Degeneration X - The Stupidest Faction Ever

[Slyfox696]

I mean seriously, how dumb was this faction? Let's examine the facts:

1) They were nothing but knock-offs to the nWo, a faction with FAR more interest and "coolness". Basically, DX was the poor man's nWo, with lesser names, and less interest.

2) At the time of the original inception, Triple H was 28 years old, and Shawn Michaels was 32 years old. The whole point was to "rebel against the establishment". And yet, here were two guys with incredible backstage stroke in the company, and were already wealthy. What are they fighting against? Themselves? ******ed.

3) The re-union...two guys almost 40 years old making penis jokes, and rebelling against those who were well off. This made even less sense than the first time.


Why people mark for DX is beyond me. They stood for garbage, filth and trash, and did it in the name of rebelling against people who are just like themselves. Both HBK and HHH are/were egotistical prima donnas, with major pull backstage, even before HHH started banging Stephanie...and a lot more since. During their re-union they did little more than bury their opponents, make stupid infantile jokes, and put over nobody but themselves. They were booked above the WWE title, and the biggest draw in the company.

Basically, here's the deal. I'm challenging anyone and everyone to try and defend the stupidity of DX, and they hypocrisy of their faction. Furthermore, I'd like to see someone try to explain something beneficial that the DX brought wrestling, and if people talk about "Attitude", I might vomit, since we all know that Attitude was ushered in by the nWo, not the rip-off DX. And Attitude was taken to a new level by Steve Austin, not DX.

So, the gauntlet has been thrown down. I dare you to try and defend the ridiculousness of Degeneration X.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

As a general rule, if it's popular I'm not a huge fan.

D-X were against the establishment. Shit, so was I. As a 13 year old I was doing far worse than they were and I was being whittier whilst doing it.

Nothing from the Attitude Era was terribly edgy to somebody like myself. Ass is not a swearword, if somebody gave me the finger I'd likely grab it and break the fucker and mooning isn't cool.

 

[TwistofRKO]

I'm not going to say it was better than the nWo, because it simply wasn't. It is, however, easy to defend their successful run as mainly the tag-team of Shawn Michaels and Triple H. I hate HBK, now, in the past, forever. I've never liked him, but I realize the multitudes that do/did. He's an easy sell, along with an easy sell like Triple H, who is a great performer on the mic and the ring. They are both extremely over, and guess what, entertaining (to most).

The name of the game is entertainment and garnering people to want to tune in, and they did a good job of that. They weren't involved the greatest pure wrestling feuds of all-time, but that doesn't matter, because not everyone cares about a pure technical wrestling clinic.

I didn't really support the subject of their humor, but that's just my opinion. Many people did, and they were right in the middle of the era where it was common practice, thus it was reasonably acceptable to be placed on WWE programming.

It may be a little jumbled, but I think everything in their reasonably supports their popularity and commonplace in the WWE.

 

[gd]

Yes, DX was stupid but it was also entertaining. It's goal wasn't to be the next NWO, it was something different. It was something teenagers could relate to and they thought it was cool.

DX Triple H is my favortie version of Triple H, just like baby Jesus was Ricky Bobby's favorite version.

In the end, DX was successful and made a lot of many, and still does. I think Vince and many wrestling fans would consider that a success. Of course DX wasn't better than NWO, but they were more entertaining .... and had a better song.

 

[Big Sexy]

A lot of things in wrestling are dumb, but if it's popular and makes money then that doesn't matter. DX was extremely popular when it first came out and it was just as popular during the reunion. They were getting big pops and selling merchandise so they kept going with what worked.

I'd like to see someone try to explain something beneficial that the DX brought wrestling, and if people talk about "Attitude", I might vomit

I hope you have a bucket with you then because DX was a big part of the attitude era. Austin was obviously the most important figure during the attitude era, but he didn't do it by himself. It was a combination of him, DX, The Rock, Mick Foley, Vince McMahon. So basically DX can be defended because they were popular and made money.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It was something teenagers could relate to and they thought it was cool.

