by Hatter X
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

“You thump your bible and you say your prayers and it didn’t get you anywhere! You talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16… well, Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!” Famous words, words that began a new era in professional wrestling, sports entertainment, whatever you feel comfortable with. “Attitude” is term that the genre was officially christened. The main point is that these words that seem so important today… wouldn’t have happened if not for one single event, which lead to one of the most publicized career burials in wrestling history.

To set the stage, our story begins with an event that nearly every wrestling fan knows about. An event that was probably never intended for us to know about, much less see live, in person, then eventually on national TV. The event in question is the infamous Curtain Call. The scene is MSG, the last show under the WWF banner for Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, better known to WWF fans at the time as Razor Ramon and Diesel. At the end of the evening, just after the Steel Cage match-up between Shawn Michaels, then WWF Champion, and Diesel; Shawn and his enemy embraced in a show of sportsmanship… or so we thought. Then in a shocking moment, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Razor Ramon run to the ring and join in on the public display of affection. The four behind-the-scenes buddies take a bow before a stunned audience as a shocked and much-dismayed locker room watch in anger at the near blasphemous act, taking place in the ring. “Kayfabe” was broken, and with an instant, the era of the “smart fan” was usher in at gunpoint. Vince McMahon, seeing his fabled “tradition” of public denial that wrestling was a farce burn in flames, felt the need to punish those responsible. Diesel and Razor were leaving for WCW. Michaels was the WWF Champion, and was needed in such a capacity that punishing him would have been next to impossible. So in turn, the object of Vince McMahon’s scorn ended up being the still relatively new, yet currently scheduled for a huge push, Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

To prove to the boys that McMahon was not someone to be screwed with, Vince placed the future Triple H in a spiral of humiliating jobs and embarrassing situations, equivalent to hell, some say. The real kicker to this scenario was that Hunter was scheduled to win the annual “King of The Ring Tournament” in June. Now traditionally, the KOTR winner is the next superstar destine for a main event push. With Hunter out of the picture, doing jobs for Marc Mero, Bob Holly, Jake Roberts & Fatu, the KOTR was given to a man who was badly in need of a push and quite frankly a serious character makeover. Thus, Steve Austin stepped up and took his opportunity and the infamous “Austin 3:16” promo was cut and the “Stone Cold” character was given the breath of life.

The rest is history… but this week, TimeLine will explore the following questions: What if Triple H hadn't been punished in 1996? What if Hunter had gone on to win KOTR and take his spot as a top heel 4 years prior to his breakout performances of the year 2000? What if Hall & Nash hadn’t taken the WCW offers presented to them? That is correct, for in this reality, Hunter Hearst Helmsley won KOTR and The Clique remained intact. Now we will take a look at the events, which transpired, in a world where the Curtain Call never happened.

Timeline: June 1996

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Having defeated Jake “The Snake” Roberts in the first of two semi-final bouts, Hunter Hearst Helmsley stands across the ring from “The Wildman” Marc Mero. Mero defeated Steve Austin in his semi-final contest, yet he was the worse for wear, having hurt his shoulder in the contest. The bell rings and the combatant’s lock up for what would be a thrilling 30-minute contest that would see Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the American Blue Blood, crowned the 1996 King of the Ring. Backstage, good friends, Kevin Nash (Diesel), Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman) and Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) greet Hunter, real name, Paul Levesque. Nash embraces his buddy and tells him that no one deserves this more than him. Hunter thanks Nash for his kind words and says that he would’ve never received the opportunity if Nash and the rest of his friends hadn’t helped him along the way. Hall pats Hunter on the back and says that he earned it. Meanwhile, as Mero is helped to the back by his on screen valet and real-life wife, Rena Mero, a.k.a., Sable; Mero shouts over to Hunter that he could’ve be a little more careful out there. Mero argues that Hunter knew his shoulder was hurt; yet he never let up. Michaels yells out to Mero to suck it and be a man, everyone works hurt. Mero storms off as a few wrestlers in the near vicinity shake their heads in disbelief at the callousness of Michaels and his friends. A young wrestler by the name of Dewayne Johnson, who just happen to be visiting backstage with some friends comments to another wrestler, Goldust, a.k.a., Dustin Runnels, that he thinks the group are a little disrespectful. Dustin replies, “That’s The Clique for you.”

