Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24 in March 2008.
Ring name(s)	Sean Michaels[1] Shawn Michaels
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2][3]
Billed weight	225 lb (102 kg)[2]
Born	(1965-07-22) July 22, 1965 (age 46) Chandler, Arizona[4]
Resides	San Antonio, Texas[5]
Billed from	San Antonio, Texas[2]
Trained by	Jose Lothario[6]
Debut	October 16, 1984[7]
Retired	March 28, 2010

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is a retired professional wrestler, and an American television host. He is currently signed to WWE, where he has served as an ambassador for the company since December 2010. Hickenbottom consistently wrestled for WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1988 until his first retirement in 1998, due to injury. He appeared in non-wrestling roles from 1998 to 2000, and resumed his in-ring career in 2002, retiring in 2010. He also hosts the show MacMillan River Adventures, airing on the Outdoor Channel.

Hickenbottom began his wrestling career with Mid-South Wrestling, now known as Universal Wrestling Federation, and American Wrestling Association (AWA). During his time with AWA, he performed in partnership with Marty Jannetty, as The Midnight Rockers; winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice. Hickenbottom and Jannetty briefly signed with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987, while in contract with AWA. They returned to AWA, only to go back to the WWF in 1988.

Hickenbottom later worked as a singles performer, taking on a new persona of "The Heartbreak Kid" and, first as a villain and later as a fan favorite, moved into the main event sphere. He wielded considerable influence on booking decisions as the leader of The Kliq, a backstage group, which however fell apart in 1996. The following year, he teamed up with Hunter Hearst Hemsley, who often was referred to as Triple H (HHH), Chyna, and Rick Rude to form D-Generation X (DX). This group of wrestlers was known for their sophomoric crude humor. That same year, Hickenbottom took part in one of the most controversial matches in wrestling history, dubbed as the "Montreal Screwjob." After a back injury forced him to retire following his WWF Championship loss at WrestleMania XIV, Hickenbottom opened a wrestling academy, called The Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, in which he trained upcoming wrestlers. He made his in-ring return at SummerSlam in 2002. In 2006, Hickenbottom and Triple H briefly reformed DX, but after an injury that Triple H sustained, Hickenbottom returned to singles wrestling. Although as of 2009, the duo reunited as a tag team once more, with the two capturing the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. In the WWF/WWE, Michaels held championships, and headlined pay-per-view events, in each decade from the 1990s to the 2010s; at WrestleMania XXVI, he was forced to retire from in-ring competition when he lost a career-threatening match. In December 2010, he signed a long-term deal with WWE, making his first live appearance at a WWE show since WrestleMania later that month. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. Following his induction, WWE said of Michaels, "Ask any Superstar on the WWE roster who the most gifted sports-entertainer of all time is and nearly everyone will have the same answer — Shawn Michaels."^[2]

Among other accolades, Hickenbottom is a four-time world champion: a three-time WWF Champion and a former World Heavyweight Champion. He was also the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles and was the company's first Grand Slam Champion. He has also won the PWI Match of the Year Award a record eleven times. Hickenbottom currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children.

Early life[link]

Hickenbottom was born on July 22, 1965 in Chandler, Arizona.^[4][8] The last of four children – Randy, Scott, and Shari are his older siblings – he was raised in a military family and spent a brief part of his early years in Reading, Berkshire, England,^[4] but grew up in San Antonio, Texas. As a child, Hickenbottom disliked the name Michael, so his family and friends just called him Shawn.^[9] Ever since, he has been referred to as Shawn. Additionally, Hickenbottom moved around frequently since his father was in the military.^[9]

He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler at the age of twelve.^[8] Hickenbottom was already an athlete; his career began at the age of six when he started playing football.^[10] He was a stand-out linebacker at Randolph High School and eventually became captain of the football team.^[2][11] After graduating, Hickenbottom attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, but soon realized that college life was not for him.^[12] He then began pursuing a career in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career[link]

AWA and WWF (1984–1988)[link]

Hickenbottom began to train under Mexican professional wrestler Jose Lothario.^[6][7] During his training, Hickenbottom adopted the ring name, Shawn Michaels.^[1] After his training with Lothario, he debuted as Shawn Michaels with Mid-South Wrestling and Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW) promotions in October 1984 at the age of 19.^[1] During his time with TASW, Michaels replaced Nick Kiniski in the American Breed tag team, teaming with Paul Diamond. Michaels and Diamond were awarded the TASW Tag Team Championship by Chavo Guerrero, Sr.^[8] The team was later renamed American Force.^[13] He also worked for Central States Wrestling.^[14] There, he and tag team partner Marty Jannetty defeated The Batten Twins for the Central States Tag Team Championship, later losing it back to the Battens.^[8] Michaels also made several appearances in the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling throughout 1985.