Epic fail then. I was that demographic. I couldn't relate to people who were twenty years older than me then or now. I also can't relate to two guys who were still being told what to do by a guy in a suit (Rick Rude) and who were hanging out with the ugly girl. I'd also never be able to relate to people with long hair. It's silly and I've never seen a male who looks better with long hair than short.

 

[thisisatest]

Well, they were popular and successful because 1)their anti-establishment attitudes were part of the storyline, the casual fan didn't know about HBK's and HHH's backstage connections and pull, and 2)they were edgy as far as compared to where wrestling was coming from. Ok, so mooning people and crotch-chopping isn't "edgy" as far as real life is concerened, we all see worse than that on a daily basis, but the NWO was what, beating people up and spraypainting on their backs? I don't exactly understand what was so immensely "edgier" about that. Some things just strike chords with some people, some liked DX better than NWO, some didn't. Some liked NWO more because they were in WCW....some vote for a guy simply because of what party he represents....some buy Ford just because their dad and granddad bought Fords. I fall into that category too, so don't flame me just because it sounds like I'm picking on people. I liked DX because they were in WWF and I couldn't stand WCW Nitro at the time.

I might get infracted for saying this, but oh well, I can't get over how some people say something was 'stupid' or 'won't ever work' because they don't like the idea. Well, you're one person. WWE is what it is today because millions of people in your demographic don't necessarily agree with you.

 

[Black Snow]

I never cared for DX. I think a big part of that is because of who was involved and who they feuded against. I always loved Bret Hart and hated Shawn Michaels. I always cheered for The Rock over Triple H. Heck, I was one of the few that always cheered for the Nation to beat DX. Chyna never impressed me. I'm not sexist but I thought it was silly for her to feud with men. Road Dogg seemed to be a massive redneck so the rapping gimmick didn't work for him. X-Pac annoyed me long before it was cool to chant, "X-Pac sucks." And what's the appeal of a grown man calling himself Mr. Ass and mooning the fans?

DX was all around juvenile and the appeal never made sense to me. It was all compounded in 2006 when two old guys (one of which was balding like crazy) decided to reunite. There's nothing more pathetic then old guys trying to be young. They destroyed anyone and everyone. Tons of valuable PPV time was wasted on combinations of DX vs. McMahons/Spirit Squad.

I won't deny that DX was huge and probably did a lot for the business. Clearly there was a massive section of the audience that identified with them and found them entertaining. I just wasn't one of those people.

To me DX has always been sinfully boring and led by two of the most egotistical, self-serving guys that in reality are the furthest thing in the world from being anti-establishment.




Although I will admit that I LOVED HBK's impression of Shane. That was gold.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Um, take a look at ratings Sly. You are a numbers man, so check them out. People like(d) DX for the same reason they like(d) Austin...they represented what the fans wish they could('ve) be(en). People desire to be free and not under the control of authority. DX embodied that and the ratings and merch sales reflect that.

If someone says that DX is a nWo ripoff again I'm going to puke. DX was anti-authority...nWo was attempting to make itself the authority. Quite a different thing.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

I mean seriously, how dumb was this faction? Let's examine the facts:

1) They were nothing but knock-offs to the nWo, a faction with FAR more interest and "coolness". Basically, DX was the poor man's nWo, with lesser names, and less interest.

2) At the time of the original inception, Triple H was 28 years old, and Shawn Michaels was 32 years old. The whole point was to "rebel against the establishment". And yet, here were two guys with incredible backstage stroke in the company, and were already wealthy. What are they fighting against? Themselves? ******ed.

3) The re-union...two guys almost 40 years old making penis jokes, and rebelling against those who were well off. This made even less sense than the first time.


Why people mark for DX is beyond me. They stood for garbage, filth and trash, and did it in the name of rebelling against people who are just like themselves. Both HBK and HHH are/were egotistical prima donnas, with major pull backstage, even before HHH started banging Stephanie...and a lot more since. During their re-union they did little more than bury their opponents, make stupid infantile jokes, and put over nobody but themselves. They were booked above the WWE title, and the biggest draw in the company.

