WWE
One event in wrestling history that has been written about almost to the point of beating it to death is the infamous “Curtain Call” at Madison Square Garden in May of 1996. But as the business seems to get away from the tradition of self-governance it adhered to for decades on decades, when heels and babyfaces couldn’t travel together, when legitimately losing a bar fight could cost a wrestler his or her job, or when acting up backstage could land one in “Wrestler’s Court,” it’s worth revisiting as one of the most trademark moments when an incident in wrestling history broke longstanding unwritten rules.
With both Kevin Nash and Scott Hall ready to part ways with WWE, set to arrive in WCW as “The Outsiders” in a buildup to the formation of the nWo, their final date with the then-WWF was at an MSG house show when they’d each face fellow members of backstage group of friends known as “The Kliq.” Hall (as Razor Ramon) squared off against Triple H (then Hunter Hearst Helmsley), and in the main event, Nash (as Diesel) would challenge Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship. Naturally, the departing wrestlers would lose these matches, but the outcomes didn’t really matter nearly as much as what happened after Diesel/Michaels in a steel cage closed out the show.
Hall hugging Michaels wasn’t a huge deal, with both men babyfaces at the time, but Nash embracing Triple H, a fellow heel, was, and then when all four came together in a goodbye showing, all hell broke loose backstage. Michaels couldn’t be punished as the current champion, Hall and Nash were gone, and fellow Kliq member Sean Waltman was in rehab at the time (soon off for WCW himself), leaving Helmsley to suffer the blame for it all, losing an opportunity to become King of the Ring later that year and, as he said in Netflix’s “Mr. McMahon” documentary, having to “learn to eat s*** and like the taste of it.”
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