History Wrestling / TheKliq

* SpotlightStealingSquad: 1995 through 1997 marks the height of their success, and also the period when the company nearly went out of business. It's probably not hyperbole to say that, had Nash and Hall not migrated to WCW, the same fate would have awaited the WWF.
** It should be pointed out that the company almost going out of business was not the fault of the Kliq, but just a sign of the times. The early-to-mid '90s were an ''awful'' time for wrestling and both companies were losing tons of money, but while WCW could always rely on Creator/TedTurner's [[UnclePennybags seemingly bottomless pocketbook,]] the WWF relied on traditional wrestling earnings (merchandise, ticket sales, PPV buys and the like) and the numbers were dwindling fast[[labelnote:*]]This is said to be one of the forces behind the Montreal Screwjob. Vince was pushing Bret to go to WCW because he could no longer afford Bret's large salary but wanted to make absolutely certain he couldn't trash the belt the way Medusa did[[/labelnote]]. Coincidentally, The Kliq - or, at least, its individual members - would actually help ''save'' both companies (albeit, more as on-screen characters rather than any backstage pull): Hall and Nash, of course, would help form [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder the nWo]] (which eventually included the Kid), which is said to have helped generate enough money in those famous 83 weeks that it wiped out all of WCW's financial losses from the previous ''four years.'' Shawn and Hunter, meanwhile, would form the popular Wrestling/DGenerationX, which would only get more popular under Hunter's leadership (and would also eventually include the Kid) and Shawn would famously lose the WWF Championship to Steve Austin at [[Wrestling/WrestleMania WrestleMania XIV]], helping kick off the Wrestling/AttitudeEra, possibly ''the'' most lucrative and popular period in wrestling history.
* TheTeetotaler: According to all reports, Hunter only drinks at weddings.
** Post-conversion to Christianity, Shawn never drinks.

* TrueCompanions: One of wrestling's best examples. Shawn, Hunter, Kevin, Scott, and Kid have been friends for almost three decades.

* MemeticHandGesture: You know the one. Look at the page image.

** Hall turned on Nash to side with Hogan's nWo Hollywood as opposed to Nash's red-and-black wearing nWo Wolfpac. This was an apparent move by Bischoff to split up Hall and Nash and keep them in line.

* InsistentTerminology: Remember, that iconic hand signal is obviously called the "Too Sweet", guys. That's what Wrestling/KevinNash used to say when he threw it up in the [=nWo=]. In actuality, while The Kliq themselves have fully embrace the background of the Turkish Wolf from the very first time they adopted the gesture, fans and peers in the industry took Nash's verbal cue and ran with it, all but codifying Too Sweet as its wrestling name off the back of said assumption alone.

* InsistentTerminology: Remember, that iconic hand signal is obviously called the "Too Sweet", guys. That's what Wrestling/KevinNash used to say when he threw it up in the [=nWo=].

!!'''Tropes that apply to one or all of the members of the Kliq:'''

* InsistentTerminology: Wanna know what the Kliq ''actually'' called the iconic hand signal? [[note]]The one also known outside of wrestling as the Wolf Howl, Wolf Kiss, Kissing Diablos — yeah, that one.[[/note]] The name they chose for it, the name Kid introduced it to them with? Here goes. They call it the ''Turkish Wolf'', and it is the direct inspiration for Nash, Hall, and Syxx calling themselves the Wolfpac. Discussed [[http://www.wwe.com/article/wwe-too-sweet-hand-gesture-meaning?sf29572314=1 here]].

In 1993, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/ScottHall (Razor Ramon) and Wrestling/SeanWaltman (The 1-2-3 Kid, later known as Syxx or [[XPacHeat X-Pac]]) were working for the then-[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]]. Hall and Michaels were acquaintances stemming all the way back to the mid 80's when they were in AWA together, and their similar personalities had them becoming travel mates and friends. Waltman was a young indie wrestler that Hall took a liking to after their famous program and served as his mentor on screen and off. Michaels was a rising star, and Hall and Waltman were solid midcard wrestlers. All three were notorious hellraisers known for drinking and abusing drugs, and they all had ego to spare. Michaels was looking for a way to get himself even more over with the crowd, having just made an infamous [[FaceHeelTurn heel turn]] by [[BreakupBreakout kicking ex-partner Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window]]. He turned on Wrestling/{{WCW}}'s show, ''WCW Saturday Night'', one night, and found what he was looking for -- Wrestling/KevinNash, who was playing a comedic character named "Vinnie Vegas".

