WrestleMania XI was the eleventh annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event held by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on April 2, 1995. The event featured seven matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the WWF.

The main event was a match between NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who faced Bam Bam Bigelow as the result of an argument that took place between the two at the 1995 Royal Rumble. Taylor won the match, which led to Bigelow being kicked out of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. Shawn Michaels faced WWF Champion Diesel in a title match but was unable to win the championship. Jeff Jarrett retained his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon. Owen Hart and his mystery partner, Yokozuna challenged The Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team Championship and won the title belts.

The match between Taylor and Bigelow brought the WWF mainstream press coverage. The reactions to the match were mixed; some people thought that Taylor performed surprisingly well for a non-wrestler. Others thought that the WWF pushing a football player to defeat a wrestler made professional wrestling look bad. Reviews of the event as a whole have also been mixed, and the event has been called both the worst WrestleMania of all time and the event that saved the WWF.

Production[link]

Special Olympian Kathy Huey sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful" during the event.^[1] Prior to Lawrence Taylor's match against Bam Bam Bigelow, Salt-n-Pepa sang Whatta Man. Several other celebrities also had roles at WrestleMania. Nicholas Turturro, one of the stars of NYPD Blue, conducted interviews and served as a guest ring announcer. Jonathan Taylor Thomas of television's Home Improvement was a guest timekeeper for the match between Diesel and Shawn Michaels.^[2]

During the event, commentator Jerry Lawler accidentally unplugged some microphone cords. As a result, later he and Vince McMahon had to re-record the English commentary. On September 30, 1995, the event was broadcast as a one-hour special on the FOX Network; it featured the Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels match, and the Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow match.^[3] In addition to the pay-per-view event, the WrestleMania weekend also featured the WWF's Fan Fest, a promotional event that featured wrestlers interacting with fans and signing autographs.^[4]

The WWF released the event on VHS in North America in 1995. The VHS version was then re-released on March 2, 1999.^[5] The event was also released on DVD in North America as part of the WrestleMania Complete Anthology boxed set on November 1, 2005.^[6] In the United Kingdom, the event was released on VHS on July 10, 1995.^[7] Packaged together with WrestleMania XII, it was then released on DVD in the United Kingdom as part of the WWE Tagged Classics line on August 7, 2006.^[8]

Background[link]

The most heavily promoted feud going into the event was between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. At Royal Rumble 1995, Bigelow teamed with Tatanka in the final round of a tournament for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Bigelow was pinned at the end of the match, which led to the crowd heckling him. He responded by pushing NFL player Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting at ringside. Bigelow refused to apologize and instead challenged Taylor to a wrestling match.^[9] Taylor agreed and trained with WWF Champion Diesel to prepare for the match.^[4] The storyline between Bigelow and Taylor brought the WWF much mainstream exposure, as the match was discussed by several news outlets.^[9]

Razor Ramon feuded with Jeff Jarrett over the Intercontinental Championship.

The other main event at WrestleMania was a match for the WWF Championship between Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Diesel had originally entered the WWF as Michaels's bodyguard but later began wrestling and forming a tag team with Michaels. The pair held the WWF Tag Team Championship together in 1994. At Survivor Series 1994, however, Michaels accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. This led to an argument during which Diesel dissolved the tag team and vacated the championship.^[10] Three days later, Diesel defeated Bob Backlund to become the new WWF Champion.^[11] At Royal Rumble 1995, Michaels won the battle royal main event, which earned him a match against Diesel for the title belt at WrestleMania.^[12]

The WWF Intercontinental Championship was also defended at WrestleMania. Jeff Jarrett, the champion, had been feuding with Razor Ramon, the challenger, for several months. At Royal Rumble 1995, Jarrett was accompanied by The Roadie, who interfered on Jarrett's behalf and helped Jarrett win the championship.^[13] To even the sides in the rematch at WrestleMania, Ramon was accompanied by his friend, the 1–2–3 Kid.^[14]

