Formation and early rivalries (1997–1998) (right), acted as an enforcer for
Triple H (left) and Michaels in 1997, then remained allied with the larger incarnation of the stable until 1999 According to Triple H, WWF management wanted to keep
The Kliq apart on-screen, so they were hesitant to pair he and Michaels together at first. The following week on
Raw, Michaels and Helmsley teamed up to take on
Mankind and
The Undertaker in the main event, only to lose the match by disqualification after Michaels used a chair on Undertaker. Michaels would eventually face the Undertaker at
Ground Zero: In Your House on September 7 with Helmsley, Chyna and Rude all interfering on Michaels' behalf to force the match to end in a no contest. During this time, the group (Michaels and Helmsley in particular) were regularly shown on television practicing
sophomoric/crude humor and rebelling against authority figures in the company, primarily
Vince McMahon (then primarily presented as an on-screen commentator) and then-
Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter, the latter of which DX made a recurring habit of humiliating by giving him the nickname "Sgt. Slobber". D-Generation X's first major
feud was against the
Hart Foundation, which was led by Michaels' nemesis
Bret Hart. At
WWF One Night Only, the rest of DX helped Michaels defeat Foundation member
British Bulldog for the
WWF European Championship, officially making Michaels the WWF's first
Grand Slam Champion. On-screen, the name was taken from comments by Hart, who on several occasions, particularly including the October 6, 1997 episode of
Raw Is War, had labeled Michaels "nothing more than a degenerate". The following week, on October 13, 1997, Michaels made "D-Generation X" the group's official name, mockingly citing Hart's insults as his inspiration and how
Generation X (with both members being part of
Generation X) is always stereotyped as apathetic and cynical. Although DX and the members of
The Hart Foundation continued to battle on-screen in one fashion or another through the end of 1997, the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels feud ended abruptly at
Survivor Series when Michaels won his third
WWF Championship via the
Montreal Screwjob, whereby Hart was lied to about the match's pre-determined outcome after Hart had signed with
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and refused to drop the WWF Championship to Michaels in Canada and instead agreed to drop the title one month later in Springfield, Massachusetts. Rick Rude was also legitimately upset over the events of the screwjob, and subsequently left the WWF to return to WCW. On the November 24 episode of
Raw Is War, DX invited
Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart to join the group, which he accepted prior to a match later that night between Vader and Michaels. Michaels, Chyna and Helmsley assaulted Neidhart at the end of the show after Michaels defeated
Vader, showing that Neidhart's invitation to the group was nothing more than a ruse. The following week on the December 1 episode of
Raw Is War, Helmsley defeated Neidhart. After the match, DX assaulted Neidhart once again, before Michaels spray-painted "WCW" on Neidhart's back, signifying him following Bret Hart and The British Bulldog to WCW. By this point, with Michaels holding both the WWF and WWF European Championships, and DX's victory in the feud with the Hart Foundation, their status as the lead stable in the company was solidified. Michaels headlined the event and was disqualified in a WWF Championship title defense against
Ken Shamrock after interference from Helmsley and Chyna. After the match, Owen Hart interfered, having not been seen on WWF television since Survivor Series, starting a feud between Owen and DX. On the December 22 episode of
Raw is War, however, Michaels and Triple H were forced by Slaughter to wrestle each other for the European Championship. In a mock match, Michaels laid down in the middle of the ring while Triple H constantly ran the ropes.
Triple H lost the European Championship to Owen Hart in January 1998 only to regain it two months later. Going into
WrestleMania XIV that March, Shawn Michaels was the reigning WWF Champion and Triple H was the reigning WWF European Champion. Heavyweight
boxer Mike Tyson was also involved as the "
special enforcer" in the main event of the night featuring Michaels against
Stone Cold Steve Austin. In the weeks leading up to the event, Tyson was revealed to have joined D-Generation X, and looked as if he was going to help Michaels retain the championship. However, at the end of the match, Tyson turned on DX and cost Michaels the match and the WWF Championship, allowing Austin to win the title.
