Triple H reveals D-Generation X's antics in Attitude Era nearly got WWE taken off the air
WWE legend Triple H has revealed his antics in the D-Generation X stable nearly got Monday Night RAW cancelled.
'The Game', real name Paul Levesque, was a key part of WWE's 'Attitude Era' and the Monday Night Wars against rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Vince McMahon decided to turn to edgier content in an attempt to combat Ted Turner's billions and a key part of that was DX.
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The stable pulled off outrageous stunts every week and shocked the professional wrestling world.
Triple H, who is now Chief Content Officer of the WWE, discussed the impact it had during a recent appearance on the SPORTbible Stories podcast.
"We were being ourselves amplified, but it connected to what a lot of people wanted to do in their life," he explained. "It was a way to rebel. It was that fantasy."
One famous story involves the USA Network contacting WWE Chairman Vince McMahon about DX's antics during a show.
McMahon received a letter which flat out stated DX had 'gone too far' and it was jeopardising the future of RAW.
Triple H continued: "Vince was getting letters from USA, there's a very famous skit we did and USA had been on at us for weeks, these guys cannot say that stuff, they cannot do those gestures they have to stop it, we'd go out and do it the next week.
"Vince would tear us apart, 'You guys are gonna get us thrown off the air!'
"He was p**sed. He wasn't doing anything about it though. We felt like there was a lot of threatening going on but he's not doing anything, numbers are starting to tick up a little bit."
Triple H then went on to explain what was written in the letter.
"There's a moment a time where we get this letter from the USA Network," he added. "Literally the whole letter is: 'D-Generation X has gone too far. They are no longer between 8pm and 9pm allowed to use these words, boom, boom, boom. They are no longer allowed to refer to their genitals. It's written out. Then from 10pm to 11pm they're no longer allowed to say these things, they can use these words, they can do this, they can't do that.
"Vince brought us this letter and if these things aren't met, these demands aren't followed to a tee, you will no longer be on the air on USA Network. They [DX] either get fired or you're no longer on the air. Vince said 'Here it is, you guys have crossed the line, in black and white'."
If this sounds familiar, it's because it was turned into a segment on the show that McMahon personally backed.
"We said let us use the letter on TV," the 14-time world champion recalled. "We will make that into a comedy routine. We did a presidential podium and the three of us [Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chyna] stood there as if Shawn was President and we went through the list of words. They beeped the words we weren't allowed to say, we apologised for the words and we went through the list, said we will no longer reference our massive genitalia.
"Then we got into arguments about what we were allowed to say. It was right at the point Bill Clinton had given the 'I did not sleep with that young intern' speech so Shawn said 'I did not sleep with that young intern, as a matter of fact I was up all night!'"
The next letter from USA Network was very different.
Triple H concluded: "Next day we got a letter from USA which says 'Congratulations on the ratings last night. What DX did with our letter was hilarious, congratulations on the success, here's to many more years'.
"It just flicked. We were of that mentality going into those things of if the numbers are up, what are we doing wrong? Isn't the whole point to get more viewers? If more viewers are coming in, clearly we're doing something right here."
Watch the full SPORTbible Stories podcast episode with Triple H on LADbible's YouTube channel.
You can also watch back Clash at the Castle and all WWE Premium Live Events on WWE Network.
Daniel Marland