In a match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, The Smoking Gunns defended their title. Their opponents were Owen Hart and a mystery partner. Hart refused to tell anyone the name of his partner, which left the Gunns uncertain who they would be facing and led to much speculation about the identity of the mystery partner.^[15]

Bret Hart faced Bob Backlund in an "I Quit" match at WrestleMania. The feud began the previous summer, when Hart defended the WWF Championship against Backlund. Backlund mistakenly thought he won the match and began celebrating, but Hart pinned him to retain the title. After the match, Backlund turned heel by attacking Hart.^[16] This led to a title match at Survivor Series 1994, in which Backlund won the title from Hart.^[17] Although Backlund soon lost the belt,^[17] the feud continued and Backlund attacked Hart during Hart's match at Royal Rumble 1995.^[18]

Also at Royal Rumble 1995, The Undertaker faced Irwin R. Schyster as part of The Undertaker's feud with Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. During the match, King Kong Bundy, another Corporation member, interfered and enabled the Corporation to steal The Undertaker's urn, which was said to be the source of his power.^[19]

Event[link]

In the opening match, The Allied Powers (Davey Boy Smith and Lex Luger) faced the Blu Brothers (Eli and Jacob). Smith started out on the offensive, but Jacob gained control with a running bulldog throw. The Blus capitalized on the fact that they are identical twins by switching places while the referee was not looking. Luger came into the match near the end and performed a running forearm smash on Eli. Jacob tried to throw Luger with a powerbomb, but Luger tagged in Smith, who performed a sunset flip to pin Jacob and win the match.^[20][21]

The second match featured Razor Ramon, with the 1–2–3 Kid in his corner, facing WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett, who had The Roadie in his corner. Ramon took control at the beginning of the match by using power moves against Jarrett. Jarrett tried to leave the match, but the 1–2–3 Kid forced him back into the ring. Jarrett took advantage of one of Ramon's mistakes to gain the advantage. He applied a sleeper hold on Ramon, who used his strength advantage to escape the move. After Ramon threw Jarrett, the Kid attempted to interfere but was kicked by Jarrett. Ramon jumped off the ropes to attack Jarrett, but Jarrett avoided the move and applied a figure four leglock on Ramon. Ramon reversed the move to place the pressure on Jarrett's legs. He then threw Jarrett to the mat with a suplex from the second rope and prepared to execute the Razor's Edge, his finishing move. The Roadie entered the ring and attacked Ramon, prompting the referee to disqualify Jarrett; because titles cannot change hands on a disqualification, Jarrett retained his championship.^[20][21]

In the next match, The Undertaker faced King Kong Bundy. Ted DiBiase was at ringside holding the urn that his wrestlers had stolen from The Undertaker. Larry Young, a Major League Baseball umpire was the referee for the match. Young, the special referee, was written into the storyline as an out-of-work sports official because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, which had ended at the time of WrestleMania. Also there (legit) was a lockout of the umpires.^[22] The Undertaker took control at the beginning of the match by jumping off the top rope and hitting Bundy. He then performed several clothesline attacks on Bundy. Bundy responded with a clothesline that knocked The Undertaker out of the ring. Seeing DiBiase close, The Undertaker took back his urn. After The Undertaker returned to the ring, DiBiase called Kama, another Corporation member, to the ring. Kama stole the urn, and Bundy attacked The Undertaker in order to let Kama escape backstage. Bundy picked The Undertaker up and powerslammed him to the mat. He then performed an Avalanche splash to squish The Undertaker against the corner of the ring. The Undertaker was unharmed, however, and performed a powerslam and a clothesline on Bundy before pinning him to win the match.^[20][21]

The Smoking Gunns defended their WWF Tag Team Championship in the next match against Owen Hart and his mystery partner, who was revealed to be Yokozuna. The Gunns worked together to control the match at the beginning, but Yokozuna gained control by performing a leg drop on Billy Gunn. Hart attempted to perform a dropkick from the top rope but accidentally hit Yokozuna. The Gunns briefly took control until Yokozuna performed a belly to belly suplex and landed on Billy. He then performed a Banzai Drop, jumping from the second rope and sitting on Billy's chest. Hart tagged in and considered performing the Sharpshooter submission hold; instead, he pinned Billy Gunn to win the title belts for his team.^[20][21]

Pamela Anderson accompanied Diesel to the ring for his match.

