Hall of Fame 101: Shawn Michaels

Real Name: Michael Hickenbottom
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 225 pounds
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Finishing Move(s): Sweet Chin Music, Modified Figure 4 Leg Lock
Career Highlights: WWE Champion, WWE World Heavyweight Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE European Champion, WWE World Tag Team Champion, WWE Unified Tag Team Champion, 1995 Royal Rumble Winner, 1996 Royal Rumble Winner, 4th Triple Crown Champion, 1st Grand Slam Champion, WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011 Inductee, 1996 Slammy Award Winner for Best Slammin’ Jammin’ Entrance, 1996 Slammy Award Winner for Best Threads, 1996 Slammy Award Winner for Squared Circle Shocker, 1996 Slammy Award Winner for Master of Mat Mechanics, 1996 Slammy Award Winner for US West Match of the Year, 1996 Slammy Award Winner for Leader of the New Generation, 1997 Slammy Award Winner for Best Finisher, 1997 Slammy Award Winner for US West Match of the Year, 2008 Slammy Award Winner for Match of the Year, 2009 Slammy Award Winner for Match of the Year, and 2010 Slammy Award Winner for Moment of the Year

Shawn Michaels, born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965 in Chandler, Arizona, is a born competitor and a born nature athlete. His legendary career started with being trained by legendary, José Lothario, and now Shawn is a legend and even trains future legends at his wrestling school in his hometown of where he currently resides, San Antonio, Texas.

At the age of 19, Hickenbottom, adopting the name of Shawn Michaels when training with José Lothario, would debut for Mid South Wrestling and Texas All-Star Wrestling in October of 1984. During his time with Texas All-Star Wrestling, Michaels would replace Nick Kiniski in the tag team called American Breed, by teaming up with Paul Diamond, and they were awarded the TASW Tag Team Titles by Chavo Guerrero Sr. (better known as Chavo Classic). Michaels and Diamond’s team would be renamed to American Force. Later on, Shawn Michaels would begin team with Marty Jannetty in Central States Wrestling under the team name of The Midnight Rockers. They would receive their big break when they were hired by the WWE from Chairman, Mr. McMahon.

The Rockers, renamed because Vince likes to own copyright of his athletes teams and ring names, would debut for the WWE at a House Show on July 7, 1988, and they were very popular with women and children. For the next two years, the team would be a mid card tag team on both Pay Per Views and television shows.

In October 1990, The Rockers were scheduled to win the WWE World Tag Team Titles from The Hart Foundation since Jim “the anvil” Neidhart was negotiating his release from the company, and The Rockers won the title, however, Neidhart was rehired by the WWE and they were awarded the titles since it was announced that the turnbuckle collapsed, which it did, but not to a noticeable or dangerous extent. The Rockers would continue to team up before they split up on Brutus “the barber” Beefcake’s talk show of The Barber Shop when Michael gave Jannetty the Sweet Chin Music and threw him through the set window of The Barber Shop.

Mr. Perfect would come up with a new gimmick for Shawn Michaels and it was adopted immediately when he became known as “The Heart Break Kid” and it repackaged his entire persona when he became a cocky villain. He would be managed by The Sensational Sherri, whom per storyline standards, was “infatuated” with him. Sherri would bring a mirror to the ring so Michaels could keep looking at himself in the mirror because he thought he was so attractive and gorgeous. The first theme song of Shawn Michaels of “Sexy Boy” was sung by his manager, The Sensational Sherri, but would later be sung by Michaels himself after they parted ways.

In July 1992, Michaels failed to beat Bret “Hitman” Hart for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and would also lose the first ever Ladder Match to Hart at a House Show for the title. On the October 27, 1992 episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, which aired on November 14, 1992, Michaels beat The British Bulldog to win his first singles title to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion. The Ultimate Warrior was unable to appear at Survivor Series 1992 in his Tag Team Match scheduled for the main event, which allowed Michaels to compete in his first ever main event when he challenged Bret “Hitman” Hart for the WWE Championship, but was unsuccessful. Michaels would then split with The Sensational Sherri and move into a feud with his former friend and tag team partner, Marty Jannetty. On the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, Marty Jannetty beat Shawn Michaels for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, but would regain the belt back on June 6, 1993 with help from his on air bodyguard and off air friend, the debuting Diesel.

