9. Michaels Crushes His Competition
The Kliq had started out as a bunch of guys talking about wrestling, it was a vehicle for creativity, but it quickly morphed into a darker force. What had began as friendly banter between the group and Vince McMahon, turned into a full on friendship. Each individual member was now a buddy of Vince, they would head to his office and hang out - Vince in some ways became a member of the Kliq. Changes in the WWF product soon reflected just how much influence the Kliq had amassed with Vince. Bret Hart started to notice subtle changes in tone, and detected Michael's meddling all over the production. Despite Hart's concerns about the power the Kliq was wielding, he perhaps only had himself to blame for not getting on board with the winds of change. Bret himself admits in his 2007 autobiography 'Hitman' that Shawn had offered him the chance to join the Kliq.
"The thing I remember most about that tour was Shawn, Razor, and Nash talking to me in Hamburg about the idea of forming a clique of top guys who strictly took care of their own."
Rather than seizing the opportunity, Bret balked. It was a decision to Hart's error, Michaels would spend the next few years influencing McMahon that Hart lacked value. Michaels used his position in the Kliq to steal the championship spot held by Bret. It was the right decision regardless of the Kliq's involvement, but you could argue that had the Kliq not formed then a small guy like Michaels may never have got the chance to shine. Bret had been a close friend of Vince., but now Michael's had the boss's affections. But it wasn't just Bret that the Kliq conspired to cut down. Michaels was brutal in his admonishing of talents he did not like. HBK had a strong dislike for Shane Douglas and Chris Candido to the extent that he vocally decimated them to Vince, and both men subsequently saw their career go flat. Bam Bam Bigelow and Viscera also suffered, with Michaels reporting Viscera to management for drug taking despite his own storied abuse. Another Kliq victim was Carl Ouellet aka Jean Pierre Lafitte. The Canadian star was due to go over Kevin Nash in Montreal when Michaels went to management and forced the finish to be changed. This led to a furious argument between Michaels and Ouellet. HBK wasn't happy, and stated in his book that "we buried him." However the biggest victim of The Kliq's crusade to enhance their own talent was ultimately Bret. In the now-infamous real life drama Shawn, Hunter and Vince all conspired to screw Hart at the 97 Survivor Series ... and upon arriving in WCW, Kevin Nash didn't exactly do the Hitman any favours either.