The next match, an "I Quit" match, took place between Bret Hart and Bob Backlund, with Roddy Piper as the guest referee. It was explained that, in order to win the match, a wrestler must force his opponent to say "I quit" into a microphone held by Piper. Hart attempted to perform the Sharpshooter early in the match; when Backlund blocked it, Hart executed a figure four leglock instead. Backlund escaped the hold and began trying to injure Hart's arm with an armbar hold. Hart then tried to attack Backlund in the corner of the ring, but Backlund moved and Hart hit his shoulder against the ring post. Backlund tried to perform the crossface chickenwing, his signature submission hold. Hart blocked him and performed the same hold on Backlund instead. Backlund made an unintelligible sound into the microphone, and Piper determined that he had submitted. As a result, the win was awarded to Bret Hart.^[20][21]

In the next match, which was for the WWF Championship, challenger Shawn Michaels was accompanied to the ring by Jenny McCarthy and Diesel, the champion, was escorted by Pamela Anderson. Michaels relied on his quickness in the opening stages, while Diesel used his strength advantage against Michaels. Diesel threw Michaels out of the ring and onto the arena floor, but Michaels later performed a clothesline that knocked Diesel out of the ring. Michaels capitalized on his advantage by performing several aerial moves, including a flying crossbody, flying bulldog throw, and a diving elbow drop. He was unable to pin Diesel, however, so he performed a sleeper hold to wear Diesel down. They brawled outside the ring, after which Michaels performed a superkick, his finishing move, but Sid, Michaels's bodyguard, had the referee distracted and unable to count the pinfall. Diesel recovered and controlled the remainder of the match with power moves before throwing Michaels to the mat with a Jackknife powerbomb and getting the pinfall victory.^[20][21]

The final bout of the event was the main event match between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. Bigelow was accompanied by the members of DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation: King Kong Bundy, Tatanka, Irwin R. Schyster, Kama, and Nikolai Volkoff. To prevent the Corporation members from interfering, Taylor brought several football players: Ken Norton Jr., Chris Spielman, Rickey Jackson, Carl Banks, Reggie White, and Steve McMichael. Taylor gained the advantage early and performed a clothesline that knocked Bigelow out of the ring. Once he returned to the ring, Bigelow took control of the match by kicking Taylor repeatedly and performing a Boston crab submission hold to hurt Taylor's back. Taylor got out of the hold and threw Bigelow with a suplex. Bigelow recovered and performed several headbutts on Taylor before executing a moonsault flip to knock Taylor down to the mat. Taylor began to take control of the match again, but Bigelow kicked him in the back of the head and then performed a headbutt from the top rope. Bigelow was unable to pin Taylor, however. Taylor climbed to the second rope, jumped off, and used his forearm to hit Bigelow. He then covered Bigelow to win the match.^[20][21][23]

Aftermath[link]

Shortly after WrestleMania, Diesel offered Shawn Michaels a rematch. Michaels blamed Sid for the loss and informed him that he would not be needed during the match. Sid got angry and attacked Michaels until Diesel saved him.^[24] Diesel and Michaels became allies once again, and they teamed up to win the WWF Tag Team Championship later that year.^[25] Diesel feuded with Sid and defeated him at the In Your House 1 and In Your House 2 pay-per-view events.^[26] The animosity lingered between Michaels and Sid, but they did not face each other to settle the feud until the September 11, 1995 episode of Monday Night Raw.^[27]

The Smoking Gunns were unable to retain the World Tag Team Championship from Owen Hart and Yokozuna.