* DrugsAreBad: Let's put it this way, the only one of the five who was ever even rumored to be totally clean from alcohol, pills, and steroids was Triple H, and even he's debatable (considering he went from [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Hunter_Hearst_Helmsley_in_1996.jpg this]] to [[http://thewrestlingwrapup.com/files/2010/10/Triple-H.jpg this]] in one year, though it could just be the angle and the lack of a tan). The other four, though? All addicted to alcohol (especially Scott), pills (only Shawn kicked the habit), and steroids (Shawn denies it, as does Kevin).
** As far as Triple H goes, if Wrestling/ScottSteiner is to be believed, let's remember that back when he was in WWE, he claimed that he was asked to take a steroid test, and said he'd only take one if Triple H took it with him... and WWE promptly dropped the subject altogether.

* FiveManBand:
** TheLeader: Shawn Michaels
** TheLancer: Triple H
** TheSmartGuy: Kevin Nash
** TheBigGuy: Scott Hall
** TagalongKid: Sean Waltman

Wiki/TheOtherWiki has an excellent page on The Kliq [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kliq here]].

In 1993, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/KevinNash (Razor Ramon) and Wrestling/SeanWaltman (The 1-2-3 Kid, later known as Syxx or [[XPacHeat X-Pac]]) were working for the then-[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]]. Hall and Michaels were acquaintances stemming all the way back to the mid 80's when they were in AWA together, and their similar personalities had them becoming travel mates and friends. Waltman was a young indie wrestler that Hall took a liking to after their famous program and served as his mentor on screen and off. Michaels was a rising star, and Hall and Waltman were solid midcard wrestlers. All three were notorious hellraisers known for drinking and abusing drugs, and they all had ego to spare. Michaels was looking for a way to get himself even more over with the crowd, having just made an infamous [[FaceHeelTurn heel turn]] by [[BreakupBreakout kicking ex-partner Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window]]. He turned on Wrestling/{{WCW}}'s show, ''WCW Saturday Night'', one night, and found what he was looking for -- Wrestling/KevinNash, who was playing a comedic character named "Vinnie Vegas".

In 1993, Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) and Sean Waltman (The 1-2-3 Kid, later known as Syxx or [[XPacHeat X-Pac]]) were working for the then-[[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]]. Hall and Michaels were acquaintances stemming all the way back to the mid 80's when they were in AWA together, and their similar personalities had them becoming travel mates and friends. Waltman was a young indie wrestler that Hall took a liking to after their famous program and served as his mentor on screen and off. Michaels was a rising star, and Hall and Waltman were solid midcard wrestlers. All three were notorious hellraisers known for drinking and abusing drugs, and they all had ego to spare. Michaels was looking for a way to get himself even more over with the crowd, having just made an infamous [[FaceHeelTurn heel turn]] by [[BreakupBreakout kicking ex-partner Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window]]. He turned on Wrestling/{{WCW}}'s show, ''WCW Saturday Night'', one night, and found what he was looking for -- Kevin Nash, who was playing a comedic character named "Vinnie Vegas".

The five men would amass a staggering amount of backstage power as a group. All five were close to Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} and had input on booking decisions (including which wrestlers they believed deserved a push). Victims of The Kliq's influence include Wrestling/ShaneDouglas, Wrestling/BamBamBigelow, Wrestling/ChrisCandido, Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith and Carl Oullet; [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] was also supposed to be one of The Kliq's victims, but managed to secure his own place in history even with their objections. Wrestling/BretHart, who would have his career and life changed by the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob (which Michaels, Levesque, and [=McMahon=] were in on), was perhaps the biggest victim of The Kliq's backstage politicking.

* NotSoDifferent: From Hulk Hogan's clique of backstage allies (Hogan, Wrestling/RandySavage, Roddy Piper, and Bob Orton), which Michaels uses as justification for some of their backstage clout:

-->--'''Triple H'''