The Curtain Call And The Kliq

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we look back on the Curtain Call, the night that Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels and Triple H broke character in Madison Square Garden to embrace each other and say goodbye before Nash and Hall fled to WCW.

Do you consider the Curtain Call to be sacrilege in pro wrestling?

James Klonowski: Absolutely not. I know at the time it was deemed that because wrestling was in a completely different landscape than what it is today. Seeing faces and heels embrace was a big no-no back then, but nowadays it’s commonplace. It was blown way out of proportion by yesterday’s men such as Jim Cornette, who was scared that the new edgy direction of sports-entertainment was about to pass him by.

Steven Jackson: I wouldn’t say it was sacrilege, but it definitely affected how people viewed kayfabe. Then again, at the time, we had the “Loose Cannon” in WCW and ECW was doing roster send-offs so pulling back the curtain wasn’t exclusive to WWE.

Chad Gelfand: It’s not to me, but I did grow up in the era where wrestling wasn’t as protected as it was back then. With the way society and wrestling was headed, the business would be “exposed” in a similar fashion shortly thereafter regardless.

John Corrigan: No, it was a cool moment for these pillars of the company to say goodbye to the fans. If it happened in 1986, then yeah, I’d understand the frustration. But by 1996, the paste was out of the tube.

Jack Goodwillie: Like many things in wrestling, it depends. It seems easy to laugh it off today, but that’s only because the Curtain Call set the ball in motion for the wrestling world we’ve come to know. At that time, if I’m a Jim Cornette, Bruce Prichard or Vince McMahon, I’m definitely pissed when these guys decide to go into business for themselves. There absolutely needed to be repercussions.

Should Triple H have been punished for it?

Klonowski: Someone had to be punished, I suppose. It certainly wasn’t going to be the golden boy of the promotion, Shawn Michaels. And it wouldn’t have been Kevin Nash and Scott Hall because they were leaving for WCW. So, by proxy, the ax had to land on Triple H. He rode the wave of punishment and came back stronger for it. I reckon it was mostly Vince McMahon trying to appease the veterans by looking to do something about it, but did he really care about the Curtain Call? I highly doubt it.

Jackson: The whole punishment thing is strange and while HHH was involved, Shawn Michaels should have been the one to get penalized. He was a leader in the locker room and his actions did not set a good example to younger talents.

Gelfand: The punishment was excessive due to him being the only one the company could actually punish. Still, in hindsight, it might have saved the company because without the Curtain Call, there may not be “Austin 3:16.”

Corrigan: No way. He was the low man on the totem poll just joining his older friends. I agree with Steven that if anybody was to be punished, it should have been Michaels.

Goodwillie: Yes. His punishment may have seemed excessive, but we are shaped by the adversity put in front of us. The adversity in front of Triple H not only helped turn him into a main eventer and future cornerstone of the WWE, but allowed him to climb the corporate ladder, so to speak.

Were the Kliq beneficial or harmful to pro wrestling?

Klonowski: Very beneficial. Fans and wrestlers constantly call for a union of sorts in wrestling, but as soon as a group of guys form an allegiance to look out for another, make sure they all get paid fairly and booked properly, they are deemed the death of wrestling. It just doesn’t make any sense. The Kliq members were very smart, but most importantly, they had an unrivaled passion for the business that is still going strong to this day.

Jackson: The Kliq were beneficial to pro wrestling. Without them, there would have been no nWo, DX or arguably a Monday Night War. Politics have always played a huge part in wrestling. The Kliq were not unusual in that regard. Only seeing them as backstage politicians is undoing the work they did at a time when the industry was most struggling.

Gelfand: The Kliq was harmful to the locker room at the time, but to the business overall, they helped get the wrestlers more money and guaranteed contracts, which outweighs most of the harm.

Corrigan: Harmful to WWE at the time with how they held back certain guys and hogged the top spots. Beneficial to the business long term with how Nash and Hall helped propel WCW to become true competition to WWE, and as a result, igniting the wrestling boom of the ‘90s.

Goodwillie: Weighing all the factors, harmful. The Curtain Call may have been beneficial in the long run depending on who you ask, but the KLIQ itself did way more harm than good. Regardless of how they thought of themselves, they divided the locker room, made for a rough work environment for everyone around them and enabled bad behavior from the likes of Michaels, Hall and Waltman. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone that morale improved when Hall and Nash fled to WCW and Michaels went on medical leave, but one could also argue that being in the Kliq is what helped empower Hall and Nash to make the WCW powerplay possible.

Who’s your favorite member of the Kliq?

Klonowski: Triple H. As an all-round performer, they just don’t come much better than “The Game.” He has that big fight feel when the time calls for it. He’s got the look, the talent and promo skills. Take Vince McMahon away. Take Stephanie McMahon away. Hell, take the entire WWE away. Put Triple H in any promotion in the world and he’d be booked as world champion.

Jackson: “You know who I am…but you don’t know why I’m here.” “The Bad Guy” Scott Hall.

Gelfand: Shawn Michaels. I don’t know what your criteria for a great wrestler is if Shawn Michaels isn’t in your top 10. Although if this is just on a personality standpoint, it’s Kevin Nash due to the hours of amazing shoot interviews he’s given us.

Corrigan: Scott Hall. He delivers in the ring, on the mic and in shoot interviews.

Goodwillie: Well, WCW is probably my biggest wrestling blindspot due to my having been 3 years old when Hall and Nash crossed and the promotion being a few years defunct by the time I got into wrestling. Of course, I love me some Shawn Michaels. Who doesn’t? However, the question wasn’t, “who is your favorite wrestler,” but rather, “who is your favorite member of the KLIQ?” That’s probably Triple H. He seems to have had the least to do with the Curtain Call, yet got punished the most for it due to circumstance and still found a way to use the adversity as fuel for his career. His reign of terror atop Raw in Evolution was likely a middle finger to his doubters, but you can’t deny how effective of a heel he was during those years. My fan pattern as an adult has been to love and appreciate the heels I hated as a kid, so Triple H is the logical choice.