Bam Bam Bigelow was embarrassed after losing to Lawrence Taylor. To redeem himself, he challenged Diesel to a match for the WWF Championship. During the match, Tatanka turned on Bigelow and caused him to get pinned. Bigelow was kicked out of the Million Dollar Corporation and attacked by DiBiase's wrestlers. Diesel saved Bigelow from the attack, which led to a friendship being formed between the two.^[28] Bigelow defeated Tatanka in a dark match at In Your House 2.^[26] At King of the Ring 1995, Sid, DiBiase's latest addition to the Corporation, teamed with Tatanka in a loss to the team of Diesel and Bigelow.^[29]

Razor Ramon and the 1–2–3 Kid were scheduled to face Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie at In Your House 1 the month after WrestleMania. The Kid sustained a legitimate injury, however, and was unable to compete. As a result, Ramon wrestled a two-on-one handicap match against Jarrett and The Roadie instead.^[30] Ramon won the bout, but the feud continued. At In Your House 2, The Roadie faced the 1–2–3 Kid and defeated him.^[26] Ramon and Jarrett wrestled several times, and Ramon regained the Intercontinental Championship on May 19, 1995.^[31] He held the belt for three days before dropping it back to Jarrett.^[32]

After WrestleMania, Kama melted down The Undertaker's urn and made it into a necklace.^[33] The Undertaker defeated Kama in dark matches at both In Your House 1 and In Your House 2.^[26] He then won a casket match against Kama at SummerSlam 1995 to end the feud.^[34]

The Smoking Gunns were given a rematch for the WWF Tag Team Championship at In Your House 1. Hart pinned Bart Gunn to retain the championship for his team.^[26] Hart and Yokozuna then moved on to face other competition, and the Gunns did not become serious contenders for the title again until late in 1995, when they defeated Hart and Yokozuna to regain the championship.^[35]

Reception[link]

The event was attended by 15,000 fans, who paid a total of $750,000 in admission fees. This was down from the previous year's attendance of 18,065,^[36] but the decline could be attributed to the smaller size of the venue for WrestleMania XI.^[37][38] The attendance figure was also lower than the following year's figure of 18,852 fans at WrestleMania XII. The pay-per-view buyrate for WrestleMania XI was 1.3, which was lower than the 1.68 buyrate for WrestleMania X but higher than the 1.2 buyrate for WrestleMania XII.^[36]

Writing for 411mania, columnist Dustin James rated the event as the seventeenth best of the first twenty-three WrestleManias. He stated that the event did not have any truly amazing matches but that Lawrence Taylor put on a solid performance.^[3] John Powell of SLAM! Wrestling rated the event as the worst WrestleMania of all time. The specific concerns he mentioned in his review are Diesel's championship reign and WWF allowing a football player to defeat a wrestler in what he describes as a "sham of a match".^[39] In contrast, Pro Wrestling Illustrated columnist Dave Rosenbaum stated that WrestleMania "saved" the WWF in its feud with rival World Championship Wrestling. He argued that Taylor "looked like a pro" and contributed to an "incredible" match. He also observed that the tag team matches helped rejuvenate an area of wrestling that had been suffering in the WWF and that the match between Michaels and Diesel was a candidate for match of the year.^[4]

Results[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• Official WrestleMania XI website

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]

In 2006, a series of events took place which suggested a reunion of Michaels and Triple H as DX. They began at WrestleMania 22, where both Michaels and Triple H performed the crotch chop, during their matches.^[105] On Raw, the two continued to deliver chops, as Michaels feuded with Vince McMahon and Triple H went for the WWE Championship, repeatedly butting heads with Vince McMahon in the process. On the June 12 episode of Raw, DX officially reunited.^[112] During Triple H's gauntlet match, which had him compete against the Spirit Squad. Michaels came in to help Triple H, and the two did the DX "crotch chops."^[112] At Vengeance, DX defeated the Spirit Squad in a 5–on–2 handicap match.^[113] They also defeated the Spirit Squad at Saturday Night's Main Event in a 5-on-2 elimination match and defeated The McMahons at SummerSlam.^[114] At Unforgiven, DX once again defeated the McMahons and ECW World Champion The Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match.^[115]

