. Shawn was in all his glory as a douchey heel, and the main event scene with Bret, Austin and later Tyson was just nuclear. Once Shawn left the picture, DX became less interesting in a hurry, and the later reunions were some of the most insufferable programs the company ever ran.

[MoS]

I hate DX more than all of the other people on this board combined.

 

Imagine Dylan's hatred for Triple H. Now square it. Now double it again. It's almost at the level for the amount I hate them.

 

I probably even like Strongbow more ...

 

Just curious about this: do you hate all runs of DX equally viscerally, or is it one particular run that has made you loathe the group as a whole? Because while I can certainly see early 1998 heel DX being hated by people, I do not think they deserve this level of hatred.

 

Or maybe they do. Been some time since I have revisited that era.

[The Man in Blak]

One of my favorite entrances ever -- both from a musical and a video/production standpoint -- for one of my least favorite groups ever.

 

I think the group actually peaked in '97 when Michaels was drawing ridiculous heat but, even then, praising that run feels like cheating, since Shawn and Hunter were given such a disproportionate amount of latitude.

[Coffey]

During the Monday Night Wars, whenever D-X came on RAW, I would change the channel back to Nitro. To me, nWo was cool, D-X was corny. It wasn't D-X that made me more interested in RAW, it was Austin, Rock & Mankind. Admittedly later on New Age Outlaws were megaover though. I remember going to a Buffalo Wild Wings to watch a WWF PPV and when Road Dogg came out to do the intro spiel, the entire bar chanting along with him. It was pretty surreal.

 

I think my big thing was about finishers watching back then. Like I used to love when Kevin Nash would Powerbomb someone on Nitro. Even if it was the expense of an undercard guy getting his match interrupted so Nash could have some microphone time. That's a big reason why I was an Austin fan... cause he just stunned the shit out of everyone. D-X just did skits. And most of them I didn't think were funny.

 

I think that's why I liked Goldberg too. Because his squash matches were so fast, it was pretty much like just doing a run-in & finish anyway. Spear/Jackhammer, thanks for coming. Everyone got what they wanted to see and it was less than five minutes. Usually a lot less.

 

The comeback with Shawn Michaels kicking "Stan" backstage had some funny moments. Most of it was super cringe-worthy though. Little People's Court comes to mind.

[Infinit]

The Chef Hickenbottom skits were pretty funny.

[Cap]

I was the right age and probably even a little immature for my age when they were hitting their stride, so I liked them fine. I honestly probably liked the version with Xpac and the outlaws more, but that was mostly because everyone was getting behind the sayings and the Road Dog's intro thing. it was easy and fun fan interaction. All the iterations had moments I really didn't like and found to just be crude for crude sake or completely unreflexive. I hated the blackface thing they did in making fun of the nation, for example. It was proving the Nation's point and I am not sure they got that. Both HBK/HHH iterations also seemed weird to me because it was always two guys who were too old (even the first time around) to be doing this stuff.

 

i got behind it for a while, but in hindsight it is unwatchable to me.

[Strummer]

The initial run just coincided with the pop culture norms in the late 90s. That was the period of the return of the teenage raunchy comedies and Jerry Springer was at his peak of popularity. I was a freshman in college during the initial run and was a big fan. In retrospect it probably had to do with Shawn being heel more than anything. It was such a great run for him after his babyface push flopped for the most part.

 

As an aside I recently realized that come this fall it will be 20 years since I started following wrestling online. I didn't get fully into it until Spring 97 but I tested the waters around November/December 1996

[Strummer]

Btw, I think it's fair to say they certainly helped draw in the female demographic. To a degree at least. I went to a house show in 2006 and seemingly every female from age 18-40 was wearing a DX shirt. Even in 2009 a show I went to the girls went crazy for them. Shawn was 44 then and Hunter 40

[dawho5]

I'm right there with JvK. I can't stand DX in any iteration and never could. Never liked Shawn or Hunter, and Road Dogg was a 100% channel changer as soon as he showed up. Only member of the group that interested me in the least was Waltman, but everything after 1-2-3 Kid was downhill with him.

[peachchaos]

The 1997 incarnation was a perfect heel unit with Shawn as the Star, Hunter as the up-and-comer and Rick Rude and Chyna as their muscle. I liked how Michaels feud with Undertaker and Hunter's feud with Mankind all merged and lead to Hell in a Cell. It was just really solid booking in late summer/early fall '97 though, because after the Taker feud is when DX became insufferable. They were sort of redeemed by Owen's return and the Austin-Tyson stuff since there was a lot going on and not a lot of time for sausage jokes.

 

The promo after WM15 where X-Pac returns is an excellent segment and one that had me hyped for the new DX. By the end of the night, they added the Outlaws and I knew this wasn't going to be as good as that promo. By SummerSlam, I was ready for the group to be done.

[...TG]

I'm right there with Strummer - I was a senior in HS during the 97/98 run and *during that time* it absolutely hit the sweet spot culturally. They aren't as important as Stone Cold at making me a hardcore fan, but a fairly close #2. I'm guessing that a rewatch will be just as cringe-worthy as the reunions were.

