One of the more talked-about actions involving the Clique was the so-called MSG Incident, which took place early in 1996 and involved all of the Clique except for Waltman. At the time of the incident, Hall and Nash were about to leave the WWF for WCW. At a major WWF house show in Madison Square Garden, Michaels and Helmsley worked a tag-team match as faces (fan favorites). Immediately after the match, Hall and Nash, then heels in WWF storylines, ran into the ring. Typically, a run-in is the trigger for a (staged) fight, but this did not happen. Instead, all four shared a prolonged group hug.
Their actions scandalized WWF management, who at the time wanted to maintain the illusion that faces and heels were not friends outside the ring. Because Michaels was holding the federation's championship belt at the time, the WWF could not punish him without possibly hurting business. Hall and Nash were beyond punishment, as they were soon to leave for WCW. The punishment fell on Levesque; he was demoted from championship contender to "jobber to the stars" for about a year.
This punishment turned out to have a major impact on the WWF's future. Before the MSG Incident, Levesque had been booked to win the federation's King of the Ring "tournament" late that spring. The winner of this "title" traditionally received a large push toward stardom. However, the incident led the WWF to change the booking for the tournament. The King of the Ring "title" would instead go to Stone Cold Steve Austin; his "win" started his meteoric rise toward mainstream superstardom and helped WWF defeat WCW in their business wars.
Pro wrestling fans should not confuse the Clique with the Kliq, which was a term that Shawn Michaels used for his fanbase at one period in the mid-90s. It is widely believed that "Kliq" was a nod to "smart" fans (those who try to follow the inside workings of the pro wrestling business) who knew of the existence of the Clique.