There's A New Documentary Out About Degeneration X (DX) On A&E (Yes A&E) And It Looks Fucking Awesome
NY POST - Pro wrestling is at its best when it blurs the lines between reality and what you see on TV. D-Generation X did that as well as anyone.
The legendary group’s inception was born out of friends Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ real life frustration and need to rail against Vince McMahon’s stale, outdated and underperforming product in the early ’90s in WWF (now WWE) and to push the envelope of what was acceptable in the wrestling business. They got tired of being told what they can’t do and chose to rebel in some way on TV every week.
The group’s rise, reinvention, impact on pop culture and the personal struggles of many of its members are explored in Sunday’s “Biography: WWE Legends” on A&E at 8 p.m. From their signature crotch crops, “Suck it” catchphrase, changing the perception of a woman’s role in wrestling and impact on the “Attitude Era,” DX epitomized some of the cultural shifts going on in the ’90s.
All you haters out there that love to nitpick and talk shit about pro wrestling being fake can choke on it. I'd love to see you tell that to Shawn Michaels' face. You'd catch some sweet chin music so fast your head would spin.
This trailer brought back so many great memories.
I went through two major wrestling phases as a kid. One when I was really young and wasn't allowed to watch it on TV (I also wasn't allowed to watch MTV ever- no my mom wasn't Amish, she just thought everything was rubbish and would corrupt my young beautiful mind). I would sneak down into my basement on Saturday mornings where my dad had an office set up and watch it on the tv down there with the volume so low I had to sit next to the tv with my ear up against it basically to hear. Those were peak Ultimate Warrior days. He was everything. I remember seeing him locked in The Undertaker's casket live and losing my shit. I was so young and gullible I thought I needed to call 911 before they brought the drills out to drill air holes for him.
I fell out of it a little bit as I began playing sports and getting more into baseball, hockey, and football. But I caught the fever again full on when the attitude era kicked in.
I actually started out as a big-time WCW fan at first. I fucking loved Goldberg, the nWo, and of course the Nitro Girls (Kimberly Paige, what's up). I remember Monday nights being the absolute greatest. Flicking back and forth between Nitro on TNT and Raw on USA for 2-3 hours was the fucking best. Going to school the next day and talking about everything that happened last night at breakfast and in homeroom made those starts to the weeks bearable.
Wrestling during that time seriously ruled the world.
Between WWF and WCW, they each had some of the biggest superstars of all time, and the greatest personalities ever. And the writing was top notch.
Each week was appointment television because you literally never knew what to expect. It was so over the top, melo-dramatic, and just utterly ridiculous it made the soap operas our grandma's watched look realistic by comparison.
And the babes!
For a young buck on the verge of puberty with no inkling that the internet would even exist one day, pro wrestling was the best access to tits and ass we had unless one of our buddies happened to come across his dad's stash somehow.
Stone Cold was arguably the biggest personality in the country during those late 90s early 2000s. No joke. I was too young to remember Hulk Hogan in the 80s, and I realize how massive he was, but I'd still argue Steve Austin was just as big (on a larger stage), if not bigger after that.
And on the opposite side of his rattlesnake, "kiss my redneck ass" attitude, you had the trash talking bad boys of Degeneration X.
Shawn Michaels (my favorite wrestler behind Goldberg), Triple H, Chyna, X Pac, The New Age Outlaws, and Rick Rude.
Some of the corniest guys (and Chyna) you've ever seen yet they managed to look so fucking cool and bad ass they made you fall in love with them. Or absolutely despise them.
Like Stone Cold, they gave zero fucks, loved giving the finger to authority, and they made the crotch chop a household staple.
Their intro song was also absolutely electric.
Shawn Michaels was the epitome of swag.
He could have any chick he wanted, he was an excellent technical wrestler, was equally great on the mic, and he had a sick finishing move. He was an unbelievably fun heel to root for.
Vince and the WWF storyline writers did an amazing job running DX up against their competition in WCW's laser-hot nWo with DX. They also did a great job putting Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold on a collision course that would have them run head on in to each other at one of the biggest Wrestlemania's I can ever remember which took place at Boston's new Fleet Center and featured Mike Tyson as a guest referee.
That was basically the beginning of the end of the "attitude era" and renegade pro wrestling as we knew it.
Vince managed to use all the clout his superstars had built up over that run to grow his empire and swallow up his competition in acquiring Ted Turner's WCW and merging the two. He took the company public and having to report to shareholders, things were never the same.
But man…. what a rush!
Thanks for the memories DX. Can't wait to watch this special this week.
Also if you are looking for some more violence along with some babes, don't forget Rough N Rowdy is THIS Friday