Basically, here's the deal. I'm challenging anyone and everyone to try and defend the stupidity of DX, and they hypocrisy of their faction. Furthermore, I'd like to see someone try to explain something beneficial that the DX brought wrestling, and if people talk about "Attitude", I might vomit, since we all know that Attitude was ushered in by the nWo, not the rip-off DX. And Attitude was taken to a new level by Steve Austin, not DX.

So, the gauntlet has been thrown down. I dare you to try and defend the ridiculousness of Degeneration X.

You could replace DX with nWo and it would be the same thing.

Don't bring up age when the original 3 members of the nWo were how old exactly? Hogan and Nash were around when Jesus was being hung. Neither could work a good match to save their lives. Hall was the only one who could work but you took your life in your hands working with a guy who was stoned and drunk on a consistent basis.

If DX is a ripoff of the nWo, the nWo must be a ripoff of the Horsemen. IMO none of the three were a ripoff. DX was NOTHING like the nWo. I think Ricky said it best.

Please don't talk about backstage politics and not mention the stroke that the nWo guys had. As bad as people THINK HHH and HBK were Hogan is easily ten times worse.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

DX was being funny, Vince told them to do that, I dont see how they were rip offs of the nWo. DX when it first started out was in WWE and they were the best faction there whereas nWo was in WCW, you just cant comare the two, they are two different factions and at a house show where DX faced nWo, DX won

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm not going to even begin to touch the festering pile of goat shit that was the reunion. It was terrible and that's all there is to it.

Why was DX successful? They were successful for one reason: their humor was the lowest possible form of intelligence. Show me one thing that they ever did that was intelligent humor or satire. Even their Nation and Corporation parodies, which to me are by far and away the funniest things they ever did, there was nothing incredibly intelligent about them. Think about it: it's not even an original idea. They were simply making fun of soemthing that was already there. Other than that, it was dick joke and that's about all. It's joke like that which made Adam Sandler, Rob Schnider and company "talented actors." Take a great comedian like say Chris Rock. He's not funny because he's loud or childish. He's funny because his material makes you think. I can't count how many times I've watched his stuff and thought, "you know he's exactly right." DX wasn't about that kind of humor. It was pure formula. Make fun of X, imply someting about a penis, insert catchphrase, go to the back and do cocaine while watching X-Pac pass out. There's no thought to it at all. They were playing to the lowest level of intelligence which while it got ratings, it doesn't mean it was good.

 

[jellmoo]

I am by no means a DX fan (I live in Montreal, we're legally not allowed to like Shawn Michaels) but I will say thus...

They are infinitely better than the NWO. That angle was initially interesting, but became the greatest clusterfuck the wrestling world has ever seen. DX had juvenile antics. The NWO had week after week of "Who's gonna join next?!?" Is it really exciting to see who the next member is going to be when the NWO outnumbered WCW 3-1?

 

[Loveless]

I'm going to use the Sly way of defending Cena to go about this

They were entertaining (to some)
Therefore
They drew money
Therefore
They were a sucess

And now to yours points.

1.You're complaining about originality in wrestling? You can't move for ideas rip-offed from somewhere else. Austin was strongly based around Sandman, Hogan ripped off Billy Graham. Originality? Don't make me laugh.

2. What the hell does reality have to do with what happens on screen? I was under the impression DX were a kayfabe group, whatever goes on behind the curtain is irrelevant. Shawn was a cocky arrogant kid, even at 32 and that group suited him and Hunter perfectly.

3. The reunion was silly, but it made and continues to make money which makes it less silly.

So the reason why it wasn't stupid? People loved it and It made a tonne of money. Your move.

 

[theeffinman]

dx were great because they were immature. when they were huge i was immature(still am). i still think dick jokes are funny. and seriously, if you don't laugh at dick jokes you probably don't have a dick. this thread was posted by a hater who should be thanking HBK & HHH because if it wasn't for dx then we'd all be watching monday nitro because face it, before dx, wwf was getting buried in the ratings.