Michaels made his national-level debut at the age of twenty in American Wrestling Association (AWA), once again teaming with Marty Jannetty.^[6] The pair were billed as The Midnight Rockers and held the AWA World Tag Team Championship, defeating Doug Somers and Buddy Rose.^[6] In 1987, The Rockers were signed by a competing promotion: the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).^[6] They were fired from WWF two weeks later, for a bar incident (a misunderstanding, according to Michaels' autobiography).^[6][15] They then returned to AWA, but were re-signed by WWF a year later.^[15]

World Wrestling Federation (1988–2000)[link]

The Rockers (1988–1991)[link]

Michaels (left) with Marty Jannetty during their time as The Rockers.

The Rockers redebuted at a WWF live event on July 7, 1988.^[16] Due to WWF chairman Vince McMahon's desire to have his performers carry WWF-exclusive ring names, Michaels and Jannetty were renamed, as simply "The Rockers."^[1] The team proved popular with both children and women.^[6] The team was a mid-card stalwart of television and pay-per-view shows for the next two years.^[17]

In October 1990, The Rockers were scheduled to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), as Neidhart, half of the championship team, was in the process of negotiating his release from the company.^[17] The match was taped with The Rockers winning the belts, but soon after, Neidhart came to an agreement with management and was rehired.^[17] The belts were returned to the Hart Foundation, while the title change was never broadcast or even acknowledged on television.^[17] When news spread, WWF explained that the original result was void due to a collapsed turnbuckle in the ring during the bout. A buckle had indeed broke, but not to a noticeable or dangerous extent during the match.^[1] The Rockers continued their partnership, eventually splitting on December 2, 1991 during an incident on Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake's televised Barber Shop talk show promotional segment.^[18] Michaels superkicked Jannetty and threw him through a glass window on the set of Beefcake's talk show.^[6][19] Jannetty returned to the WWF the following year and enjoyed moderate success before leaving the company in 1994, while Michaels became a prominent villain of the early-to-mid 1990s as "The Boy Toy."^[18]

The Heartbreak Kid (1992–1995)[link]

At the suggestion of "Mr Perfect" Curt Hennig, Michaels adopted the nickname "The Heartbreak Kid."^[6] Along with his new name came a new gimmick as a vain, cocky villain.^[20] He was put together with mirror-carrying manager, Sensational Sherri, who, according to the storyline, had become infatuated with him.^[18] Sherri even sang the first version of his new theme music, "Sexy Boy."^[1] During that period, after Michaels had wrestled his scheduled match at live events, his departure was announced with the words, "Shawn Michaels has left the building" (alluding to the phrase "Elvis has left the building").^[21]

Diesel acted as Michaels's on-air bodyguard and tag team partner for two championship reigns.

At WrestleMania VIII, in his first pay-per-view singles match, Michaels defeated El Matador: both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year's Royal Rumble.^[22] He subsequently became a contender to the promotion's singles championships. Michaels competed in his first pay-per-view main event when he co-headlined UK Rampage on April 19 at the Sheffield Arena, in a losing effort against "Macho Man" Randy Savage for the WWF Championship.^[23][24] He failed to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Bret Hart in the WWF's first-ever ladder match at a Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, which would subsequently be made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases.^[25][26] He, however, won the title from The British Bulldog on the October 27, 1992 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, which aired on November 14.^[27] Shortly thereafter, he faced Hart for the WWF Championship in the main event of the 1992 Survivor Series, but lost the match.^[28] Originally the secondary main event, Michaels and Hart became the primary main event after The Ultimate Warrior was unable to compete, and was replaced by Mr. Perfect in the tag team match that involved Randy Savage against the team of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon.^[29] During this time, Michaels and Sherri split and he engaged himself in a feud with former tag team partner Marty Jannetty.^[6] Michaels lost the Intercontinental Championship to Jannetty on Monday Night Raw on May 17, 1993.^[27] He then regained it on June 6 with the help of his debuting "bodyguard" (and off-air friend) Diesel,^[1][27] and co-headlined the King of the Ring in a title defense against Crush.^[30]