Now for those who don’t know, the aforementioned, Clique, of Nash, Hall, Waltman, Michaels and Levesque, ran rampant backstage in the WWF for years. The group has been accused of using their clout to stop pushes, alter storylines and have talent released, all to suit their own needs. They were an extremely unpopular group. In fact many of the wrestler’s backstage, the boys, as they are often referred to, were praying that Hall and Nash would’ve accepted rival promotion; WCW’s offers and jumped from the promotion a month earlier. However, that was not to be, as WWF Owner, Vince McMahon matched the offer to Hall and Nash, not wanting to lose two of his biggest stars. Now, with Ramon and Diesel knowing their worth, Shawn Michaels firmly established as a popular champion, the 1-2-3 Kid a hated, money-drawing heel and last but certainly not least, Hunter Hearst Helmsley a top heel with the prestigious KOTR under his belt…. The Clique has more power backstage than ever before. And darker days lay ahead for the superstars of the WWF, as Vince McMahon announces to the crew back at the hotel that tomorrow afternoon before Raw, he will be holding a meeting to address some changes in the WWF.

The next afternoon as the talent are gathering backstage, Yokozuna, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Goldust, Ahmed Johnson and Undertaker are pulling guys aside and warning them that something very bad is about to happen. Once the meeting begins, Vince explains that the WWF is about to take a drastic curve in its storytelling and presentation of product. Vince outlines a new direction that includes the exploitation of females, harsh language, edgy, controversial situations, sexual innuendo and a new policy on blading. Vince informs the group that the new booking committee will be made up of himself, Bruce Pritchard, Ed Ferrera, Vince Russo and Vince’s son Shane McMahon. Vince also informs the group that the direction of the company will largely focus on Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Mankind, Steve Austin, Ahmed Johnson and Goldust. Vince immediately tells the group that many of the newly hired hands, such as Bryan Pillman and Justin Bradshaw, will have to work the under card, along with veterans Vader, Jake Roberts, Yokozuna, The Undertaker, Owen Hart, The Ultimate Warrior & Davey Boy Smith. Basically, Vince was saying in on uncertain terms that a new regime was taking over the WWF.

In weeks after the meeting, Ultimate Warrior had been released for no-showing his scheduled dates, and The Undertaker, along with Jake Roberts had left the WWF for the greener pastures (in their eyes) of WCW. Both had received offers in recent months, but only chose to take the WWF’s chief rival up on their offers when it became apparent that Vince McMahon was no longer in control. Many superstars such as Vader, the Smoking Gunns, Ahmed Johnson, Goldust and Mankind, all of who were not friends of The Clique, felt exactly the same way as Taker and Roberts. The proof, according to the naysayers was in the pudding, so to speak, as Vince had released the line up for this year’s Summer Slam. The show was going to consist of seven matches. Shawn Michaels, the current World Champion, would defend the belt against Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Ahmed Johnson was set to defend the IC Title against the 1-2-3 Kid. Diesel would take on Goldust, while Razor Ramon would face Vader. The Tag Team Champions, The Smoking Gunns were set to face Clique sympathizers, the newly reformed Steve Austin/Bryan Pillman WCW tag team of The Hollywood Blondes. Justin Bradshaw was scheduled to face Mankind and Davey Boy Smith was set to face Owen Hart. The show itself ended up with every Clique member going over, including Kid and Clique buddies Austin & Pillman winning gold. The first stage of the Clique’s total domination of the WWF had just been completed.

