DeGeneration X was the name of a wrestling stable (group of wrestlers) in the
World Wrestling Federation.
It was born in 1997, when
Shawn Michaels and
HHH (Hunter Hearst Helmsley) were "forced" to team up in a series of matches. It was soon revealed that the two were, in fact,
good friends, and the two
heels (along with
HHH's valet,
Chyna) started calling themselves
DeGeneration X.
The original premise was that as part of
The Clique, Michaels and HHH intentionally broke "company rules" and acted rebellious in an attempt to get fired so they could join their fellow Clique members (
Scott Hall and
Kevin Nash) in
WCW.
That
incarnation lasted until
Wrestlemania XIV (March 1998), when Michaels was forced to retire due to a career-ending back injury.
HHH took command of the group, inviting fellow Clique member
Sean Waltman (now known as
X-Pac) and the
New Age Outlaws to join. They existed in that form as
tweeners (not
good guys or
bad guys, but in between) for a few months, until the overwhelmingly positive fan reaction to the new DX convinced the
WWF to turn them into a
babyface stable.
DX 2.0 lasted exactly a year, until
Wrestlemania XV, when
HHH suddenly turned
heel. This threw DX into disarray, and for the next few months DX feuded amongst themselves as to who owned the "rights" to the name
DeGeneration X. This was monumentally
stupid and DX was promptly forgotten soon after, all wrestlers involved going their seperate ways.
DX was briefly reincarnated in late 1999, when
WWF Champion (and
heel)
HHH convinced
X-Pac and the
New Age Outlaws to rejoin him in DX--now a
heel stable. This lasted for a few months until gradually fading away into
oblivion.