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Shawn Michaels and Triple H are two of the most legendary figures in WWE history. Their respective levels of talent, longevity, and kayfabe accomplishments give them few peers in the business. Moreover, their on-screen partnerships and rivalries, on top of their real-life friendship make them a pretty irresistible act to book together, a pair whose careers are inextricably intertwined.
At Crown Jewel, the twosome is booked to do the unlikely. Triple H is a part-time wrestler who does more in his executive role these days. Michaels hasn’t worked a match in over eight years. And yet, at this event the duo will ride again under the DX banner to work a tag team match against Thr Undertaker and Kane.
This article takes a look back through time to assess five of Triple H and HBK’s very best on-screen moments during their time working together for WWE.
#5 Final showdown at WrestleMania 20
When Shawn Michaels staged his original return to WWE after several years of retirement due to both back issues and personal matters, his opponent of choice to come back against was Triple H. The pairing made all the sense in the world given their real-life friendship, The Game’s main event status, and the fact that he was one of the safest and respected workers in the world at that time—someone HBK could fully entrust his body to, and whom he could rely on to carry the match if it turned out he couldn’t hack it anymore.
It turned out Michaels was more than capable upon his return and the duo would go on to wage war off and on for over a year and half. Finally, the stage was set for them to blow off their issue at WrestleMania 20, only for Chris Benoit to hop brands and cash-in his Royal Rumble world title shot against The Cerebral Assassin.
The triple threat to follow was an instant classic, but one of its finest moments arrived after Benoit had been taken out outside of the ring. Triple H stood on the outside, while a bloodied Michaels stood in the middle of the ring, signaling that it was time for their final one on one battle. The moment was positively electric, befitting a historic rivalry and the WrestleMania main event setting. Too often, history brushes over this climax, in the effort to erase Benoit—the eventual winner of the match—from WWE history. Still, the moments stand out.
#4 Sweet Chin Music into the Pedigree at WrestleMania 28
Eight years after Shawn Michaels and Triple H battled in a WrestleMania main event and two years after Michaels retired, he found himself refereeing the ‘Mania Hell in a Cell Match between The Game and The Undertaker. A climactic spot saw an incensed HBK nail Sweet Chin Music on The Dead Man, only for him to turn around straight into a Pedigree.
In the heat of The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania, in a match hardly anyone thought he would possibly lose, this was a heart-stopping moment. Triple H by no means needed to end the streak, but for his real-life power and reputation of being self-serving, might he? More to the point, could someone really be booked to kick out after absorbing two of the most over finishers in WWE history back to back?
The Undertaker would kick out, but the spot was sensational for everyone involved to repeat it for the actual finish six and a half years later at Super Show-Down.
#3 “Apologizing” for their behavior
DX was at the forefront of WWE’s Attitude Era, when it embraced questionable taste and raunchy behavior in a step away from family-friendly entertainment to appeal to teenagers and adults who might have previously outgrown the product.
Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna arguably stepped over the line with some of their antics, though, up to the point that the USA Network and advertisers raised complaints. Rather than backing down, DX staged a downright artful takedown of their critics, in a mock press conference. The segment consisted of Michaels and Helmsley repeating a lot of their most problematic vocabulary (and then some) with the strong language bleeped out to comedic effect.
This moment proved HBK and Triple H’s ability to adapt to circumstances, strike a chord that’s funny to wrestling fans, and emerge all the stronger from what seemed like a setback. Not only was the segment itself great, but it established what DX would be about for the decades to come.
#2 Sticking Vince McMahon’s head in the Big Show’s backside
The feud between DX and Vince McMahon in 2006 was an entertaining one but tended to be limited by the fact that McMahon and his son couldn’t really be bought as a threat two all-time greats like Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
Adding The Big Show to team McMahon to give them both the numbers advantage, and the presence of an unstoppable monster on their side. While serious fans still didn’t ever doubt DX was going over in the three on two Hell in a Cell Match, Show made things more competitive and mixed up the content of the match. Moreover, it set up a big blow off moment. DX paid off months of McMahon humiliating others with his Kiss My Ass Club but shoving his face up the Big Show’s rear end in a suitably humiliating and juvenile bit of shaming, befitting the DX ethos, before they finished off the Chairman by more violent means.
#1 Recreating “Stand Back”
The DX vs. McMahons feud of 2006 ebbed and flowed between its more serious and more comedic moments. When looking back at the entire saga, though, it's hard for any segment or match to compete with Triple H dressing up like Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels dressing up like Shane McMahon in a bit of a throwback to the DX of old. This segment was comedic gold that went to the next level when the twosome played the old video of Vince singing “Stand Back” during the Rock N Wrestling Era, while Helmsley and Michaels did their darnedest to imitate his awkward dance moves in the ring.
No, this moment didn’t break new ground or include any exceptional wrestling spots. It was DX—particularly in its more PG incarnation—doing what it did best, though, in injecting legitimately funny comedy into a major storyline and producing an unforgettable moment.