 

[str8upmac52]

I must agree. The thing that made DX so much better than the NWO is Dx was a small tight group. There was a new member of the NWO every other week. And the NWO had the boss apart of the group (eric bishoff) at the time. While the original DX was in fact anti-authority.

 

[dx32v]

When you mention the backstage stroke of HBK and HHH in an attempt to try to diminish DX against the NWO, everything you say is nullified. NWO had Hogan and Nash and you want to talk about stroke? HHH wasn't anybody at the time, the only one with the stroke was HBK. Vomit all you want but that fact is, DX DID start the attitude era. I don't recall the NWO doing things like coming out in nothing but a Christmas thong which coming from a PG Doink the Clown WWF, was a pretty big deal. What exactly was so edgy about the NWO? As someone mentioned before, finding out who was going to be the new member of the NWO when they had most of the big names in the roster isn't too exciting. The point is to make a name a name for yourself with the members you already have, adding one person after another, some which didn't even fit in, ruins it. DX made the WWF money, lots of it, and that's all there is to it. BTW, this not liking something because its popular, normally an attempt for the High School social misfits to try to make themselves cool, not cool though.

 

[MikeKillam]

Yeah, I don't often examine the cultural and social implications a faction has on people...sorry you don't think they made any sense. Or maybe you're over-estimating what they "stood for." All in all, a faction has one of two purposes. (1) To boost a character to the top, and get new guys in the spotlight. (2) To boost ratings by having top guys get together.

The reunion of DX had nothing to do with rebelling. Yeah, they had jokes and put on skits that drew flashbacks to the old days, but they got back together because they company needed ratings, and (storyline wise) Vince was targeting Shawn and Triple H and picking them apart every week. They got together to get rid of the Spirit Squad, break up Rated RKO so they could go on to be individual champions, and play the top heel stable at the time. In the old days, it was all about getting mid carders to the top, by having them do childish, yet hilarious things to main eventers and the owners of the company. Don't forget, they were also incredibly dominant.

People freaked out when the got back together. It really had nothing to do with the old Degeneration X. It had to do with Shawn Michaels and Triple H, the two most loved stars at the time, getting together to raise hell. And, it was the first time since they tried killing each other for months on end, that they got together as faces.

And as far as your question goes, DX is nowhere near the worst faction of all time. If anything the Main Event Maffia is a play off the NWo, and makes even less sense than DX. It's a bunch of guys that used to be in WWE/WCW, that got together because they're "the best." Arguably, they are. But, when Sting is both for and against the group, and throw in Jeff Jarret and Mick Foley, they're fighting with guys who actually are Main Event players. And with Kurt Angle having no loyalty, you really have a bunch of guys who've spent 10 years in the spotlight, taking up more main event time. They are failing at boosting anyone but themselves.

So yeah...I dont' think DX is a stupid faction at all. Get over it.

 

[Vee Dub Represent]

I think DX did help bring fans into watch the WWF around this time, but not because of Attitude... I think Attitude was part of something much bigger entirely, the same period around 1997-2001 in which I like to call (and was a part of admittedly) the 'White Trash Era'. If you look back around this time to what was most popular on TV you can see that legit sporting events were all at an all time low around this time both attendance and ratings wise, sitcoms sucked, talk shows that were just talk shows got boring. Then on the other side of things Mike Tyson was popular and drawing as a freak show by this point, Jerry Springer was the most popular talk show around at that time and as such every other talk show except Oprah copied his style to gain popularity, South Park was the most popular animated show and bands like Limp Bizkit, Snot, Korn, Crazy Town, Lit Kid Rock etc were all the rage being played in $600 rustbuckets with $2500 worth of subwoofers and amps in the back of them.And every kid was angry... This was what was cool back then and somewhere in all of this there was enough support for 2 wrestling companies to make a shitload of money off of there ideas, which were Austin the loud mouthed redneck who beat up his boss, NWO who were anti establishment guys looking to take over a company by force, and DX--- A group of guys who were also anti establishment who pissed off and then catered to the fans by womanizing, cheating, and being all around jackasses while thinking it was a big joke the whole time, basically anti authority guys all around. Vince realized what would be popular then and ran with it, albeit with stiff competition to perform well, and quite frankly it was one hell of a sucess.