In September 1993, Michaels had quit the company, after it was announced that he had failed to defend his title enough times during a set period; in reality, he had been suspended for testing positive for steroids – a charge that Michaels denies to this day.^[31] After turning down World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s advances, Michaels returned to the WWF and made several appearances in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during a WWF/USWA cross-promotion. He returned to WWF television in November at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, substituting for Jerry Lawler, who was dealing with legal issues, in a match pitting himself and three of Lawler's "Knights" against the Hart brothers, Bret, Bruce, Keith, and Owen.^[32]

He soon entered a staged rivalry with Razor Ramon, who had won the vacated Intercontinental Championship, during Michaels' absence.^[33] Since Michaels had never been defeated in the ring for the title, he claimed to be the rightful champion and even carried around his old title belt.^[33] This feud culminated in a ladder match between the two at WrestleMania X.^[33] Michaels lost the match, which featured both his and Ramon's belts suspended above a ladder in the ring.^[32][33] This match was voted by fans as "PWI Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.^[6] It also received a 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter member Dave Meltzer, one of five WWE matches to do so. Over the next few months, Michaels battled various injuries and launched the Heartbreak Hotel television talk show segment, mainly shown on WWF Superstars.^[34]

On August 28, 1994, Michaels and Diesel captured the Tag Team Championship from The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu).^[35] The next day, at SummerSlam, Diesel lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ramon when Michaels accidentally superkicked Diesel.^[32] This triggered a split between Michaels and Diesel, a storyline that was drawn out until Survivor Series that November.^[36] Michaels went on to win the Royal Rumble in 1995,^[37] which set up a championship grudge match at WrestleMania XI against Diesel (who had gone on to win the WWF Championship from Bob Backlund).^[37] As part of the storyline, Michaels recruited Sycho Sid as his bodyguard for the build-up, lost the match,^[38] and was attacked by Sid the following night.^[39] After this, Michaels took time off,^[39] because Vince McMahon wanted Michaels to become a fan favorite.^[40]

Kliq, WWF Champion and D-Generation X (1995–1997)[link]

Michaels returned to the ring, as a fan favorite, in May 1995. He went on to defeat Jeff Jarrett in July at the In Your House pay-per-view event, to win his third Intercontinental Championship.^[6][41] This led to a title defense against Razor Ramon at SummerSlam, in a ladder match, which Michaels won.^[6] Around this time Michaels became the alleged leader of a backstage group known as The Kliq.^[6] Others perceived the group to have sufficient clout with WWF owner Vince McMahon, becoming dominant wrestling figures in the WWF for several years in the mid-1990s. Michaels disputes the perception, saying that McMahon pushed only deserving wrestlers.^[42] Michaels' fan base was later nicknamed "The Kliq" as an inside reference to the real "Kliq".^[43] In October 1995, he was legitimately attacked by several men outside a bar in Syracuse, New York.^[1] Shortly afterwards, at the In Your House: Great White North pay-per-view, Michaels forfeited the Intercontinental Championship to staged rival Dean Douglas because he was, according to WWF, unable to compete.^[44] Later in the night, Douglas lost the championship to Kliq member Razor Ramon.^[45] The next month, during a match with Owen Hart on an episode of Monday Night Raw, Owen performed an enzuigiri that struck the back of Michaels' head.^[46] They continued the match, but Michaels collapsed in the ring, supposedly because he had suffered a concussion.^[1][46] The concussion was scripted, which was kept from most fans at the time.^[1] A retirement angle was written so that Michaels could take some time off, after he came back from an injury too soon.^[1]

