WWE's Road Dogg Discusses The Concept Of The 'Bad Guy' Babyface

Whether it was D-Generation X, the nWo, or more recently with MJF, there have been a lot of different examples of wrestlers being heels but getting babyface reactions from fans. That wasn't always how things worked in wrestling, but DX was a big part of that shift, which is something that Brian "Road Dogg" James experienced with audiences positively reacting to them.

"We're doing all this crass stuff that I wouldn't want my children to see and they love it," he said on "Oh, You Didn't Know." "It was dumbfounding to me but I was reaping the benefits of it so it was like, you'd better get used to it quick, kid ... It changed. The tide changed and the industry changed."

DX and the nWo were game-changers in this sense, helping the industry accept the idea of heels being cheered and getting different types of responses. That's something that even made an impact behind the scenes as wrestlers weren't used to the situation, and James believes that Triple H and Shawn Michaels were speaking to Vince McMahon to try and push that with the Attitude Era.

"The way I perceived this was Shawn Michaels seeing the writing on the wall and having the conversations that needed to be had and getting the boss onboard," he said. "From what I know of the history of the Attitude Era, that's how it started ... I didn't see the writing on the wall. I didn't know ... I was going to tell them to suck it and they were going to cheer for me and buy my t-shirt. You know what I mean? I couldn't have fathomed that, but that's what was happening."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Oh, You Didn't Know" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.