 

[Slyfox696]

I didn't really support the subject of their humor, but that's just my opinion.

You mean you don't find humor that junior high kids would think stupid to be funny?

Yeah, me neither.

Yes, DX was stupid but it was also entertaining. It's goal wasn't to be the next NWO, it was something different.

False. It WAS the next nWo. It was the same thing that the nWo did, just on a less interesting level.

A lot of things in wrestling are dumb, but if it's popular and makes money then that doesn't matter.

I disagree. Because when what is popular is NOT because of wrestling related, then it drags the overall product down. They were popular because they appealed to trash tv, NOT because they were making people fans of wrestling.

And we saw what happened when trash tv quit being popular. Ratings were cut in half in about a year and a half. DX was popular because of trash tv, not because it was good wrestling.

Well, they were popular and successful because 1)their anti-establishment attitudes were part of the storyline, the casual fan didn't know about HBK's and HHH's backstage connections and pull, and 2)they were edgy as far as compared to where wrestling was coming from. Ok, so mooning people and crotch-chopping isn't "edgy" as far as real life is concerened, we all see worse than that on a daily basis, but the NWO was what, beating people up and spraypainting on their backs? I don't exactly understand what was so immensely "edgier" about that.

I'm not comparing nWo and DX (because everyone knows the nWo was far and away better). What I'm pointing out is how stupid DX was, to have two guys around the age of 30, going around acting like immature children, "rebelling" against the kind of people that they were.

Stupid.

I might get infracted for saying this, but oh well, I can't get over how some people say something was 'stupid' or 'won't ever work' because they don't like the idea.

No, I'm saying it's stupid because it was a poor man's rip-off of the nWo and made no sense.

Well, you're one person. WWE is what it is today because millions of people in your demographic don't necessarily agree with you.

Which is why the WWE is still pulling those 7.0 ratings, right? Wrong. DX didn't attract people, Rock and Austin did, as did trash tv.

Um, take a look at ratings Sly. You are a numbers man, so check them out.

What am I looking for? A (not so) coincidental rise in ratings when Austin got hot, became champion and feuded with McMahon, and then a decline in those ratings when Austin and Rock left?

Because when you look at the ratings, that's basically what you see.

If someone says that DX is a nWo ripoff again I'm going to puke. DX was anti-authority...nWo was attempting to make itself the authority. Quite a different thing.

DX was a rip-off of nWo, and everyone knows it. The WWF saw that WCW was kicking their butt with the "cool heel", against the establishment group, and so they did the same thing.

Rip-off.

You could replace DX with nWo and it would be the same thing.

Don't bring up age when the original 3 members of the nWo were how old exactly? Hogan and Nash were around when Jesus was being hung. Neither could work a good match to save their lives. Hall was the only one who could work but you took your life in your hands working with a guy who was stoned and drunk on a consistent basis.

Nobody said anything about the nWo. I'm talking about DX. Please try and stay on topic.

But, if you want to get into it, like Ricky said, the nWo actually had a purpose. And that purpose was to rule WCW. DX had no such purpose. Their purpose was simply to go around acting like immature children.

If DX is a ripoff of the nWo, the nWo must be a ripoff of the Horsemen.

The nWo is nothing like the Horsemen. DX is a rip-off of the nWo.

Please don't talk about backstage politics and not mention the stroke that the nWo guys had. As bad as people THINK HHH and HBK were Hogan is easily ten times worse.

Except that the nWo didn't try to hide the "stroke" those guys played. It was storyline driven, about how the nWo was getting their way. It became part of the story, and part of the heat the nWo drew.

DX didn't do such a thing. They just pretended like they hated those who were powerful and wealthy...and they themselves were powerful and wealthy. It was stupid.

DX was being funny, Vince told them to do that, I dont see how they were rip offs of the nWo. DX when it first started out was in WWE and they were the best faction there whereas nWo was in WCW, you just cant comare the two, they are two different factions and at a house show where DX faced nWo, DX won

And if that house show had been in WCW, the nWo would have won. Poor point.