In September of 1993, Shawn Michaels quit the company after he was stripped of the WWE Intercontinental Championship after not defending the title within the 30 day time period, when in reality, Michaels was suspended for testing positive for steroids, which Michaels denies to this very day. Michaels would refuse negotiations with the WCW, but would return to the WWE at Survivor Series 1993 when he replaced Jerry “the king” Lawler in an 8 Man Tag Team Match when he teamed with The Red Knight (Barry Horowitz), The Blue Knight (Greg “the hammer“ Valentine), and The Black Knight (Jeff Gaylord) to lose to The Hart Family, consisting of Bret “Hitman” Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart, and Keith Hart, along with their managing being their father, Stu Hart.

During Michaels’ absence, Razor Ramon won the WWE Intercontinental Championship that was vacated, which would begin a feud with Ramon and Michaels for the title since Michaels’ never lost the belt, with Michaels’ carrying a fake, yet replica, version of the WWE Intercontinental Champion claiming to be the “only” WWE Intercontinental Champion. The two would culminate in a Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 10 with the winner becoming the Undisputed WWE Intercontinental Champion, which Razor Ramon won, but the match was considered an epic and classic encounter between both superstars. Michaels would be suffering from various injuries, and would be resting from in ring competition, but to remain in the storylines, he would launch his own talk show segment called The Heart Break Hotel, which was mainly shown on WWE Superstars.

On August 28, 1994, Shawn Michaels and his friend and bodyguard, Diesel, would become the new WWE World Tag Team Champions after they beat The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). Diesel, whom is the WWE Intercontinental Champion, would lose the title to Razor Ramon at Summerslam after Michaels accidentally gave Diesel some Sweet Chin Music. This triggered a split between the two, with them losing the WWE World Tag Team Titles, and would continue up until Survivor Series of 1994. Shawn Michaels would win the 1995 Royal Rumble Match which would make history after he entered at number one and won the whole thing and last eliminated The British Bulldog, which set up a match between Shawn Michaels and the WWE Champion, Diesel, since he beat Bob Backlund for the title, which Diesel won at Wrestlemania 11. For buildup for the match at Wrestlemania 11, Michaels recruited Sycho Sid as his bodyguard, but when Michaels lost to Diesel at Wrestlemania 11, Sycho Sid would attack Michaels the next night on Raw.

In May of 1995, Michaels would return as a fan favorite and would defeat Jeff Jarrett to become a three time WWE Intercontinental Champion at In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks. This would lead to a rematch from Wrestlemania 10 when Shawn Michaels defended the title against Razor Ramon in a Ladder Match at Summerslam 1995, which Michaels would win. Around this time, Michaels would become part of a backstage cult-like group called “The Kliq”, along with Triple H (then known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley), Razor Ramon, and Diesel, which most within the WWE thought were in cahoots with Mr. McMahon and were the dominant group backstage at all WWE events that would receive major pushes in the WWE. This group would become dominant wrestling figures in the mid 1990s. Michaels would be attacked by several men outside of a bar in Syracuse, New York, and would, however, vacate the WWE Intercontinental Championship to Dean Douglas at In Your House 4: Great White North because he was unable to compete, whereas Dean Douglas was awarded the title via forfeit. Later on that same night, Dean Douglas lost the title to fellow Kliq member, Razor Ramon. It was scripted, but kept as a secret to be played out as a legitimate injury, where Owen Hart gave Michaels the Enziguri and he suffered a concussion and collapsed in the ring, but he never really suffered a concussion, and it was written that Michaels would be retiring from professional wrestling so he could take some time off to heal some injuries since he returned too early.