Michaels' departure and "DX Army" (1998–1999) The night after WrestleMania, Triple H officially ejected Michaels from DX for "dropping the ball" over the Tyson incident and subsequently losing the WWF Championship. In reality, Michaels had suffered a severe back injury during his Casket Match with
The Undertaker at the
Royal Rumble, and started what would become a four-year hiatus from the WWE to recuperate. The group remained united throughout 1998 and into early 1999. On episodes of
Raw Is War in April and May DX "went to war" with WCW, with whom the WWF were in direct competition at the time, through a series of legitimate visits to WCW headquarters and live events. On April 27, 1998,
Raw Is War and
Nitro both took place in the
Hampton Roads area of
Virginia, a mere 19 miles apart. DX traveled from the WWF show in
Hampton Coliseum in
Hampton to
The Scope in
Norfolk and shouted insults against WCW through a bullhorn, as well as accusing WCW of giving out free tickets to fill up arenas for television while sporting black armbands with the acronym "POWCW" (Prisoner of WCW), which referenced fellow Kliq members
Scott Hall and
Kevin Nash. DX then tried to enter the arena via a loading dock in their army jeep before being stopped by someone closing the door. They also attempted to forcibly secure meetings with Nitro's executive producer
Eric Bischoff and WCW owner
Ted Turner at WCW headquarters in
Atlanta,
Georgia. Another segment used computer graphics to make it appear as if Triple H had flown over the
Roberts Municipal Stadium in
Evansville, Indiana where WCW Nitro was taking place and wrote "WCW Sucks" and "DX Says Suck It" in the sky. The faction would continue to feud with Michaels and The Corporation throughout late 1998, with Michaels reversing Billy Gunn's
Intercontinental Championship victory against
Ken Shamrock, These parodies would also be resurrected during the fourth incarnation. X-Pac's parody of Mark Henry has been seen as highly controversial due to him being in
blackface (unlike the rest of DX); X-Pac would admit on his podcast in 2018 that it was one of his biggest career regrets, despite having Henry's personal blessing to do the segment. Throughout 1999, the members would gradually turn on one another, leading to the group officially disbanding for the first time. Initially, Chyna turned on Triple H and X-Pac and joined the Corporation on January 25. Though the group maintained a united front against The Corporation, Billy Gunn would become frustrated at Kane's presence, as well as The New Age Outlaws' inability to win the Tag Team Championships from X-Pac and Kane. Following one such defeat on the April 29 episode of
SmackDown!, Gunn became angry at X-Pac. The following week on
Sunday Night Heat, he apologized to X-Pac, but attacked him when X-Pac's back was turned, citing his frustration at being "held back" and departing from D-Generation X, therefore reducing the remaining members to just Road Dogg and X-Pac. Later that week on
SmackDown!, X-Pac suggested that DX would get "bigger", hinting that Kane would finally become an official member. However, later that night, he turned on Kane following a match with
The Dudley Boyz, stating there would be no additional members and starting a feud between the two. That same night, DX were "hunted" by Austin, with Stone Cold catching Road Dogg in a
bear trap, Billy Gunn in a
snare trap, having a portion of the backstage ceiling fall on X-Pac and finally catching the whole group in a net. Not participating in the reunited DX were
Chyna who was in a feud with
Chris Jericho for the
Intercontinental Championship;
Shawn Michaels, who was in the middle of a four-year hiatus from wrestling; and
Rick Rude, who had died in April 1999. Triple H, meanwhile, would escalate an ongoing feud with Vince McMahon on the November 29 episode of
Raw, when he interrupted the wedding of
Stephanie McMahon and
Test to reveal that he had already married Stephanie at a
Las Vegas drive-through wedding chapel while she was supposedly drugged unconscious. Triple H would then defeat Vince in a street fight at
Armageddon after Stephanie turned on her father and embraced her then-storyline husband. The two revealed the next night on
Raw that the ceremony, as well as Stephanie being under the influence, was a ruse as part of a revenge plot for Vince orchestrating Stephanie's abduction by the Ministry earlier in the year. This officially marked the beginning of the