At Cyber Sunday, DX took on Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton). The fan-selected referee Eric Bischoff allowed the illegal use of a steel chair to give Rated-RKO the ill-gotten win and the plaudit of being the first tag team to defeat DX in a tag team match since their reformation in June 2006.^[116] At Survivor Series, however, Team DX emerged victorious against Team Rated-RKO in a clean sweep victory.^[117] At New Year's Revolution, Triple H suffered a legitimate torn right quadriceps during their match with Rated-RKO.^[118] Rated-RKO claimed victory over DX, citing Triple H's injury, as the "end" of DX.^[119] On January 15, Michaels lived up to his word of "dealing" with Rated-RKO, from his comments the previous week before,^[120][121] when he took out Randy Orton with a con-chair-to after a handicap match against Edge and Orton.^[122]

Various feuds (2007–2009)[link]

Michaels confronting John Cena on an episode of Raw

On the January 29 episode of Raw, Michaels captured the World Tag Team Championship with WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Rated-RKO.^[123] He then defeated both Edge and Orton in a Triple Threat number one contender's match on another episode of Raw to earn a shot at the WWE Championship.^[124] At WrestleMania 23, Cena retained the championship, after he made Michaels submit to the STFU.^[125] The next night on Raw, Michaels and Cena competed in two back-to-back ten team battle royals, winning the first and losing the titles in the second to The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) when Michaels threw Cena over the top rope.^[126] Michaels' feud with Cena continued and he faced off with Cena, Edge and Randy Orton in a Fatal Four-Way Match at Backlash for the WWE Championship. Cena retained the championship when Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music on Cena causing him to fall on Orton, which gained Cena the pinfall.^[127]

Michaels then entered a feud with Randy Orton when Orton claimed that he could beat Michaels.^[128] The week before their scheduled match at Judgment Day, after Michaels won a match against Edge, Orton interfered, punting Michaels in the head.^[128] Orton assaulted Michaels again, just prior to their match at Judgment Day, interrupting Michaels' interview segment.^[129] Michaels collapsed during the course of their match, causing Orton to win by referee stoppage.^[129] Afterwards, Orton continued the beating, when he performed an RKO to a fallen Michaels. Michaels was then removed out of the ring in a stretcher.^[129] During the feud, Michaels conjured a storyline concussion. This injury was used to keep Michaels out of action, as he required surgery for his knee.^[130] Michaels made his return on the October 8 episode of Raw, performing a superkick to newly-crowned WWE Champion, Randy Orton, during his title ceremony at the end of the show and then celebrating over the knocked-out champion as Vince McMahon watched.^[131] At Cyber Sunday, Michaels was voted by the fans to face Orton for the WWE Championship; though he won via disqualification when Orton hit Michaels with a low blow, which resulted in Orton retaining the championship.^[132] Michaels got another opportunity at the WWE Championship, when he was granted his rematch against Orton at Survivor Series.^[133] In their match, Michaels was banned from using Sweet Chin Music upon request by Orton, referring to as Michaels superkicking Orton week after week.^[134] Michaels lost the match, when Orton performed an RKO for the win.^[133]

Michaels interacting with the fans at WrestleMania XXIV before his match with Ric Flair.

As part of the storyline involving Ric Flair, Michaels faced Flair in a Career Threatening match at WrestleMania XXIV, in which he won by performing Sweet Chin Music and thus ending Flair's career.^{[135] [136]} Afterwards, Batista confronted Michaels about his actions at WrestleMania, calling him selfish and egotistical.^[137] The two faced off at Backlash with Chris Jericho as the guest referee. Michaels won after faking a knee injury and performing Sweet Chin Music.^[138] Jericho then confronted Michaels on this matter, in which Michaels admitted to faking the injury in order to defeat Batista.^[139] Michaels then defeated Jericho at Judgment Day.^[140] At One Night Stand, Michaels lost to Batista in a stretcher match, thus ending their feud.^[141] On the June 9 episode of Raw, Michaels was attacked by Chris Jericho during his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel, being thrown directly through a television screen.^[142] The following week, it was revealed that, within the context of the storyline, Michaels had suffered a detached retina.^[143] At The Great American Bash, a match between Michaels and Jericho was scheduled, in which Jericho assaulted Michaels' eye, which caused Jericho to win by referee stoppage.^[143]