Shawn Michaels would return to action at Royal Rumble 1996 as part of the 1996 Royal Rumble Match, which Shawn Michaels won for a second year in a row by last eliminating Diesel from the match. At Wrestlemania 12, Shawn Michaels challenged Bret “Hitman” Hart for the WWE Championship in the main event in a 60 minute Ironman Match, which Michaels won to win his first ever WWE Championship. Around this time, Michaels’ trainer when he first became a professional wrestling, José Lothario, became his on screen manager. In Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1996, Michaels just beat Diesel in a match and something controversial, called “The Curtain Call” would take place when Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Razor Ramon, both heels, came to the ring to join faces, Michaels and Diesel, in a group hug in the middle of the ring since Diesel and Ramon were leaving the WWE for WCW, which was a breach of “kayfabe” that was rare to happen between faces and heels and it was not tolerated by Mr. McMahon. Hunter Hearst Helmsley was forced to be a jobber for the time being, which delayed his King of the Ring win in 1996, and was pushed back to 1997, whereas Shawn Michaels was the WWE Champion up until Survivor Series 1996 when he lost the title to Sycho Sid. Michaels would regain the title back when he beat Sycho Sid for the title in the main event of the 1997 Royal Rumble Pay Per View.

On a special edition of Raw on Thursday night, Michaels vacated the WWE Championship because he said he had to have knee surgery, which came off as controversial since he refused to job to Bret “Hitman” Hart at Wrestlemania 13 in a Submission Match and rematch from Wrestlemania 12, which he was replaced by Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Michaels would end up having his knee surgery that wasn’t considered too serious, and Michaels would return a few months later to win the WWE World Tag Team Titles with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

In the main event of Summerslam 1997, Shawn Michaels was the referee for the WWE Championship Match between Bret “Hitman” Hart and Undertaker, which Bret won after Michaels accidentally hit Undertaker with a steel chair, which led to them both facing each other at In Your House 17: Ground Zero, where Shawn and Undertaker fought to a no contest in the main event. Michaels would beat The British Bulldog in the main event of One Night Only to become the new WWE European Champion, which also gave him the accomplishment of becoming the first ever Grand Slam Champion. Michaels would then face Undertaker in a rematch from Ground Zero at In Your House 18: Badd Blood in the first ever Hell in a Cell Match, which Michaels won after Kane made his WWE debut and gave Undertaker the Tombstone Piledriver, which allowed Michaels to capitalize and win.

In the summer, after Summerslam, Shawn Michaels joined forced with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Helmsley’s then girlfriend, Chyna, and “Ravishing” Rick Rude to form the controversial faction/stable, D-Generation X. This would mark the beginning of the Attitude Era, as the family-oriented programming began to stop with the arrival of D-Generation X. At Survivor Series 1997 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Shawn Michaels beat Bret “Hitman” Hart for the WWE Championship in what is known as the infamous Montreal Screwjob when, behind the scenes, Mr. McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, Sgt. Slaughter, and Pat Patterson were all informed and plotted this Screwjob to screw Bret out of the title since he was leaving the WWE for WCW. Moments before the match, Mr. McMahon told Earl Hebner about the incident to take place, which Earl refused to do, but did it anyways because of his job being on the line. Michaels would then become the WWE Champion and the WWE European Champion, but would lose the WWE European Championship after he was forced by Commissioner, Sgt. Slaughter, to defend the title against D-Generation X member, Triple H, which Michaels laid down and Triple H became the new champion.

In the main event of the Royal Rumble 1998 Pay Per View, Michaels would retain the WWE Championship against Undertaker in the Casket Match, but would sustain a legitimate back injury. Michaels would lose the title to Stone Cold Steve Austin in the main event of Wrestlemania 14 after Mike Tyson betrayed D-Generation X and allowed Austin to win the title. After this, Michaels would make non wrestling appearances with being Commissioner, but would eventually leave the WWE to have back surgery for his broken back he sustained back at the Royal Rumble.