McMahon-Helmsley Era, with Stephanie becoming an official member of DX through her ties to Triple H. When Kane's storyline girlfriend
Tori began to get involved in the feud between Kane and X-Pac, Triple H and Stephanie punished her by scheduling Tori in a match with X-Pac on the December 16 episode of
SmackDown!, after which they would grant Kane a WWF Championship match against
The Big Show on the December 20 episode of
Raw wherei if Kane lost, Tori would have to spend Christmas with X-Pac. The New Age Outlaws distracted Kane, costing him the match. When Tori returned, she insisted that X-Pac had been a perfect gentleman. with
X-Pac's on-screen girlfriend
Tori By January 2000, Triple H had dubbed himself "The Game", after stating he was above the top of the wrestling world (as in not merely the "best in the game", but in fact "the game" itself) and was nicknamed "The Cerebral Assassin" by
Jim Ross. On the January 3 episode of
Raw Is War, Triple H defeated Big Show to win his third WWF Championship. Meanwhile, storylines implied that X-Pac had truly done something harmful to Tori when she started appearing as neurotic and paranoid, with many WWF superstars using Tori's mental state to provoke Kane into attacking their enemies over the ensuing month. X-Pac also gave Tori an apparently forced kiss during his match with Kane on the January 24 episode of
Raw. This storyline culminated on the January 27 episode of
SmackDown!, when DX jumped Kane during another match against Big Show, leading to a promo in which X-Pac recounted his Christmas rendezvous with Tori; Tori then passionately kissed X-Pac, turning on Kane and joining DX in the process. Throughout this period, DX would feud with the likes of The Rock, Mankind/Cactus Jack,
Chris Jericho, Kane and the other McMahons, as well as The Outlaws' WWF Tag Team Championship. They would also arrive at arenas in a tour bus called "The DX Express". During a match at
No Way Out where The Outlaws lost the Tag Team Championship to The
Dudley Boyz, Gunn suffered a torn
rotator cuff which would place him out of action for several months. On-screen, to explain his impending absence to recover from his injury, Gunn's storyline involved him getting thrown out of DX because "he lost his cool" when Triple H had X-Pac take his place in the rematch. At
WrestleMania 2000, Triple H defended his title in a fatal four-way elimination match against The Rock, Mick Foley, and Big Show, with a separate McMahon appearing in every superstar's corner. Vince McMahon turned on The Rock and aided Triple H in retaining his title. DX would then unite with Vince and Shane's Corporation stable, and the resulting group was officially dubbed
The McMahon-Helmsley Regime. On April 27, Stone Cold Steve Austin used a crane to drop a steel beam on the DX Express tour bus, causing the bus to explode in the parking lot. The Rock defeated Triple H for the WWF Championship at
Backlash in a match which featured Stone Cold Steve Austin's brief return to the WWF. Though Triple H regained the title the following month at
Judgment Day, the group gradually broke apart. Road Dogg and X-Pac became frustrated by their lack of success as a tag team and turned on each other, culminating in a match at
SummerSlam, which X-Pac won. By late 2000, Triple H had become a solo star, and even briefly turned face during a love triangle storyline involving Stephanie and
Kurt Angle. Billy Gunn, meanwhile, had returned to action and struck a partnership with Chyna following the dissolution of her storyline relationship with
Eddie Guerrero. On the November 6, 2000 episode of
Raw Is War, Chyna, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and Triple H reunited to take on
The Radicalz (
Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero,
Dean Malenko, and
Perry Saturn) in an eight-person tag team match, which they won. The match included the group doing their old DX entrance, as well as telling the crowd to "suck it!" This reunion would be short-lived however, as on that very same episode, Triple H turned heel when he attacked Stone Cold Steve Austin and revealed himself as the mastermind behind Austin's hit-and-run assault at the Survivor Series the year before. Chyna and Gunn, along with Road Dogg and his new tag team partner
K-Kwik, continued to feud with The Radicalz that month, leading to a match at
Survivor Series, which The Radicalz would win.
