The Kliq The Kliq ( sometimes spelled as Clique ) was a backstage group in the World Wrestling Federation of the mid - 1990s , which some claim held virtually all booking power ( the power to make matches and determine storylines ) , and were accused of refusing to put over ( elevate , usually by losing a match ) anyone outside the group . The group was made up of the following members : The five were best friends in real life ; most of them remain close friends today . Other wrestlers were on the fringes of the Kliq from time to time — most notably Aldo Montoya , now better known as Justin Credible , — but the core group remained the same . After Nash and Hall left WWF for WCW , Michaels and Triple H formed the nucleus of D - Generation X with Chyna and Rick Rude , while Nash and Hall would form the nWo with Hulk Hogan . Some fans use the terms Clique and Kliq interchangeably . " Kliq " was originally used by the WWF to describe Shawn Michaels ' fanbase at one period in 1996 . It is widely believed that " Kliq " was a nod to smarks who knew of the existence of the Kliq . On the independent circuit , Scott Hall would have the word " KLIQ " on the back of his trunks . Curtain Call : The MSG Incident . One of the more talked - about actions involving the Kliq was the " Madison Square Garden Incident " ( " MSG " ) , which took place on May 19 , 1996 and involved all of the Clique except for Waltman ( who was home nursing an injury at the time ) . At the time of the incident , Hall and Nash were about to leave the WWF for WCW . At a major WWF house show in Madison Square Garden , Michaels and Levesque ( as Helmsley ) worked separate singles matches with Hall and Nash . Earlier in the card , Levesque worked a match , as a heel , with Scott Hall ( as Razor Ramon ) in which the departing Hall would job to Levesque to put him over . Later , in the main event , Michaels , as a face , worked a steel cage match with Nash ( as Diesel ) , as a heel , in which the departing Nash would job to Michaels to put him over . Immediately after the match , Hall walked towards the ring , came in , and hugged Michaels . This was not seen as a problem , since both Hall and Michaels were faces in the storylines . But after Hall and Michaels hugged , Levesque walked towards the ring , got in , and also hugged Hall , despite working a match earlier in which Hall was a face and Levesque was a heel . Then , Nash stood up after being pinned by Michaels and all four shared a prolonged group hug . Their actions in the " Curtain Call " scandalized WWF management , who at the time wanted to maintain the illusion that the supposed antipathy between faces and heels was real and that they were not friends outside the ring . It is reported in Michaels book , Heartbreak and Triumph , that Vince Mcmahon was initially ok with the incident , but did not expect them to take it so far . It is alleged ( according to Kevin Kelly ' s commentary on the October 20th 1997 edition of Monday Night RAW ) that the incident created a furor behind the scenes in the locker room , and that several superstars ( said to have included The British Bulldog ) had to be restrained from engaging in physical interaction with the Kliq superstars . Because Michaels was the WWF Champion at the time and was one of the promotion ' s biggest drawing cards , the WWF feared that punishing him would hurt its business . Hall and Nash were soon to leave for WCW ( Hall arrived just over one week later , Nash three weeks later ) , so they escaped punishment . The punishment fell solely on Levesque ; he was demoted from championship contender to jobber to the stars , although he did win the WWF Intercontinental Championship five months later . This punishment turned out to have a major impact on the WWF ' s future . Before the MSG Incident , Levesque had been booked to win the King of the Ring tournament late that spring , but instead was booked to job to Jake " The Snake " Roberts ( a finalist in the King of the Ring that year ) . The winner of this title traditionally received a large push toward stardom . However , the incident led the WWF to change the booking for the tournament . The King of the Ring title would instead go to Stone Cold Steve Austin ; his win ( and subsequent " Austin 3 : 16 " speech ) started his rise toward mainstream superstardom and helped the WWF defeat WCW in their business wars . Levesque ' s punishment only delayed his rise to prominence in the business , as he would go on to win the following year ' s King of the Ring and later went on to hold the World Heavyweight Championship multiple times for extended periods , beginning with his WWE Championship victory over Mick Foley the night after Summerslam 1999 . The Kliq , the nWo , and D - Generation X . When Hall and Nash went to WCW , they formed the New World Order stable , or nWo ; when Waltman later jumped to WCW , he also joined the nWo . Many fans often criticized Kevin Nash for his booking tenure in WCW since it displayed the