After teasing a retirement, Michaels returned to the WWF at the Royal Rumble match in 1996, which he wound up winning for a second year in a row, to receive a WWF Championship match in the main event at WrestleMania XII.^[47] Around this time, Jose Lothario became Michaels' on-screen manager.^[48] At WrestleMania XII, Michaels defeated WWF Champion Bret Hart in the overtime of their sixty minute Iron Man match, which had ended in a 0–0 tie.^[6] On May 19, 1996, Michaels and his fellow Kliq members were involved in the incident known as "Curtain Call". Diesel and Razor Ramon were about to leave WWF to company rival WCW. After Michaels won a match against Diesel, Ramon and Hunter Hearst Helmsley came to the ring and joined Michaels and Diesel in a group-hug.^[49] As Diesel and Helmsley were seen as villains at the time, in contrast to Michaels and Ramon, this constituted a breach of "kayfabe", as acting out of character, which was rare and controversial at the time.^[49] As WCW gained momentum due to the signings of Hall and Nash, Michaels held the championship for most of the year. Michaels' championship reign ended at the 1996 Survivor Series event, where he lost to Sycho Sid, his former bodyguard.^[50] Michaels recaptured the championship from Sid in January 1997 at the Royal Rumble.^[51]

On a special episode of Raw dubbed Thursday Raw Thursday, Michaels vacated the WWF Championship;^[1] he explained to fans that he was informed by doctors that he had conjured a knee injury, and that he had to retire.^[52] His speech was regarded as controversial, as Michaels was allegedly unwilling to lose to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 (since it was noted that he was going to have a rematch with Hart at WrestleMania).^[6] Michaels contemplated thoughts of retirement and stated that he "had to find his smile again," which he had "lost" somewhere down the line.^[6] After knee surgery by Dr. James Andrews, Michaels returned a few months later, briefly teaming with Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.^[53] In his autobiography, Michaels reveals about his real-life feud with Bret Hart, claiming that Bret did interviews on live television claiming that he [Michaels] was faking his whole injury.^[54]

Michaels portrayed his cocky, vain character with colourful outfits.

At SummerSlam, Michaels officiated the WWF Championship match between WWF Champion The Undertaker and Bret Hart.^[55] The match ended in controversial fashion, with Michaels hitting Undertaker with a chair (unintentionally, as he was aiming for Bret after he spat in his face).^[55] Michaels was then forced to award the championship to his nemesis, Bret Hart.^[55] The next night on Raw, signs of a heel turn started to show as Michaels told the WWF fans what happened at SummerSlam was an accident and that he would deal with the Undertaker when the time came. At WWF One Night Only, held in Birmingham, England in September, Michaels defeated The British Bulldog to capture the WWF European Championship.^[55][56] The fans at the event were so appalled at the result of the match they booed Michaels out of the building, to the extent that they littered the ring with garbage, cementing his second heel turn.^[55][57] With this win, Michaels became the first Grand Slam Champion.^[2] At the October pay-per-view event, In Your House: Badd Blood, Michaels and Undertaker participated in the first Hell in a Cell match. During the match, it saw Michaels fall off the side of the 15-foot (5 m) high structure through a table and saw him as the winner in the match.^[58] The match received a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer.

In the summer, Michaels joined forces with real-life friend, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Hunter's then-girlfriend, Chyna, and Rick Rude to form the stable, D-Generation X (DX).^[59] Moving away from the family-oriented product, this marked the beginning of the WWF Attitude Era.^[60] Michaels continued his rivalry with Bret Hart and his reformed Hart Foundation, which was now a pro-Canada stable. Michaels taunted the group and Canada by engaging in acts, such as blowing his nose with and humping the Canadian Flag. Michaels later claimed the flag desecration was Bret's idea.^[61] Michaels' feud with the Hart Foundation culminated in a championship match at Survivor Series in 1997 against Bret Hart. Michaels came out of this match, dubbed by fans the "Montreal Screwjob", as the WWF Champion.^[62] Michaels now held both the WWF and European championship at the same time. Michaels, however, lost the European Championship to D-Generation X member, Hunter Hearst Hemsley, who often was referred to as Triple H (HHH), when he pinned him during a farcical match, making Triple H the European Champion.^[63]

First retirement (1998–2002)[link]

Michaels was the WWF Commissioner in 1998.