As the company coasted through the remaining months of 1996, the WWF lost a huge star in Bret Hart. Hart refused to re-up with the WWF and took off for the big bucks and increasingly better work environment of WCW. By Christmas, family members, Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart had followed Bret, taking part-time WWF’er Jim Neidhart with them as well. November’s Survivor Series showcased the WWF debuts of Flash Funk, Rocky Maivia (Dewayne Johnson) and the tag team of Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon. The card itself also showcased the split of The Smoking Gunns, and a new push for Clique lackey, Aldo Montoya. The Main Event of the show tanked, as Diesel & Helmsley teamed to face HBK & Ramon. The month of December hit the WWF hard as well. McMahon, in a panic forced all his big names to sign new contracts, ranging from 3 to 5 years, with no-compete clauses. The Clique manipulated themselves into a position where they only had to sign 1 year deals, prompting Vader and Yokozuna, the last of the WWF big men to exit the promotion when they refused to sign the 3 to 5 year deals, leaving Diesel as the only man above 6’7 working for the promotion. Vince McMahon called in Sid Vicious, and matched him once again with Shawn Michaels, and then added Razor Ramon to the duo, to make a trio. After just a few weeks, Michaels and Ramon complained that Sid was slow and plodding. Ramon pointed out a lack of selling and a real weakness on the microphone and suggested that Vince demote Sid in favor of building up Brian James, better known to fans as Jesse James. Michaels also suggested stripping their friend Peter Polaco of his embarrassing Aldo Montoya gimmick and give him something more edgy. Vince informed the Clique members that he didn’t see any money coming in from the way things have been, so he had planned to demote Hunter and put he and Diesel together as a tag team, so that would open a couple of singles slots. But Vince expresses some concern simply because he wants to push Goldust, Ahmed Johnson, Mankind and the newly signed Faarooq to top status as well. Michaels and Ramon don’t seem too excited about the idea and tell Vince he should reconsider. Vince informs them that the plan for the Royal Rumble is for Michaels to defend and drop his World title to Ahmed Johnson. Michaels promises Vince that the match will fail because Johnson is not up to his standards and he can’t carry him. Michaels suggests dropping the belt to Hunter instead. Vince thinks for a moment and agrees, only if Ramon will team with Diesel full time. Ramon has no problem teaming with his friend. The manipulation of Vince McMahon is becoming increasingly easier for the group.

January comes and goes and The Rumble sees Michaels drop his title to Hunter, while Ramon & Diesel pick up the tag straps from The Blondes. 1-2-3 Kid keeps his firm grip on the IC Title, by defeating Goldust. Interestingly enough Ahmed Johnson is awarded the Rumble and will be built as a face contender to Hunter’s new title. Many backstage point to long amounts of ring time during the actual Royal Rumble match for Jesse James, Billy Gunn, PJ Walker (Montoya) and The Blondes as a sure sign that The Clique have more control than ever before. February 1997 sees WCW pick up another WWF star as Mankind packs his bags and returns to his previous home as Cactus Jack. With Mick Foley now gone, the last remnants of a vocal anti-Clique voice backstage no longer made life difficult for Hunter and company. The road to Wrestle Mania 13 saw business begin to slip even further, meanwhile WCW was beginning to turn huge business with names like Hogan, The Warrior, Piper, Hart, Mark Calloway (Undertaker), Jake Roberts, Vader, Yokozuna, Cactus Jack, Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, The Public Enemy, The Road Warriors, The Steiner Brothers and DDP. Vince McMahon tried to turn his product around at the urging of his loyal backstage “yes” men Pat Patterson, Bruce Pritchard, Gerald Briscoe and Jack Lanza. However, The Clique had too many people such as Vince Russo, Ed Ferrera and Vince’s own son, Shane McMahon, in their pocket.

The final proof that The Clique was in charge came when after a very heated booking meeting prior to the last Raw before Mania, in which Jim Ross and Shawn Michaels came face to face on the direction of the product… Michaels and the booking team wrote an injury angle into the show. During the course of the show, Hunter, would be doing color commentary alongside Jerry “The King” Lawler and Jim Ross. Hunter was plugging his match with Ahmed Johnson at Mania. During Ahmed’s match on the show with 1-2-3 Kid (non-title), Hunter jumps up and nails JR in the head with a chair! The shot was very stiff and JR was legitimately hurt. The King begins yelling and shoving Hunter, and Ahmed leaves the ring to get involved. This type of quasi-shoot angle was becoming more and more prevalent as of late, however, this time, the intent was malicious. The angle did nothing for the buy-rate of Wrestle Mania 13, which would go down as the poorest selling Wrestle Mania of all. Not even the “show-saving match” of Shawn Michaels & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor and Diesel for the Tag Team Titles could swing a profit. The only thing good that came of the quasi-shoot angle was that JR would leave the WWF and return to WCW in the summer of ’97. The WWF was beginning to fall into a spiral of debt and there seemed to be no return in sight… until September of 1997.

With business at an all time low, and no big money to be had, the WWF was losing talent and credibility left and right. WCW had picked up the departing Faarooq, Goldust (who would return to his former mantel of Dustin Rhodes), Ken Shamrock (who never really got a chance to shine from the start due to his anti-Clique stance), Jerry “The King” Lawler, Brian Christopher, the Godwin’s and the only non-Clique talent that could even remotely be considered a star, Ahmed Johnson. The new direction that he and his associates had cooked up was not bringing in fans, as much as it was giving the Clique more opportunity to act like 13 years olds on TV, entertaining themselves at the expense of the fans. Vince McMahon was at the end of his rope, when the unthinkable, yet completely predictable occurred. The Clique  (Hall, Nash, Hunter, Michaels and the Kid) approached Vince and told him that they had all been offered the chance to jump to WCW as a package deal. Eric Bischoff had contacted them and offered a deal that would see them enter as a group, something called “The New World Order” and try a quasi-takeover. Vince reminded them of their deals, and they reminded Vince that as the top draws, with a little pull of their own, they have clauses in their contracts that say they may exercise a 90-day window. That window began on September 1^st; Vince asked the group what it would take to keep them? Michaels spoke for the group, as he often did and simply explained that Vince would need to top WCW’s monetary offer and their smaller work schedule. Vince knew he couldn’t make an offer even close to what WCW was offering, and asked them to simply give him the next few months to fix things, in preparation for their collective departure. The Clique agreed and Vince told them that they could all leave after Survivor Series, which was slated to be in Philadelphia. Vince seemed as if he might have a plan.

The next Monday, as the extremely low rated Raw is War was preparing to start, Vince McMahon receives the call he has been waiting for. McMahon takes the first flight out of town and leaves Raw in the not-so capable hands of his son, Shane and the booking team. The episode of Raw sees The Clique run rampant in the storylines, even further alienating the talent backstage. Through last minute changes to the scripts and the occasional threat to walk out, thrown in an effort to get their way; Hunter and his buddies succeed in forming themselves into an on-camera group, and not just a backstage “clique”. Hunter, Diesel, Razor, Michaels and The Kid were booked in a 8-man match as the Main Event, with Hunter teaming alongside 1-2-3 Kid, Razor and Diesel, while Shawn Michaels teamed with the Clique-friendly Hollywood Blondes, & PJ Walker. The match saw Michaels turn on his buddies, setting up the on-screen formation of The Clique. Surprisingly the fans in the arena, not so much into the 5-some as individuals, ate the heel formation up. In hindsight, many insiders believe that the sole purpose of this stunt was to make their impending debut for WCW, seem more of a shoot than a work. Another vein of though is that the stunt was pulled as a power trip by The Clique to show the office that with Vince not around, they were in charge.

After returning from his trip, McMahon supervises the next set of tapings, and much to the dismay of his talent roster, he was not unreceptive to what the Clique had pulled on Raw. In fact, McMahon was happy with the idea, and was heard telling Michaels that he applauded their ingenuity. McMahon then uses the confidence he just fed to Michaels and suggests that they allow him to propose a new plan, leading into the 2-month build up for Survivor Series. Vince tells Michaels that he wants to establish a face group to oppose The Clique and lead to a big Survivor Series 5 on 5 that would see the Clique lose and for forced to leave the WWF, thus freeing them up to go to WCW without a hitch. The Clique was receptive to the idea, as long as the Clique approved the group opposing them. McMahon pitched his 5 top stars, aside from The Clique themselves: The Hollywood Blondes, Rocky Maivia, Marc Mero and Flash Funk. The Clique immediately shot down Maivia, Funk and Mero, and instead suggested their buddies, “Road Dogg” Jesse James, “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn and PJ Walker. Vince refused to allow them in, being that they were not as big of stars as the other three he suggested. The Clique countered by informing Vince that they would not agree to anything kind clean loss at Survivor Series unless their buddies were the one’s got the win, thus boosting their images and making them top stars. Vince asked for a compromise, with Gunn and Dogg taking the Mero and Funk slots, but he was adamant about Maivia getting a slot. The Clique agreed and McMahon said that they could be in charge of the planning of the match, as long as each of them took clean pinfall or submission losses, thus honoring the “time honored tradition” and leaving with a job. The Clique manipulated the decision into a one fall to a finish, which Vince reluctantly agreed to.