Shawn Michaels would return to the WWE as an active wrestler at Summerslam 2002 against his now former friend and archrival, Triple H, in an Unsanctioned Street Fight, which Michaels won, but Triple H would hit Michaels twice in the back with a sledgehammer. Michaels would then become the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship when he won the first ever Elimination Chamber Match at Survivor Series 2002 after he beat Triple H, Chris Jericho, Kane, Rob Van Dam, and Booker T, but would lose the title in a 3 Stages of Hell Match to Triple H at Armageddon 2002. Michaels would then begin a feud with Chris Jericho, which culminated at Wrestlemania 19, that saw Michaels victorious.

In the next biggest feud for Shawn Michaels, he continued his feud with Triple H in 2004, along with the 2004 Royal Rumble Winner, Chris Benoit, when they all competed in the main event of Wrestlemania 20 in a Triple Threat Match that saw Chris Benoit become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. They would compete in a rematch at Backlash 2004, which Chris Benoit also won the retain the title. At Bad Blood 2004, Triple H beat Shawn Michaels in the main event in a Hell in a Cell Match. At Taboo Tuesday 2004, Shawn Michaels was voted by the fans to face Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which he lost due to interference from Edge. After this, Michaels was out of action for a few months with a torn meniscus.

At the 2005 Royal Rumble Pay Per View, Edge beat Shawn Michaels in a Singles Match, and then later that night, was eliminated by Kurt Angle setting up a feud that culminated in a match between the two at Wrestlemania 21, which Angle won by making Michaels submit to the Ankle Lock. Michaels would then begin to feud with Muhammad Hassan and Daivari, and, along with Hulk Hogan, would beat them both in a Tag Team Match at Backlash 2005. Michaels would then beat Angle at Vengeance 2005 in a rematch from Wrestlemania 21. Michaels would then turn on Hulk Hogan and the two would compete in the main event of Summerslam 2005, which Hogan won.

On December 26, 2005, Michaels was confronted by Mr. McMahon about the Montreal Screwjob and Michaels said he did what he had to do for the company, he moved on, and McMahon should move on too, which McMahon took offense to and began feuding with Michaels. The two would compete at Wrestlemania 22 in a No Holds Barred Match, which Michaels won. At Backlash 2006, Michaels teamed with “God” to face Mr. McMahon and Shane McMahon, which was technically a Handicap Match, that saw the McMahon’s win after help from The Spirit Squad. On May 22, 2006 episode of Raw, Michaels had surgery on his knee after he was attacked by The Spirit Squad and would return as part of the reuniting D-Generation X with his archrival and now friend, Triple H, and they beat The Spirit Squad in a 5 on 2 Handicap Match in the main event of Vengeance 2006. At Summerslam 2006, D-Generation X beat both Mr. McMahon and Shane McMahon in a Tag Team Match, despite help from Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, The Spirit Squad, and the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Big Show. At Unforgiven 2006, D-Generation X beat Mr. McMahon, Shane McMahon, and the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Big Show, in a 2 on 3 Handicap Hell in a Cell Match.

At Cyber Sunday 2006, D-Generation X lost to Edge and Randy Orton, calling themselves Rated RKO, with Eric Bischoff selected by the fans as the referee for the match. At New Year’s Revolution 2007, D-Generation X fought the WWE World Tag Team Champions, Rated RKO, to a no contest for the WWE World Tag Team Titles after Triple H suffered a legitimate torn quadriceps. Shawn Michaels would then win the WWE World Tag Team Titles, along with John Cena, after beating Rated RKO. The two would face off in the main event of Wrestlemania 23 which John Cena won the retain the WWE Championship after making Michaels submit to the STFU. Michaels and Cena would lose the WWE World Tag Team Titles to The Hardy Boyz in a 10 Team Battle Royal when Michaels threw Cena over the top rope. At Backlash 2007, Cena beat Michaels, Edge, and Orton in a Fatal 4 Way Match to retain the WWE Championship.