A month later at SummerSlam, Michaels was scripted to announce his retirement from professional wrestling, though the staged rivalry between Jericho and himself continued after Jericho punched Michaels' wife in the face.^[144] On the August 25 episode of Raw, Michaels denounced his decision to retire and challenged Jericho to an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven, which Jericho accepted.^[145] The following week, Michaels and Jericho held a scripted official contract signing for the unsanctioned match. During the contract signing, a confrontation with Jericho occurred.^[146] A predicament ensued when Michaels suffered a small tear on his left triceps,^[146][147] though Michaels was medically cleared to compete in the match.^[146] At Unforgiven, Michaels defeated Jericho, after the referee stopped the match, due to the severity of the beating Michaels was giving Jericho.^[148] It was at the same September event that Jericho replaced CM Punk in the World Heavyweight Championship scramble match, which saw him win the match and become World Heavyweight Champion.^[148] The following month at No Mercy, Michaels met Jericho in a ladder match in which Jericho defended the championship against Michaels.^[149] At the event, Jericho defeated Michaels to retain the title.^[150]

In December 2008, Michaels accepted an offer to become an employee of John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). The storyline was that Michaels had lost his family's personal savings due to the global recession, forcing him to accept JBL's offer of employment.^[151] After failing to secure JBL the World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at the Royal Rumble,^[152] Michaels agreed to take part in an "All or Nothing" match at No Way Out in February.^[153] Michaels won the match, letting Michaels out of his one-year contract with JBL immediately while still receiving full payment.^[154] Michaels became the first person to defeat Vladimir Kozlov on the March 2 episode of Raw, and as a result earned the right to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV in April.^[155] At the event, The Undertaker defeated Michaels to extend his WrestleMania winning streak to 17–0.^[156] After WrestleMania, Michaels took a hiatus from WWE.

Final storylines and retirement (2009–2010)[link]

Michaels reconciles with Bret Hart in January 2010.

Michaels returned to WWE programming in a series of segments that aired on the August 10, 2009 episode of Raw, where he had scripted left the WWE. Triple H met with Michaels at an office cafeteria in Texas where he was working as a chef; throughout the segments, Triple H would try to convince Michaels to return to WWE and reform DX. After several incidents during the segments, Michaels agreed to team with Triple H to face The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase) at SummerSlam.^[157] At the pay-per-view event, DX defeated Legacy.^[158] The two teams would exchange victories, with their feud concluding in October. Two months later, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, DX defeated Chris Jericho and The Big Show to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC).^[159] On the January 4, 2010 episode of Raw, Michaels buried the hatchet with long-time rival Bret Hart, as they shook hands and hugged in the ring. In contrast to the storylines featured on the show, this was in fact a real-life reconciliation which laid to rest animosities surrounding the Montreal Screwjob. While some cast doubts on its sincerity, both men have confirmed that it was indeed genuine.^[160][161] DX lost the Unified Tag Team Championship in a Triple Threat match to the team of The Miz and Big Show on the February 8 episode of Raw, the match also included The Straight Edge Society (CM Punk and Luke Gallows).^[162] At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Michaels cost The Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event.^[163] At WrestleMania XXVI, Michaels lost to The Undertaker and, as a result, was forced to retire due to the match stipulation, the same way HBK ended Ric Flair's career.^[164] The following night, on the March 29 episode of Raw, Michaels gave an emotional farewell speech, departing with the familiar sentence, "Shawn Michaels has left the building."^[165]

Hall of Famer and part-time appearances (2010–present)[link]

Michaels at WrestleMania XXVII, with other 2011 WWE Hall of Fame inductees.