The months prior to Survivor Series saw the WWF at odds as many backstage talents were planning on leaving the WWF all together. Rocky Maivia was the only non-clique associate getting any real airtime and this was not going over well with the talent. However, the fans were very into the product and sales were beginning to turn in the WWF’s favor. In the final days before Survivor Series, The Clique used this new upswing to try and barter with McMahon on the ending of Survivor Series, suggesting anything they could to get out of jobbing clean. They wanted to ride into WCW as conquering heroes, not as beaten outcasts. McMahon refused to allow them any say in the finishes. The Clique, unaccustomed to not getting their way, threatened a walk out. Vince laughed at them and said that they would be in breach of contract if they left. Michaels reminds Vince that they are still in their window and they can leave if they want to, as long as they don’t show up on WCW TV prior to December 1^st. Vince relents and compromises with a DQ victory for the face team, when The Hollywood Blondes turn on their partners. The reasoning behind it would be that the Blondes would carry on in the tradition of The Clique. The Clique agrees to the outcome and the stage is set for one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history.

Survivor Series night is upon us and The Clique arrive at the show. After a short meeting with their opponents and Pat Patterson to discuss the finish for the show, The Clique leave the building. During this time, Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, Bruce Pritchard, Rocky Maivia, Jack Lanza, referee Earl Hebner and Gerald Briscoe meet in Vince’s private suite. The show goes off without a hitch showcasing a less than stellar card:

-The Headbangers defeated The Blackjacks

-The Truth Commissioner defeated The DOA

-Kama, Marc Mero, D’Lo Brown & Flash Funk defeated Steve Blackman, Doomsday, Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon

-Los Boricuas defeated Jeff Jarrett, The Rock & Roll Express and Leif Cassidy

-Taka Michinoku defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri

During the Main Event, everything was going as planned, until Vince McMahon made his way to ringside, accompanied by Sgt. Slaughter and Gerald Briscoe. The Clique members didn’t quite get what was happening, until from the crowd, Paul Heyman and a virtual army of wrestlers from the local Extreme Championship Wrestling group hit the ring. The group of wrestlers, which included Chris Candido, Lance Storm, Jerry Lynn, Mickey Whipwreck, Taz, Little Guido, Tracy Smothers, New Jack, Kronus, The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer, Spike Dudley, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, the Sandman, Bam Bam Bigelow & Shane Douglas, cause a big enough distraction at ringside, that Rocky hits the move that would eventually evolve into “The Rock Bottom” on Shawn Michaels and referee Earl Hebner makes the fastest three count in history handing the match to the face team. Michaels and the other Clique members look around as the ECW wrestlers begin to file up the ramp, while Vince, Slaughter and Briscoe escort Rocky Maivia back to the dressing room. The Clique and their loyal friends stand in the ring, as the PPV goes off the air, realizing that they have been screwed.

The next on Raw, McMahon comes to the ring to explain what happened at Survivor Series and tells the tale of how the Clique manipulated the WWF and he himself into near bankruptcy. Then McMahon explains that for the good of the company he screwed The Clique and he did it with the help of ECW and the new World Champion, whom he will crown at this time, The Rock. Vince proceeds to crown The Rock as a corporate champion, while Paul Heyman, head of ECW comes out and starts a new feud between the WWF and ECW, claiming that they helped him rid the WWF of The Clique, now they want what is rightfully theirs. 1998 dawned with the purchase of three major WCW names with the money that was freed up by the expulsion of The Clique: The Giant (Paul Wight), Ric Flair and a young rookie by the name if Bill Goldberg. And so a new feud, an invasion, so to speak, is born and with a new World Champion, new blood and a cancer free locker room, the WWF began a road to new prominence in the wrestling industry.

But that is another story…

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Amarillo, TX, is home to Hatter X, a wrestling fan for 25 of his 30 years.  He enjoys pure wrestling, but its the edgy drama and quality storytelling that really frosts his donut.  E-mail Hatter X at [email protected]. 

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