Luke Owen reviews the fourth episode of The Monday Night War on the WWE Network…
Read the previous episode review here.
As we’ve discussed in the previous episode reviews, we’ve come to expect a certain amount of revisionist history when it comes to The Monday Night War. If you want the real truth of how the war was won and lost, go and read Bryan Alverez’s The Death of WCW, which is having a 10th anniversary reprint next month. Once you’ve excepted the fact that The Monday Night War is not the most accurate portrayal of the war, you can come to terms with it as a show. But with that said, the fourth episode of The Monday Night War, which looks at the rise of D-Generation X, is the most hilarious, self-masturbatory example of “history is written by the victors”.
Before we get started, it must be made clear that Shawn Michaels and Triple H as D-Generation X were a big part of the swing in WWF’s favour while the tide was turning in the war against WCW and Nitro. However according to this episode, they were the biggest part of that winning formula and not only turned the ratings tide, but also created the spark that gave birth to the Attitude Era. Even though last week’s episode claimed that to be the brainchild of Vince McMahon who needed to do something edgier in order to gain ratings. We’re only five episodes in and they already can’t keep their own history re-writes in check.
But while the show is full of factually incorrect guff, A New D-Generation is a really fun show with some genuine laughs. There is a small part of you that watches D-Generation X’s antics with 2014 eyes and wonder why you liked it in the first place, but there is a brilliant sense of nostalgia for the duo and the Triple H “army” version after Shawn left the business. The two were basically immature jackasses who acted like buffoons and were rather irritating, but there is something charming about them that watching two guys nearing 30 act like teenagers makes them sort of endearing. It’s really down to the talents of both Michales and Hunter to make this act work.
And this is where the episode shines. Ignoring the pontification and idiocy of the “history”, watching the highlights of D-Generation X as a tag team and as a faction in the late 90s is superb. Listening to Hunter and Shawn tell stories and then hearing the comments from Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and X-Pac when they joined later down the line are a real joy. Even if you’ve heard the stories before, which this show is really suffering from, you can’t help but smile as you re-watch the Nation of Domination skit or Triple H reading the letter from USA Network saying their act was too lewd for their station. It would have been nice to hear some comments from former WWF star Chyna (now porn star Joanie Laurer), but it makes sense as to why they didn’t reach out to her.
Of the four episodes of the series, A New D-Generation is perhaps the weakest of The Monday Night War just because it fails at what it’s trying to be – a historical retelling of WWF vs. WCW. It fudges facts and makes outlandish statements to make it seem like D-Generation X were a bigger impact on the ratings war than they really were. It once again ignores the likes of Steve Austin, The Rock, Mr. McMahon, Mike Tyson and the creative failings of Eric Bishoff at WCW and just claims that Shawn Michaels and Triple H were a war winning catalyst. The episode is fun, but you can just watch these highlights on any of the various DX DVDs and Blu-Rays available. They were a great act, but they are not an important act.
Still, seeing them in a tank invade WCW was hilarious.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
