Triple H and Shawn Michaels made it official on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw: not only will the latter be coming out of retirement to wrestle at WWE Crown Jewel on Nov. 2 in Saudi Arabia, he will do so alongside his best friend as D-Generation X.
It seems likely this was a request -- these are bought shows, remember, and reports indicated the Saudis asked for wrestlers they recognized from the early to late 90s for the first event back in April (even some who have been dead for many years). It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that’s why we’re getting a D-Generation X vs. Brothers of Destruction tag team match for that reason and that reason alone.
Considering the kind of money they’re getting, maybe it’s worth it, I don’t know. What I do know is D-Generation X does not work in 2018, and is actually pretty damn sad.
Look at this:
DX worked in 1997 because Michaels was, by all accounts, an immature little shit who took great joy in making everyone else’s life miserable so that his could be more fun. Triple H was his buddy and shared the same temperament. WWE was, at the time, appealing to a certain demographic with the kind of low brow humor these two revel in. They pushed boundaries, legitimately, on a constant basis.
This was perfect for young, dumb kids who thought curse words were really cool and longed to rebel against their parents/teachers/literally any authority figure by giving them the “suck it” sign. It was also perfect for punk teenage kids who just found dick humor endlessly entertaining.
Even the young adults could get into stuff like this:
This all worked because Michaels and Triple H were both still just young enough that all those fans could buy them as cool rebels to look up to. They are not that anymore. Triple H is a 49-year-old executive with three kids. Michaels is a 53-year-old born again Christian with two kids of his own.
They aren’t degenerates. They’re family men, with real jobs, and responsibilities, and no hair. They cannot push back against the system because they are the system; they cannot fight back against authority because they are The Authority.
They are only DX now in name. Trying to represent themselves as anything they once were just looks dumb and feels bad.