same self - promoting behavior associated with the Kliq on an even larger scale . Fans often pointed to Nash booking for himself to win the title from Goldberg and the subsequent Fingerpoke of Doom as the most grievous of his " offenses . " Meanwhile , Levesque and Michaels went on to align together in the faction D - Generation X alongside Chyna and Rick Rude . DX would eventually become almost ( if not just ) as influential to the WWF - WCW business wars as the nWo . Although DX did not have the gimmick of invaders and were not notorious for having or abusing political power while within this stable , they were rebels and degenerates who would perform vulgar taunts and disrespect authority , which happened to be the common idea between the two factions . DX ' s antics also went on to help spark the WWF Attitude Era . The nWo ' s hand sign , often referred to as the " Wolf Head " , was originally used by the Kliq members in the WWF . Shawn Michaels was often seen flashing the sign , most notably at Royal Rumble 1995 , where he had " TK " written on his taped hands ( Standing for " The Kliq " ) . At " " , Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash both flashed the hand sign before the match , signifying their friendship . In the nWo , Scott Hall & Kevin Nash brought the hand sign with them and it became widely used by the nWo members and fans worldwide . Kevin Nash , Scott Hall , and Sean Waltman would often give " shout - outs " to their friends - Shawn Michaels & Triple - H - using the hand gesture on live television . At " Royal Rumble 1998 " , Michaels would suffer a back injury which caused his four - year retirement from wrestling , but Triple H would not let DX die , so he and Chyna aligned along X - Pac ( Waltman ) - who had left WCW and returned to WWF in 1998 - and the New Age Outlaws , in a second version of DX . While Hunter went on to switch back and forth from DX to Vince McMahon ' s Corporation until the two units fused via the McMahon - Helmsley Faction , Michaels did come back in limited non - wrestling roles that saw him with and / or against Triple H and / or DX . During a brief period in 1998 , after Waltan ' s return to the WWF as X - Pac , Degeneration - X made numerous references to their friends in the WCW ( though not by name ) in their non - match and pre - match appearances and speeches . They even went so far as to stage a protest / paramilitary take - over of the WCW offies in Atlanta . Triple H , riding in a Humvee , chanted " Let our people go ! " through a megaphone during the incident . But any hope of Nash and Hall jumping ship to the WWF did not materialize until WCW eventually folded . In 2002 , after WCW had gone out of business , the nWo was reformed in the WWF with Hall , Nash , and Hollywood Hogan , the group ' s initial members . Hogan soon left the group after being attacked by Nash and Hall as a result of his turning face at " WrestleMania X8 " . Other former members , including The Big Show and Waltman , joined as did Booker T against his will . When the brand extension took place , the nWo became affiliated with " RAW " . The biggest nWo - related shock came when Shawn Michaels , after years away from the ring , was introduced by Kevin Nash as the newest member of the nWo . He literally kicked Booker T out of the group ( using his " Sweet Chin Music " superkick on him ) soon afterward , and promised the rest of the group that he would soon deliver Triple H . Shortly thereafter , Nash suffered a torn quadriceps ( after returning the same night after time off due to a biceps injury ) during a ten - man tag - team match , and the following week Vince McMahon disbanded the nWo . Eric Bischoff ( acting as the RAW brand GM ) later on tried to make Shawn Michaels Triple H ' s manager . This led to a reformation of D - X but that was short lived as Triple H turned on him the same night , setting off a long and heated feud that had taken about a year to resolve . The year after , Nash returned from injury as a face , and sided with Michaels against Hunter , Ric Flair , and Randy Orton , better known as Evolution . Currently , only Triple H is active in the WWE , as Shawn Michaels retired in 2010 and Kevin Nash is signed to a legends deal with the WWE . Sean Waltman is currently wrestling on the independent circuit , and was under contract with Wrestling Society X which ended on November 16 , 2006 ; he appeared on RAW 1000 however with D - Generation X . However , plans by MTV to air the promotion forbids Waltman from signing with any other company at this time . Scott Hall has been mostly inactive from wrestling since his TNA run ended in 2005 , but is also wrestling on the independent circuit with Waltman as The Wolfpac . During his TNA run and at the beginning of his second WWF run in 2002 , Hall actually wore wrestling tights that had KLIQ stamped on the back of them . Scott Hall has recently signed a WWE Legends deal and is reportedly dropping weight to return to wrestling .