[Death From Above]

I can only speak to the original incarnations and not the mid-2000's one.

 

I was VERY pro-Triple H during the period where The Rock got really big but was literally doing the same promo every fucking show and all of his matches were nothing but punching, a body slam, the People's Elbow, and the Rock Bottom. At that point Rock was hotter than anyone in the business and was basically the most sub-par 80's Hogan possible. Triple H seemed like a far more interesting wrestler to me at the time. Oh, how that pendulum has swung about over the years. I never thought Triple H was worth a shit on the mic, and that has never changed.

 

Shawn Michaels isn't a favourite wrestler of mine but he's so much better as a heel than a face. I despise him as a face, enjoyed him (relatively) as a heel. So in the original run it works in the context that you really get the feeling Shawn Michaels got paid to play Shawn Michaels.

 

Never minded Road Dogg. Good tag wrestler, had his silly little harmless shtick on the mic, decent when asked to work singles matches.

 

Tapped out on watching WWE before "X-Pac heat" became an IWC meme, so never really had a problem with him other than the bronco buster sucking ass.

 

Hated Billy Gunn. Useless in the ring and had no promo skills whatsoever. Was clearly only there because he took the right chemicals.

 

Chyna was Chyna. Not sure what to say about that. ASCII shrug here.

 

The juvenile comedy was always pretty bad, but that's Attitude Era in general. I think the whole period is trash, DX are just part of a larger whole.

[Matt D]

I like the alternate past where the WWF listened to Dave Meltzer and added Shamrock to the group.

[Laz]

I was 11 when DX formed, 12 when they hit their peak, 13 when they broke up, and 14 when they reformed as a heel group. You're damn straight I loved DX. I'm also old enough now to realize how stupid and immature they were, but not jaded enough to miss that being the point of the whole thing. They were the edgy, sophomoric, and anti-authority group that a young rabblerousin' Laz could latch onto.

 

Their 2006 "reunion tour" stuff was the drizzling, gaping, most foul shits. It single handedly killed all my interest in the product at the time (at least, it was the last straw) and I didn't come back at all until the Morrison/Punk feud the next year.

[NotJayTabb]

I always hated DX. I was 15/16 when they were in their prime, and all I saw was a bunch of obnoxious arseholes. Nothing about Triple H ever struck me as cool either, he felt old before his time, like someone's dad thinking he was "down with the kids". It actually made me a big fan of the Nation, who were far more badass. Even before turning face, the Rock was far cooler than Triple H, and Mark Henry was a more convincing badass than any of DX. Even to this day, my casual friends don't trust me that Mark Henry turned great in the 00's because I've been talking about how awesome he was since 1998

[Judy Bagwell]

hated it, and time hasnt been kind to their run

[pantherwagner]

I hated them almost as much as Parv does. I knew Shawn was a great wrestler but I hated him (I hated him before DX because he always looked like a gay stripper). I also thought the rest were all a waste of space. I couldn't recognise X-Pac's talent because he had go away heat with me. Back then I watched all of my WWF wrestling on tape (I'd get the shows from German TV and they were late at night) so I'd fast forward through most of their matches, interviews, "comedy skits" and what not.

 

I don't know if it's me being older or losing most emotional connection with wrestling when I quit watching for years, but I do not HATE any wrestlers anymore because they are annoying or bad workers or politicians or whatever. The only wrestlers I hate are people who deserve to be thrown into a hungry crocodile pit, like Buck Zumhofe.

[Loss]

It's almost impossible to overstate just how hated Shawn Michaels was near the end of 1997. But DX lost something to me when Bret left. Shawn wasn't as over when Bret left either, because he didn't have another foil at that level -- Shamrock wasn't it, the Undertaker feud had run its course and Austin was so far above Shawn. I would call the time from Shawn doing the promo in Canada with flags in his pants while wearing those douchebag loafers through the first HIAC my favorite heel run the company has ever had, just because Shawn was so passionately despised.

[JerryvonKramer]

 

I hate DX more than all of the other people on this board combined.

 

Imagine Dylan's hatred for Triple H. Now square it. Now double it again. It's almost at the level for the amount I hate them.

 

I probably even like Strongbow more ...

Just curious about this: do you hate all runs of DX equally viscerally, or is it one particular run that has made you loathe the group as a whole? Because while I can certainly see early 1998 heel DX being hated by people, I do not think they deserve this level of hatred.

 

Or maybe they do. Been some time since I have revisited that era.

 

Yes, all runs.

 

Unspeakably embarrassing. Made my skin crawl then and even more now.

 

It's the wrestling equivalent of David Brent from the Office.

[Luchaundead]

I remember when HBK and HHH reunite for 1 night only to have HHH turn on him I was so excited then they came out and I thought "oh yeah they are just going to be DX" so I was actually happy HHH pedigreed him. So yeah I hated DX.

[Mad Dog]

I liked X-Pac and Road Dogg. I was never a big fan though. 1998 was all about Goldberg, Wolfpac, Austin and Mankind for me.