Dan Severn Gives His Thoughts On Triple H And The Kliq
Triple H and Shawn Michaels have both risen high in WWE since their days as members of The Kliq, the backstage group responsible for the infamous, kayfabe-shattering Curtain Call. Both hold high positions in WWE in December 2022; Triple H is the WWE's Chief Content Officer and EVP of Talent Relations, while Michaels is Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative for "WWE NXT." Both roles involve daily interactions with multiple different talents today, some talents, but back when they were just part of the locker room, not everyone had positive interactions with The Kliq, and some — like former NWA World's Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn — didn't interact with them at all.
"They were just all the 'too sweet' and all this," Severn said in an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc. Senior News Editor Nick Hausman. "They had a lot of fun. And then I thought they pulled off some pretty good skits when they were doing mockeries of different types of groups and stuff like that ... I thought during that timeframe, I think it was one of the best times to be involved with that, because WCW was beating WWF in the ratings. And so WWF had to put forth effort."
'I'm an ass-kicker, not an ass-kisser'
Unlike The Kliq, Severn says he didn't play politics backstage, and didn't cozy up to any factions. To illustrate the position he saw himself as holding in the company, Severn told Hausman a story about sitting backstage in the cafeteria area one day, when Jim Cornette, who was working for WWE at the time, walked over to him.
"He goes, 'What you doing there, Dan?'" Severn said. "I go, 'Jim, I'm doing what I normally always do. I'm conducting business, using my time wisely.' He goes, 'I'm not sure what it is that you're doing there, Dan.' He goes, 'A lot of the boys are nervous around you.' I go, 'Because I'm not joining into their drugs, I'm not joining into their drinking. Cause I don't do that. That's not my cup of tea. I don't need to do that. I don't need to be part of their network. I'll work with them.' I go, 'Jim, I'm an ass-kicker, not an ass-kisser.' And I kept it like that."
While The Kliq didn't exist onscreen, its members — including Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman — were consistently positioned at or near the top of the card while they were active in-ring competitors. Severn, in contrast, was only with WWE from 1998 to 1999, and would not win championship gold with the company, though he did pick up major victories over the likes of Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock.