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Hug MSG Incident

The Incident

"The MSG Incident" or "The Curtain Call" took place on May 19, 1996 at Madison Square Garden in which WWF wrestlers: Kevin Nash or better known as "Diesel" and Scott Hall or better known as "Razor Ramon", were about to leave for the WWF's rival, WCW. After Shawn Michaels defeated Diesel in a Steel Cage match, Razor Ramon came out and began hugging Michaels in the middle of the ring. Hunter Hearst Helmsley then came out and Diesel got up, the four men began a group hug, which was unplanned. The fans watched in shock. This was highly controversiely and angered Vince McMahon.

Aftermath[]

At first McMahon, was not worried about this incident until he found out a fan had recorded the incident with a camcorder. He had realized that the group of men, later known as, The Kliq had broken Kayfabe by ruining the illusion that faces and heels weren't friends in real-life. Vince McMahon could not punish Michaels because he currently held the WWF Championship and was one of the company's biggest draws at the time. Hall and Nash also escaped punishment, as they were heading to WCW. So the punishment was left to Helmsley, who was booked to win the 1996 King of the Ring. McMahon then booked Stone Cold Steve Austin to win. This was actually a benefit for the company as this pushed the WWF's ratings over WCW's. As for Helmsley, he won the next year's King of the Ring tournament which gave him his push and would later go on to win 13 world championship reigns.

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