Why was DX successful? They were successful for one reason: their humor was the lowest possible form of intelligence.

And it, in part, helped to ruin wrestling for a while.

I'm going to use the Sly way of defending Cena to go about this

They were entertaining (to some)
Therefore
They drew money
Therefore
They were a sucess

No one is arguing they were successful. What I'm arguing is that the idea was stupid.

Please keep up.

And now to yours points.

1.You're complaining about originality in wrestling? You can't move for ideas rip-offed from somewhere else. Austin was strongly based around Sandman, Hogan ripped off Billy Graham. Originality? Don't make me laugh.

LOL, Austin was not based on the Sandman, that's the stupidest myth ECW fans love to propagate.

I'm not complaining about originality, I'm saying that DX was nothing more than a poor man's nWo.

2. What the hell does reality have to do with what happens on screen? I was under the impression DX were a kayfabe group, whatever goes on behind the curtain is irrelevant. Shawn was a cocky arrogant kid, even at 32 and that group suited him and Hunter perfectly.

And yet, that reality is what makes it stupid. And let's not even get into the reincarnation of DX.

3. The reunion was silly, but it made and continues to make money which makes it less silly.

No it doesn't. Watching a gray haired and balding Shawn Michaels act like he's 15 years old can't be made less silly.

dx were great because they were immature. when they were huge i was immature(still am). i still think dick jokes are funny. and seriously, if you don't laugh at dick jokes you probably don't have a dick.

You must be kidding. Adults acting like 13 year old children makes them great? Wow.

this thread was posted by a hater who should be thanking HBK & HHH because if it wasn't for dx then we'd all be watching monday nitro because face it, before dx, wwf was getting buried in the ratings.

DX had nothing to do with the WWF beating WCW. That honor goes to Eric Bischoff, Time Warner and Steve Austin. Try and at least maintain SOME kind of logic when presenting an argument.

The reunion of DX had nothing to do with rebelling.

And yet, their biggest feud was against Vince and Shane McMahon, the bosses of the company.

Yes, clearly there was no rebellion there...

Vince was targeting Shawn and Triple H and picking them apart every week.

Yes, Vince wanted Shawn to badmouth Hart, HBK refused, and Vince (the boss) came down hard on the employee for insubordination. Then HBK and HHH come together to shuck off the boss.

How is that not rebelling?

And as far as your question goes, DX is nowhere near the worst faction of all time.

I didn't say worst, I said "stupidest".

When you mention the backstage stroke of HBK and HHH in an attempt to try to diminish DX against the NWO, everything you say is nullified.

How so, when I'm not saying anything about the nWo, just DX?

NWO had Hogan and Nash and you want to talk about stroke?

And that stroke was put into the storyline to give the nWo greater heat. DX were just pretenders.

HHH wasn't anybody at the time, the only one with the stroke was HBK.

HBK, in his book, said that when Vince, HHH and HBK were trying to figure out what to do at Survivor Series '97 with Bret Hart, it was HHH who spoke up about screwing him. And they did.

To me, that doesn't say that HHH was a nobody.

Vomit all you want but that fact is, DX DID start the attitude era.

No they didn't, not even close. The nWo was attitude long before DX was. You arguing that would suggest that you weren't watching wrestling at the time.

I don't recall the NWO doing things like coming out in nothing but a Christmas thong which coming from a PG Doink the Clown WWF, was a pretty big deal.

No, they just invaded WCW, did gang-style beatdowns, and vandalized WCW property.

What exactly was so edgy about the NWO?

If you had watched it at the time, you wouldn't ask this.

BTW, this not liking something because its popular, normally an attempt for the High School social misfits to try to make themselves cool, not cool though.

Who said anything about not liking something because it's popular? Two of my favorite wrestlers are Hulk Hogan and John Cena.

I don't like it because it was an erosion of pro wrestling, and was completely stupid and illogical in its formation, not to mention, a complete rip-off of the much more successful and more popular nWo.