He would then feud with Orton, which Orton punted Michaels’ head on Raw, and during their match at Judgment Day, Michaels would collapse in the ring, which the referee stopped the match and awarded the match to Orton. At Cyber Sunday 2007, Michaels was voted by the fans to face Orton for the WWE Championship, which Michaels won via disqualification after Orton gave him the Low Blow. The two would compete at Survivor Series 2007 in a rematch and Michaels couldn’t use the Sweet Chin Music, and Orton would lose the title if he was disqualified, but Orton would win cleanly to retain the title.

Ric Flair would be put into multiple Career Threatening Matches, and would face Shawn Michaels in a Career Threatening Match at Wrestlemania 24, which Michaels won to force Flair to retire. Batista would then feud with Michaels, with Jericho being thrown into the mix all over the retirement of Ric Flair. Michaels beat Batista at Backlash, with Jericho as the referee, and then Michaels beat Jericho at Judgment Day. Michaels and Batista would face Batista at One Night Stand 2008 in a Stretcher Match, which Batista won to end their feud. Jericho would then face Michaels at The Great American Bash, which Jericho won via referee stoppage after Jericho attacked Michaels’ eye all match and caused him to be unable to continue the match. At Summerslam, Michaels, along with his wife, Rebecca, were going to reveal Michaels’ future in the WWE, but Jericho came out and accidentally punched Michaels’ wife in the face. This led to an Unsanctioned Match at Unforgiven, which Michaels won via referee stoppage when Jericho couldn’t continue. Jericho would also win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven in the Championship Scramble Match at Unforgiven, replacing an injured CM Punk, and would defend the title against Shawn Michaels at No Mercy in a Ladder Match, which Jericho won. In December of 2008, Michaels accepted the offer from JBL to work for him since Michaels needed money to support his family. Michaels would be in JBL’s corner in a match against John Cena at Royal Rumble 2009, that saw Cena win the retain the WWE Championship. Michaels would then feud with JBL at No Way Out 2009, if JBL won, Michaels’ name and likeness would be owned by JBL, if Michaels won, he would be free of JBL and be paid his salary for working for JBL, which saw Michaels win the match.

Shawn Michaels wanted a match with Undertaker at Wrestlemania, and if he beat the undefeated Vladimir Kozlov on Raw on March 2, 2009, he’d have that opportunity, which Michaels did and he fought Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25, which Undertaker won to become 17 and 0.

Michaels was scripted out of the storylines as losing his mind for losing to Undertaker, and he worked at a cafeteria. Triple H hunted down Shawn Michaels and they reformed D-Generation X, which Michaels and Triple H began to feud with Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes. At Summerslam 2009, D-Generation X beat Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes in a Tag Team Match. The two teams would compete at Breaking Point 2009 in a Submissions Count Anywhere Match, which saw DiBiase and Rhodes the winners. The two teams would meet one last time at Hell in a Cell 2009 in the main event in a Tag Team Hell in a Cell Match, that D-X won. At TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2009, D-X won the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles for the first time as a team in the main event in a Tag Team TLC Match when they beat Big Show and Chris Jericho. On February 8, 2010, it was a 3 Team Elimination Match between D-X, Big Show and The Miz, and CM Punk and Luke Gallows, that saw Big Show and The Miz win and become the new WWE Unified Tag Team Champions. Michaels would be hell-bent on a rematch with Undertaker at Wrestlemania 26, which Undertaker would eventually agree to if Michaels put his career on the line. Undertaker would beat Michaels in the main event of Wrestlemania 26 to become 18 and 0 and Michaels would be forced to retire. He would be on Raw the next night to give his farewell address and quoted at the end “Shawn Michaels left the building”. He celebrated his last night with the WWE with Triple H.

It would then be announced in January of 2011, Shawn Michaels has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011 as the head of the class. There is no other legend like Shawn Michaels and he is definitely the Showstopper, the Main Event, the Icon, The Headliner, Mr. Wrestlemania, and now a legendary WWE Hall of Fame.

Next time on Hall of Fame 101...

Bret “Hitman” Hart