20 Years Of DX: Where Are They Now?
1. Shawn Michaels
The original leader and ‘degenerate’ that spurned the name and entire perception around the embryonic D-Generation-X, the ‘Heartbreak Kid’ extolled a special kind of anger in late 1997 as he emotionally unravelled live on television whilst producing some of the best in-ring work of his career.
Fuelled on rage, ego and mind-altering substances, Michaels was a freewheeling rebel without a cause, pushing his own agenda through the dual mediums of cynicism and immaturity.
It was a different story by the time he rejoined the group in 2006. Initiating a run as a tag team in black and green with Triple H, the born again Michaels was such a goody goody that he was always tasked with looking away or finding alternative diversions as Hunter cavorted with women or threw some foul language into his cartoonish abuse of Mr McMahon.
In 2017, Shawn typically finds himself in exclusive company exactly as he had done as a wrestler. Retiring in the most glorious fashion possible following defeat to The Undertaker in the main event of WrestleMania 26, he has remarkably not yet returned nearly eight years on. Occasional appearances are normally to help Triple H promote whatever he’s currently working on, and even in rare physical angles, Michaels still looks a cut above his contemporaries.