At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Michaels received a legitimate back injury in a Casket match against The Undertaker.^[6] Michaels took a back body drop to the outside of the ring and smashed his lower back on the casket, causing him to herniate two discs and crush one completely.^[6][64] This rendered Michaels unable to compete in the main event of the following month's No Way Out of Texas: In Your House as advertised, and forced him into retirement after losing the WWF Championship to Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV.^[65]

Michaels would continue to make non-wrestling appearances on WWF programming, and on November 23, 1998, replaced Sgt. Slaughter as the WWF Commissioner, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, eventually joining Vince McMahon's group of wrestlers called the Corporation as a villain.^[66] Throughout late 1998 and early 1999, Michaels made regular television appearances on Raw, in which he scheduled matches, throwing around his authority, and sometimes even deciding the outcome of matches.^[67][68][69] On January 4, 1999 on Raw, Michaels re-joined DX as a fan favorite, but disappeared from WWF television for a few months to have back surgery,^[70] and by the time he had returned, DX had broken up.

Michaels made occasional appearances as the WWF Commissioner during the spring and summer of 1999, but remained absent from television until May 15, 2000, upon which he returned on Raw to announce himself as the special guest referee for the Iron Man match between The Rock and Triple H at Judgment Day.^[71] One month later, Michaels briefly reappeared on Raw to hand over the role of Commissioner to Mick Foley and afterwards did not make any in-ring appearances until mid-2002,^[72] appearing only once on WWF television to make a speech at WWF New York during Armageddon 2000.^[73] During this time, believing that his wrestling career was over, Michaels was interested in training individuals who wanted to become professional wrestlers.^[74] He saw potential in using his name and opened the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in 1999, after his lawyer, Skip McCormick, suggested the idea.^[74] Michaels left the academy in 2002,^[74] giving co-founder Rudy Boy Gonzalez sole responsibility due to Michaels' new contract with WWE.^[6] Michaels was also a sportscaster for San Antonio's local news for a short period during his retirement.^[74]

Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–present)[link]

nWo, World Heavyweight Champion & Feud with Evolution (2002–2005)[link]

In 2002, Michaels returned to WWE television after 18 months of absence. On the June 3 episode of Raw, he was announced as a new member of the recently-reformed New World Order (nWo) stable by Kevin Nash.^[75] After the nWo had disbanded, Triple H appeared to make amends with Michaels. This was solidified when Michaels pleaded Triple H to return to Raw.^[76] Later on, they came down to the ring sporting their DX music and attire. When the pair was about to perform their trademark "Suck It" taunt, Triple H turned on Michaels by performing a Pedigree on him.^[76] Continuing the angle, a week later, Triple H attacked Michaels from behind in a parking lot and put his head through a car window, in storyline.^[77] In response, Michaels challenged Triple H to "a fight" (a non-sanctioned match) at SummerSlam,^[78] which Triple H accepted, laying the foundation for a rivalry that would last for several years. In his first official wrestling match since WrestleMania XIV, Michaels won at SummerSlam, but was attacked by Triple H with a sledgehammer after the match.^[79] At Survivor Series, Michaels won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in the first-ever Elimination Chamber match.^[80] Michaels' reign as champion came to an end a month later when he lost the championship to Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match, a series of three matches in which wrestlers attempt to win the majority of matches, at Armageddon.^[81]

Michaels' match with Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XIX in March 2003 was his first match at a WrestleMania since WrestleMania XIV in March 1998.

Michaels then began a rivalry with Chris Jericho, after Jericho claimed that he was the next Shawn Michaels.^[82] On January 13, 2003, after Jericho won a battle royal to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels,^[83] who had already been named number one. At the Royal Rumble, Jericho, with the help of Christian, eliminated Michaels.^[84] Michaels defeated Jericho at WrestleMania XIX.^[85]

As a part of an ongoing feud with Triple H, the two competed alongside Chris Benoit in the main event match at WrestleMania XX for the World Heavyweight Championship. The former DX partners both came up short in the match, however, as Benoit won the championship.^[86] At Bad Blood in June, Michaels lost to Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match.^[86] Four months later, he lost a World Heavyweight championship match against Triple H, after Edge interfered at Taboo Tuesday, when the fans voted for him ahead of Edge and Chris Benoit to face Triple H one more time.^[87] Following this, Michaels was out of action for a few months with a legitimate torn meniscus.^[2][88]