Shawn Michaels' return and feud with Triple H (2002–2004) After November 2000, DX remained unseen and largely unmentioned until Shawn Michaels returned to WWE in the summer of 2002. Michaels persuaded then-
Raw General Manager
Eric Bischoff to sign Triple H to a
Raw contract as part of the "
Brand Extension" at
Vengeance. The following night on the July 22 episode of
Raw (Shawn Michaels' 37th birthday), a week after the breakup of the
nWo, Triple H handed Michaels a DX T-shirt and stated that he "had an idea", suggesting that the two reform the group and make Eric Bischoff's life a living hell. The duo later came out that night to their old music, crotch chops, and pyro to the delight of the crowd. However, Triple H turned on Michaels that same night; he had teased the reunion as a ploy to appease Michaels and lure him to the ring before giving him a
Pedigree, making Triple H a heel once again. This act led to the in-ring return of Michaels at
SummerSlam in 2002 and was the genesis of a long feud between the two that ended with Triple H emerging victorious in a
Hell in a Cell match at
Bad Blood in 2004.
Later reformations (2006–2010, 2018) In 2006, a series of events began occurring which hinted at a DX reunion. At
WrestleMania 22, former members Shawn Michaels and Triple H performed the group's signature crotch chop during their respective matches (the former against Mr. McMahon, and the latter against
John Cena for the
WWE Championship), which was met with loud cheering from the fans in attendance. The two continued to deliver chops in the following episodes of
Raw as Michaels feuded with
Vince and
Shane McMahon and Triple H focused on the WWE Championship, repeatedly running into the McMahons in the process. On the June 12 episode of
Raw, the events came to a head. During Triple H's gauntlet match against The
Spirit Squad, Shawn Michaels came in to help his former friend. After the duo had laid out the entire Spirit Squad, the two men put aside their past rivalry and officially reformed. DX continued their brash antics at the expense of the Spirit Squad, the McMahons, and
Jonathan Coachman for several weeks and repeatedly took part in blatantly
camp product placement during
Raw promos. DX would defeat the Spirit Squad in a 5-on-2 handicap match at
Vengeance, with Michaels forcing
Mitch’s face into Triple H’s buttocks after the match concluded. Most of their antics now involved practical jokes on Vince. On the June 26 episode of
Raw, DX added to the list of parodies with Triple H impersonating Vince McMahon, talking about his love of "Dicks" (a double entendre referring to
Dick Ebersol,
Dick Clark, and
Dick Cheney, as well as the male member; this was also used again repeatedly with roosters, saying that Vince loved "cocks"), while Michaels impersonated
Shane McMahon, dancing around the ring until "Vince" screamed at him to "STOP IT!" When Vince, Shane, and the Spirit Squad came to confront them, the contents of a port-a-potty were promptly dumped on them. On the July 3 episode of
Raw, as a result of their actions on June 26, Vince banned DX from the arena; DX responded by hijacking the production truck and performing a series of pranks on Mr. McMahon, including focusing a camera on McMahon in a public restroom, which was also shown on the
Raw Titantron; as well as tampering with his microphone. At the end of the episode, as Vince tried to leave in his limousine, fireworks were activated inside the limousine, shooting out of the moon roof, causing a dazed Vince to crawl out covered in soot, at which point DX greeted him with sparklers, wishing him a "Happy 4th of July". On the August 21 episode of
Raw, DX repeatedly vandalized Vince's property by
tagging "DX" on Vince's $30 million private jet, on the front windows of the WWE World Headquarters building, and finally on Vince's limousine (as well as tying a chain to the back axle of the limousine, causing the axle to be violently pulled off when Vince and Shane tried to leave). During their feud, DX defeated the Spirit Squad at
Vengeance and on the July 15, 2006 edition of ''
Saturday Night's Main Event'', as well as The McMahons (Vince and Shane) at
SummerSlam. At
Unforgiven in a handicap
Hell in a Cell match that featured
Big Show on The McMahons' side, DX again came out victorious. DX's next feud was against
Rated-RKO (
Edge and
Randy Orton). At
Cyber Sunday, the fans selected
Eric Bischoff over Vince McMahon and Jonathan Coachman to be the
