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From the time the group was first formed with Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chyna, there wasn’t anything that was “off limits” or that they were even hesitant to do. From posing naked for the WWE Magazine (actually Shawn couldn’t wait to take his clothes off), to cutting profanity-laced promos behind a presidential podium, HBK and Triple H were uncensored, out of control, and dangerously entertaining. There were just no boundaries – not between the talent and the creative any way.
The only one who had any kind of “censorship” power was Vince McMahon himself, and he suggesting that we tone anything down was the equivalent of me telling Rihanna that her thong should cover more. In other words, it just wasn’t going to happen.
Later, when the group would transform to Triple H, Chyna, “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn, “Road Dog” Jesse James, and X-Pac, things only got worse. At times, I don’t think people really understand, or grasp the notion, that when DX declared an all-out war on rival WCW, that was the beginning of reality TV in its purest form. Nothing was scripted when the group “invaded” the CNN Center. Nobody involved knew what the outcome was going to be. The truth is, we were all ready for at least one of them to be arrested, and if that did indeed happen, they would have proudly worn their badge of “Taking One for the Team”.
Attacking the building where WCW was playing was no different. Ed Ferrara and I wrote that script having no idea what the outcome was going to be. And, what was even more disturbing was that the talents themselves couldn’t wait to climb aboard that rocket launcher en route to the unknown. Unfortunately, we never got out money’s worth because Eric Bischoff ordered that the building security gates be lowered before any real damage could be done.
But, with those guys, anything was game. Everything they touched turned to pure gold, which gave Ed and I the freedom to take chances with them. And obviously, on more occasions than one, we did.
The one incident that jumps to mind was when we came up with the idea for DX to mock the Nation of Domination. From the start, Ed and I were really conflicted over the idea, for one reason – we both knew that this was either going to be really good . . . or . . . really bad. There was no in-between. As we tossed this around, we knew that it was our responsibility to protect the group, and not do anything that could jeopardize their success by exposing their weaknesses. But on the other hand, we knew that they were all just so damn good, so we went for it.
From there, the rest is history. Hunter, Sean, Brian, Kip, Chyna, and let’s not forget Jason Sensation as Owen Hart that night, completely tore the cover off the ball. Their overall portrayal was dead-on, and one that would still be talked about almost two decades later. The one thing that stands out the most to me concerning that promo, is the way that Brian James practically handed D-Lo Brown HIS CAREER. Brian did D-Lo better then D-Lo did D-Lo, and from that moment on, Mr. Brown was a superstar.
I can’t tell you in words how much I respected DX for that performance. It could have so easily went the other way, but they just weren’t going to allow that to happen. That night, they put it all out there, and in the process, became the best in the business.
BUT…it was now time to give The Nation something back.
