So many of us assumed The Kliq would reunite when Kevin Nash returned to competition on the Raw side of WWE. So ffar, it hasn't happened. Nash, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels might be lacking a vital component.
As triple H fought of both Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair in a handicap match on the May 26 edition of Raw, countless fans-live in Mobile, Alabama, and at home-were convinced that Michaels would turn against Flair and join Triple-H in pounding the "Nature Boy" into oblivion. The fact that Kevin Nash was intently watching the match from a backstage monitor made a Kliq reunion even more plausible.
As it turned out, Flair turned against Michaels and helped Triple-H pound "The Heartbreak Kid" into oblivion. When Nash tried to make the rescue, Helmsley, Flair, and Randy Orton savaged both Michaels and Nash.
No reunion of any sort occurred at Judgment Day, either, when Helmsley and Flair teamed with Chris Jericho to face Michaels, Nash, and Booker T. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that a lot of people expected Michaels and Nash to attack Booker and join Triple-H. Instead, Triple-H smashed Nash with a sledgehammer to secure the victory for his team.
"Listen, I've made myself clear from the beginning," said WWE Raw champion Triple-H. "There won't be a Kliq reunion unless it's on my terms. Why should I do otherwise? I'm already the [Raw] champion. I'm already the top man in this business. I'm not just gonna let Michaels and Nash ride my coattails. They've got to earn their spots if they want to run with me. You don't believe me? Just look at Flair. Keeping this belt around my waist is our top priority. Flair knows his role. Why else would I need him around? Michaels and Nash are just out for themselves."
It's understandable why Flair would go along with such a role, because The Four Horsemen kept the NWA/WCW title belt around his waist for years. Running interference for Triple-H might be his twisted way of giving back. Michaels and Nash, on the other hand, probably think they have a couple of title runs still left in them. Joining Triple-H for the sake of saving his Raw championship doesn't make sense.
Then again, it never made sense for Nash to lie down for NWO teammate Hulk Hogan in January 1999, thereby giving him the WCW belt. It never made sense for Michaels to superkick The Rock at Smackdown's premiere in September of that same year, helping Helmsley-who had publicly badmouthed HBK-retain the WWF strap. It also never made sense for a young Helmsley, way back in 1996, jeopardize his WWF career by joining Michaels, Nash, and Scott Hall in an unauthorized display of unity at a Madison Square Garden house show just before Nash and Hall defected to WCW.
While there are plenty of logical reasons why Helmsley, Michaels, and Nash should not reunite, we can't ignore their past history of doing the illogical. All three men enjoy a swerve, and confounding the entire wrestling world once again would be as good a reason as any to reunite The Kliq ...wouldn't it?
Younger fans might wonder, What is The Kliq? In the mid-1990s, then-WWF champ Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash (then known as Diesel), and Scott Hall (then known as Razor Ramon) were the major superstars who comprised a behind-the-scenes "clique" thatstuck together when it came to targeting common ene- mies and politicking backstage.
Bret Hart, who was the only WWF wrestler with a greater reputation than Michaels, was usually their target. Vince McMahon, who had lost established main-eventers such as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage to WCW, often gave in to The Kliq's demands. As some of wrestling's behind-the-scenes secrets became exposed in the late-1990s, The Kliq's reputation reached almost mythical proportions, inspiring on-air cliques such as the New World Order and DeGeneration X. Michaels even had fun with it, anointing his fans "The Kliq."
Michaels, Nash, and Hall also groomed junior members of their clique, including Helmsley, Sean Walt-man, and Justin Credible. Of those junior members, Helmsley was believed to have the most potential. Triple-H has more than fulfilled that potential ... and his current status as Raw champion is proof of that.
"It's hard to say if Triple-H will re-form The Kliq," said Billy Gunn, who was a member of Helmsley's DX. "I think it's really up to him. Some people would say he gets a sick thrill out of tormenting Shawn and Kevin because they treated him like a gopher all those years ago. But if Triple-H would get a sick thrill out of anything, it would be from reforming The Kliq and treating Shawn and Kevin like gophers." Michaels and Nash know that better than anyone, which is why The Kliq might never exist again. The original Kliq existed to keep Michaels and Nash in power. The only incentive in being Triple-H's stooges would be to benefit from his close relationship with the McMahon family and to bask in the Raw champion's spotlight. Triple-H's hold on the title would be all but unbreakable if he had two more Ric Flairs around. But too many cage matches, sneak-attacks, and sledgehammers have made such an arrangement seem very unlikely. Triple-H has thwarted any Kliq reunion at every opportunity.
Why does The Kliq no longer "kliq"? We could argue that it isn't "kliq-ing" on all cylinders because it is missing a vital component: Scott Hall. It's too bad that Hall's personal demons kept him from retaining his job with WWE last year. After all, it was four men-Helmsley, Michaels, Nash, and Hall-who mounted those turnbuckles in Madison Square Garden. Nash doesn't remain a fan favorite for long with Hall as a running buddy and, as heels, Nash and Hall would be natural allies of Triple-H. With Helmsley, Nash, and Hall together, wouldn't Michaels be tempted to make the team complete? Hall could be the lynchpin.
"There's something to that," said Nash, wryly. "It just doesn't seem like the band is back together without Scott in the picture. I really wanted to hook up with Shawn and Hunter when I came back to the company, but it seems like Hunter has done everything possible to make sure it doesn't happen. That's fine. He's done me dirty too many times. Besides, I don't need a Kliq to kick his ass and take his title."
Michaels, who reached out to Triple-H last summer, only to be attacked in a parking lot for his efforts, is likely to agree with Nash. Triple-H's relationship with Michaels and Nash seems to be shattered beyond repair. The Kliq is dead ... unless Scott Hall resurrects his career in WWE.
And no one is betting that will happen.