special guest referee for the match. Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a steel chair to give Rated-RKO the win, marking DX's first defeat as a tag team since their reunion in June 2006. At
Survivor Series, Michaels and Triple H got back at Edge and Orton by leading Team DX (Triple H, Michaels,
Matt and Jeff Hardy, and
CM Punk) to a 5–0 sweep over Team Rated-RKO (Edge, Orton,
Gregory Helms,
Johnny Nitro, and
Mike Knox). In 2007, DX challenged for the
World Tag Team Championship against Edge and Orton at
New Year's Revolution. The fight ended in a
no contest after Michaels hit the referee. During the match, Triple H suffered a
legitimate torn
quadriceps, which would put him out of action for 7 months. After the match, DX beat down Rated-RKO with steel chairs and on the announce tables. After Triple H's injury, Shawn Michaels continued to uphold the DX image by himself leading into
WrestleMania 23. Michaels would still come to the ring with the DX music and attire, even though Triple H was not joining him during this period. During this time, Michaels captured the World Tag Team Championship with
John Cena, as well as earning the right to face Cena at WrestleMania 23 for the WWE Championship. It was confirmed in later interviews and documentaries that original plans called for Triple H to challenge Cena for the championship prior to his injury, after which Michaels was substituted in Triple H's place. Michaels would continue to use the D-Generation X motif until
Backlash, at which point he reverted to his traditional entrance music and attire, thus ending this incarnation of DX. Michaels and Triple H teamed up again as DX on the January 28, 2008 episode of
Raw defeating
Umaga and
Snitsky. Despite DX reforming for one night only, both Triple H and Shawn Michaels would periodically use the "crotch chop" during their solo runs. On the September 29, 2008 episode of
Raw, Triple H and Shawn Michaels once again reunited as DX to take on
Chris Jericho and
Lance Cade. They won by disqualification, due to Cade and Jericho's two-on-one assault of Michaels. After being mocked by
John Morrison and the Miz for two weeks, on the 800th episode celebration of
Raw, DX defeated the duo. During the Christmas season, DX appeared in numerous vignettes to promote DX clothing and other WWE merchandise; one such commercial also featured
Kelly Kelly. In the
2009 WWE draft on April 13, 2009, Triple H was drafted back to the Raw brand. In the midst of Triple H rejoining
Raw, Michaels took a brief hiatus from WWE after losing to
The Undertaker at
WrestleMania 25. Meanwhile, Triple H was embroiled in a rivalry with
Randy Orton and
The Legacy (
Cody Rhodes and
Ted DiBiase). The feud continued throughout the summer with Triple H mainly combating with Orton over the WWE Championship. Eventually, Triple H would begin to target The Legacy because they were responsible for his losses against Orton during matches. After losing a
handicap match to The Legacy, Triple H stated that he would "make a phone call" to Michaels in the hopes of reuniting DX. On the August 10, 2009 episode of
Raw, video segments aired in which Triple H met with Michaels at an office cafeteria in
Texas where he was working as a chef; throughout the segments, Triple H would try to convince Michaels to return to WWE and reform DX. After several incidents during the segments (including a
grease fire and Shawn getting shouted at by a little girl), Michaels agreed to team with Triple H to face The Legacy at
SummerSlam, superkicking the girl, and quitting his chef job in the process. against
The Legacy On the August 17 episode of
Raw, Michaels and Triple H officially reunited as DX, but as they were in the middle of their in-ring promo, Legacy attacked them both. Their first match after reuniting was against Legacy at
SummerSlam, which they won. At
Breaking Point, however, they lost to Legacy in the first ever
Submissions Count Anywhere match in WWE history. The following month at
Hell in Cell, DX defeated Legacy in a Hell in a Cell match. DX would go on to challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship in a
triple threat match at
Survivor Series with both men failing to win the title, although they were able to retain their friendship and tag team partnership. On December 13 at
TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, DX defeated
Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and Big Show) to win the
Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match; the first tag team championship reign for Michaels and Triple H as a tag team. On December 21, 2009, Triple H announced that
Hornswoggle was the new DX "mascot". This came about after Hornswoggle sued DX for emotional and physical distress due to them not allowing him to join the group. On the February 8, 2010 episode of
Raw, DX lost the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship to
ShoMiz (
The Miz and
Big Show) in a Triple Threat Elimination Tag Team match also featuring The
Straight Edge Society (
CM Punk and
Luke Gallows). On the March 1 episode of
Raw, DX lost their rematch for the titles which would be the duo's last televised match as a tag team. Due to Michaels' ongoing obsession with ending the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak, Triple H and Michaels quietly separated heading into
WrestleMania XXVI, but remained on good terms. Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and X-Pac have gone under the team names of D-Generates of Wrestling and Team Suck as a tribute to D-Generation X. It while wrestling together on the indy scene before returning to WWE. On the September 3, 2018 episode of
Raw, Shawn Michaels made a special appearance to promote the match between Triple H and The Undertaker at
Super Show-Down, during which he was confronted by The Undertaker himself. At Super Show-Down, Michaels assisted Triple H in defeating The Undertaker, after which, he was attacked by Undertaker and Kane. On October 8, Triple H and Shawn Michaels announced that they were officially reforming DX to take on The
Brothers of Destruction at
Crown Jewel. On the October 29 episode of
Raw, both Undertaker and Kane declared that they would take the souls of Triple H and Shawn Michaels and stated they would never "Rest in Peace". This then led to Triple H distracting Kane and Shawn Michaels delivering a
Sweet Chin Music to the Undertaker. At Crown Jewel, the Brothers of Destruction dominated DX for most of the match, however, DX were eventually able to pick up the win despite Triple H tearing his
pec.
Non-wrestling reunions (2010–present) performs the
Pedigree on
Damien Sandow during the 2012 reunion on
Raw 1000 Shawn Michaels and Triple H reunited in a non-wrestling capacity for the 2010
Tribute to the Troops, after
SmackDown events in 2011 and 2012 and during the
2012 Hall of Fame ceremony when they inducted Mike Tyson. On July 23, 2012, at the
1000th episode of Raw Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H simultaneously appeared together for only the second time with all five male members present. Since then, DX reunited on several occasions, like at
Raw 25, at
Raw Reunion, on the October 10, 2022 episode of
Raw in the celebration of the group's 25th anniversary, or at
Raw is XXX. Also, during Triple H's heel
Authority storyline from 2013 to 2015, Shawn Michaels and The New Age Outlaws allied with The Authority on separate occasions. Michaels, as the guest referee for
Randy Orton and
Daniel Bryan's match for the
vacated WWE Championship at the
2013 Hell in a Cell,
superkicked Bryan during the match, resulting in Orton, The Authority's centerpiece, winning back the championship. The Outlaws won the WWE Tag Team Championship against the
Rhodes Brothers (
Cody Rhodes and
Goldust) on the
2014 Royal Rumble pre-show, and teamed with
Kane to wrestle
The Shield at
WrestleMania XXX in a losing effort. The last of these appearances, during Triple H's match against
Sting at
WrestleMania 31, was also the first legitimate major confrontation and skirmish between DX (The Outlaws and X-Pac, joined by Michaels later in the match) and the
nWo (
Hulk Hogan,
Scott Hall and Kevin Nash). Triple H won after hitting Sting with a sledgehammer passed to him by Billy Gunn.
Independent circuit (2015–2016) In December 2015, Billy Gunn and X-Pac reformed DX, in an event for Big Time Wrestling, where they defeated Bam Shaw and "The Punisher" Don Vega. They returned as D-Generation X during the
MCW event,
Spring Fever In Maryland on April 23, along with
Lio Rush and
Brandon Scott. They competed for Empire State Wrestling on May 21, and for Elite Pro Wrestling, where they faced the New Age Kliq on July 22. On September 4, 2016, Gunn and X-Pac represented DX in a tag team gauntlet match at a
Chikara event. The two entered the match as the final team and scored the win over Prakash Sabar and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova. == Signature taunts ==