Triple H Recalls Almost Being Fired Over DX Skits
Triple H was at the helm of the rebellious D-Generation X faction during the Attitude Era, a group that seemingly almost ended his career before it began!
The word ‘controversial’ doesn’t even begin to cover D-Generation X. Notorious throughout the Attitude Era for overstepping the mark, the acclaimed group were beloved for this nature, which included some truly hilarious skits.
However, it almost led to not only WWE’s removal from the USA Network, but Triple H being fired from the company! WWE’s current Chief Content Officer recalled the period during his appearance on the SPORTbible Stories podcast, noting that actually Vince McMahon threatened him with termination:
“USA [Network] had been on us for weeks. ‘These guys cannot say that stuff, they cannot do those gestures, they have to stop it.’ We would go out and do it the next week, and Vince [McMahon] would tear us apart. ‘You guys are gonna get us thrown off the air!’ But he wasn’t doing anything about it, right? We felt like there was a lot of threatening going on, but he wasn’t doing anything.”
Triple H continued as he described a specific segment, one of DX’s most memorable of the time as they read out loud a complaint letter from USA Network executives:
“Vince brought us the letter, and he’s like ‘Well, here it is. And if these demands aren’t followed to a tee, you will no longer be on the air on USA Network. What are we gonna do about this?’ And we said, ‘Let us take the letter and use it on TV.’
The next day we got a letter from USA that said, ‘Congratulations on the rating last night. What DX did with our letter was hilarious. Congratulations on the success, here’s to many more years’.”
D-Generation X would continue its initial stint until 2000, as Triple H’s continued rise to the top of the company gradually caused the faction to go their separate ways. A couple of small reunions saw ‘The Game’ reunite with Shawn Michaels from 2006 until 2007, and again from 2009 until 2010.
Together, DX was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019, with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, X-Pac, and the late Chyna acknowledged.