“I Hated It”- WWE Executive Opens Up on Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ Infamous ‘Curtain Call’

In 1996, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall [Razor Ramon] quit WWE to jump ship to WCW. In Nash’s last match, he lost to Shawn Michaels in a WWE Championship steel cage match. As for Hall, he lost to current WWE COO and fourteen-time champion Triple H. After HBK vs Nash’s headline match, something groundbreaking occurred.

Bruce Prichard opens up on the Curtain Call with Triple H and HBK

At a Madison Square Garden show on May 19th, 1996, Triple H, HBK, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall gathered in the ring one final time. HBK had just beaten Nash in a steel cage match, and the Game beat Hall in the pre-main event.

After the match ended, HBK and Triple H broke character to bid adieu to their friends as they left WWE to join rival promotion WCW. In WCW, Nash and Hall would lead the charge in a ratings war between the two companies.

This ended up being one of the most controversial moments in wrestling history. Fans inside Madison Square Garden saw through the fourth wall and realised HBK and Triple H had attempted something ballsy. On the recent episode of WWE Untold, involving the relationship between HBK and Kevin Nash, WWE executive Bruce Prichard opened up on the infamous moment called the ‘Curtain Call’.

“I was standing in the aisle watching the end of the match when the Curtain Call took place, and I watched it all the way through to Shawn getting down and kissing Diesel, and Diesel miraculously coming to, and left shortly thereafter.”

Prichard continued, “I hated it; I thought it was disrespectful. You have to look at it in the moment in the time in which it took place. So, me being an old-school guy, I absolutely hated it. Was it a moment in time that you saw the winds of change? Yep, sure was, but being in the moment during that time, not a fan.”

What is the Kliq?

Triple H, HBK, Nash and Hall were part of a group called the Kliq. This wasn’t a faction or stable, but a backstage group that had a significant pull in WWE. The Kliq also included Sean Waltman, popularly known as X-Pac. This backstage faction allegedly influenced creative decisions as well.

The Kliq split in 1996 to form two of the biggest factions in wrestling history. HBK and the Game formed D-Generation X, a faction determined on upsetting the order and creating chaos in WWE. They became a fan-favourite stable, and the faction entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019.

Kevin Nash and Scott Hall formed the nWo, one of the most influential stables in WCW. The nWo was like D-Generation X, but played the primary antagonists in many WCW storylines. They entered the Hall of Fame in 2021, after the pandemic delayed the 2020 ceremony. Sean Waltman/X-Pac is the only member of the Kliq to be part of DX and the nWO.

Read more: The On-Screen and Off-Screen Relationship Between Triple H and Shawn Michaels

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