5 Backstage stories about DX you need to know

Many credit the Austin-McMahon rivalry as a major factor in WWE managing to topple WCW in the Monday Night Wars. It's not a secret that there were several other factors that made WWE must-watch television during the Attitude Era and DX was one of those.

Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Chyna were one of the hottest stables in all of professional wrestling at the time. When Michaels left due to an injury, Triple H took his spot and DX went on to create many more memorable moments that have been etched in fans' memories forever.

Regarded by the WWE Universe as one of the greatest factions in the history of this business, DX left a big mark on WWE and was rightfully inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019.

Let's celebrate DX's legacy by counting down 5 interesting backstage stories from the group's WWE stint.

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#5 Shane McMahon came up with the DX moniker

The moniker of D-Generation X became incredibly popular during the peak of the Attitude Era. The group's antics were a signal that times were changing and the days of family-friendly storylines were long gone. The faction's edgy promos and segments were incredibly popular among the fans at the time.

Triple H once opened up on who came up with the DX name and credited Shane McMahon for the same. He also acknowledged that Bret Hart used to call him and Michaels a bunch of degenerates.

I believe the name came from Shane. The first time I ever heard it was from Shane. Bret [Hart] had said we were nothing but a bunch of degenerates, right? Like, we were just losers, a bunch of degenerates, but [Bret] had said this backstage.

#4 Rick Rude appeared on both WWE RAW and WCW Nitro on the same night

In later 1997, Rick Rude (who was affiliated with DX at the time), jumped ship from WWE to WCW, with the major reason for the same being that he was angry at what had happened in Montreal, at Survivor Series 1997. Rude wasn't happy at witnessing Vince and DX's treatment of Bret Hart at the event. He bagged a contract with WCW and appeared on Nitro on the November 17, 1997, edition.

Interestingly, Rude also appeared on WWE RAW on the same night,. This became possible because Rude had already taped his segment for WWE's flagship show six days ago while he was still a WWE employee. Rude made his surprise appearance on Nitro, sporting a mustache, and slammed Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, and DX, and proceeded to dub the company as a sinking ship.

Around an hour later, Rude was shown on WWE RAW, sporting a full beard. He passed away in 1999, at the age of 40, due to heart failure. Rude was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017.

#3 Billy Gunn once apologized to Triple H after taking a shot at him

With DX being a large group consisting of several members, egos were bound to clash at one point or the other. In late 2015, Billy Gunn participated in several shoot interviews after getting fired from WWE and took shots at Triple H.

Gunn later regretted the comments he had made against his former DX associate and proceeded to apologize to him for the same. Gunn confirmed this during a chat with Chris Van Vliet.

I felt bad for saying all of those things because everything I said was not true, so I just wanted to clear the air. Like if I do something to you and I feel bad about it, I'll come back and apologize, you can take it or you don't have to take it, it's ok. It's not selfish, it's to help me and to stay where I need to stay safe and I've been safe for 8 years.

Gunn was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019, as a part of DX.

#2 USA Network threatened WWE to throw them off the air because of DX

WWE RAW has been airing on the USA Network for the better part of its decades-long run. Triple H once spoke with Wikipedia - Fact Or Fiction, and shared several backstage stories about DX. The Game recalled the US Network sending letters to WWE and threatening to throw the show off the air.

USA Network made it clear to WWE that there was a certain set of words that Triple H and Shawn Michaels couldn't use on TV.

USA then sent the letter to us that said, here’s a very distinct, from 8 to whatever the hours we were on the air, ‘From 8 to 9, or whatever it was, D-Generation X, this group, they can’t say these words, they can’t do this, they can’t do that, from 9 to 10, we’re OK with them doing this, but they still can’t say that and do this.

DX still went ahead and delivered a profanity-filled promo on TV. This resulted in ratings going up and USA Network sent another letter congratulating WWE.

#1 Shawn Michaels threw a paper off Vince McMahon's forehead when WWE tried to script DX

Shawn Michaels is regarded as one of the most respected pro-wrestlers in WWE history. This doesn't deter the fact that Michaels was one of the hardest wrestlers to work with during his heyday. The Heart Break Kid had genuine heat with Bret Hart and several others in the mid-90s.

His DX associate, Triple H, once recalled that when USA Network congratulated WWE, the use of profanity in promos was encouraged. On a rare occasion though, DX was asked to use scripted material, to which Michaels responded with throwing a piece of paper on Vince McMahon's forehead.

And then it started to become encouraged and then they wanted to try to script us, and I remember Shawn crumbling a piece of paper, throwing it and bouncing it off Vince’s forehead, and saying, ‘You didn’t write it before, you ain’t writing it now,’ and walking out of the room, and I was like, ‘I’m just going to go with him.’ It was tense but it was good.”

Edited by Zaid Khan