At the Royal Rumble in 2005, Michaels competed in the Rumble match and eliminated Kurt Angle. In seeking revenge, Angle re-entered the ring and eliminated Michaels, and thus placed him in an ankle lock submission hold, outside of the ring.^[89] Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at WrestleMania 21, which Angle accepted when he appeared on Raw to attack Michaels.^[90] The following week on Raw, Marty Jannetty and Michaels had a one time reunion as The Rockers and defeated La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier).^[91] Three days later on SmackDown!, Angle defeated Jannetty, after Angle made Jannetty submit to the ankle lock.^[92] To send a "message" to Michaels, Angle also humiliated Michaels' former manager, Sensational Sherri, when he applied the ankle lock hold on her.^[93] At WrestleMania 21 in April, Angle defeated Michaels by submission, again with an ankle lock.^[89] Two months later, at a WrestleMania 21 rematch, Michaels defeated Angle at the Vengeance pay-per-view event.^[94]

Michaels performing his signature pose.

Following the events of WrestleMania 21, the next night on Raw, Muhammad Hassan and Daivari came out to confront and assault Michaels.^[95] On the April 11 episode of Raw, Michaels approached authority figure Eric Bischoff, in which he demanded a handicap match with Hassan and Daivari, a match consisting of one wrestler or team of wrestlers facing off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as two against one, or three against two. Bischoff refused to schedule the match, but informed Michaels to find a partner and he would grant him the match. Michaels then made a plea for Hulk Hogan to come back and team with him.^[96] On the April 18 episode of Raw, Hassan again led an attack on Michaels until Hogan appeared to save Michaels and accept his offer.^[97] At Backlash, Hassan and Daivari lost to Hogan and Michaels when Daivari was pinned.^[98] On the July 4 episode of Raw, Michaels and Hulk Hogan had a tag team match, which they won.^[99] During the post-match pose, Michaels hit Hogan with his superkick, knocking Hogan to the ground and making Michaels a villain for the first time since returning in 2002.^[99] The following week on Raw, Michaels appeared on Piper's Pit where he superkicked Roddy Piper and then challenged Hogan to a match at SummerSlam.^[100][101] Hogan defeated Michaels at SummerSlam, and after the match Michaels extended his hand to him, saying "I needed to know, and I found out" and he and Hogan shook hands. Michaels left the ring to allow Hogan to celebrate with the crowd, and Michaels once again became a fan favorite.^[102]

D-Generation X reunion (2006–2007)[link]

Triple H and Michaels as DX in 2006.

On the December 26, 2005 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon lauded Michaels for his part in the "Montreal Screwjob". Michaels said he was only being loyal to his company, he had moved on, and McMahon should move on as well. McMahon then began setting unusual stipulations for Michaels' matches and interfering on behalf of Michaels' opponents.^[103] During the Royal Rumble, McMahon made his way to the ring, and as Michaels stared at McMahon, Shane McMahon made a surprising appearance, eliminating Michaels from the match.^[104] On the February 13 episode of Raw, McMahon tried unsuccessfully to force Michaels to sign retirement papers.^[105] The following week, Michaels won a handicap match against the Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky and Mikey) and after the match, Michaels' former partner, Marty Jannetty, came down to help Michaels from the assault by the Spirit Squad. After the two reunited, McMahon offered Jannetty a contract if he "kissed his ass."^[106] The following week, Jannetty refused McMahon's offer and instead took Chris Masters' "Masterlock challenge."^[107] Michaels tried to help Jannetty, which ultimately resulted in Shane attacking Michaels and forcing him to kiss his father's ass.^[107] At Saturday Night's Main Event, Shane defeated Michaels in a Street Fight, a match without disqualifications and where scoring conditions can occur anywhere, after he applied a sharpshooter on Michaels, which led to McMahon immediately ordering for the bell to be rung, even though Michaels did not submit, which was an allusion to the "Montreal Screwjob".^[108] Despite interference from the Spirit Squad and Shane, Michaels defeated McMahon at WrestleMania 22 in a No Holds Barred match, a match where there are no disqualifications.^[105] At Backlash, The McMahons (Vince and Shane) defeated Michaels and "God" in a tag team match, with help from the Spirit Squad in a no disqualification match.^[109] On the May 22 episode of Raw, the Squad was scripted to injure Michaels' knee.^[110] This was angle was written so that Michaels could have surgery on his knee, which had been legitimately injured for some time.^[111]