On the December 14 episode of Raw, Michaels won the Slammy award for Moment of the Year for his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI. Michaels made an appearance via satellite to accept the award.^[166] Three days later, he announced a long-term deal with WWE, where he will serve in an ambassadorial role.^[167][168] Michaels made his first live appearance at a WWE show since the night after WrestleMania at the December 11 Tribute to the Troops taping, where he and Triple H made a special appearance for a one-night only DX reunion.^[169] Michaels appeared on the January 10, 2011, episode of Raw, where it was announced he was to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2011. After being ridiculed by Alberto Del Rio, Michaels hit Del Rio with Sweet Chin Music.^[170] On the March 28 episode of Raw, Michaels addressed Triple H and The Undertaker about their match at WrestleMania XXVII.^[171] Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 2 by Triple H. The two were also joined by Kevin Nash (who had returned to WWE previously to participate in the recent Royal Rumble) and Sean Waltman, reuniting the majority of The Kliq.^[172] He further made an appearance on the June 27 episode of Raw where he was confronted by CM Punk, and superkicked David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty. Later that night when Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance and was interrupted and threatened by Drew McIntyre, Michaels superkicked McIntyre.^[173] He made another appearance on February 13, 2012 to confront his friend Triple H about not accepting The Undertaker's challenge. He also declared the fact that he was the special guest referee for the match between The Undertaker and Triple H inside Hell In A Cell at Wrestlemania XXVIII.

Personal life[link]

Hickenbottom's marriage to his first wife, Theresa Wood, was brief and ended in divorce, but was amicably settled.^[174] He is now married to former WCW Nitro Girl Rebecca Hickenbottom (née Curci), who went by the stage name of Whisper. They were married on March 31, 1999 at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada in a small ceremony.^[175] The only people present were the couple and an Elvis impersonator. The couple have a son, Cameron Kade (born on January 15, 2000)^[176] and a daughter, Cheyenne Michelle (born on August 19, 2004 ).^[177] His cousin Matt Bentley is also a professional wrestler having wrestled in TNA and WWE.^[178]

Hickenbottom has several tattoos. He has a tattoo of a heart with a sword through it, that has a snake around it in the shape of an "S."^[179] He has one on his wedding finger, that has an R for his wife Rebecca.^[179] Another in his left wrist, is a bracelet design that says "Cameron" for his son and "Cheyenne" for his daughter.^[179] On his left leg he has a picture of his wife,^[179] the other leg has a picture of the state of Texas.^[179] Finally, he has a small broken heart with the letters "HBK" above it, tattooed on his right hip.^[179]

In 1996, Hickenbottom posed in a non-nude layout for Playgirl magazine.^[180] It was not until after he posed that he discovered that Playgirl has a mostly homosexual readership, which was seen as humorous by his fellow wrestlers.^[180] He is ambidextrous, which caused him problems as a boy playing football, as he had trouble differentiating between his right and left directions.^[10] He uses his right hand to draw and color and his left hand to write.^[10] He typically uses his right leg when performing Sweet Chin Music, but has been known to use either arm when performing his signature elbow drop. Hickenbottom is a fan of the San Antonio Spurs. He has been seen wearing Spurs merchandise and attending Spurs games.^[181] John "Bradshaw" Layfield made a reference to Hickenbottom being a season ticket holder during the 2007 Royal Rumble.^[182]

Hickenbottom is a born again Christian. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, but became a non-denominational Christian under the influence of his wife Rebecca.^[1] His ring attire often incorporated cross symbols, and while on the way to the ring, he would normally get down on his knees and mouth a prayer while his pyrotechnics went off. He has been seen in the congregation during a televised service of John Hagee's Cornerstone Church in his hometown of San Antonio, where he is also a Bible teacher.^[1] He also appeared on a Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) program along with fellow professional wrestler Sting.^[183]

In wrestling[link]

Michaels performing Sweet Chin Music on Chris Jericho

Michaels performing a diving elbow drop

Michaels applying a modified figure four leglock on Jeff Hardy

Michaels' entrance at WrestleMania XXV in a match against The Undertaker.

• Finishing moves
  • Modified figure four leglock^[184] – was used rarely after 2008
  • Sweet Chin Music^[2] (Superkick, with theatrics)
  • Teardrop Suplex^[185] (Leg hook Saito suplex) – 1992–1993
• Signature moves
  • Arm trap crossface^[186] – 2007–2010
  • Backhand chop^[186]
  • Belly to back suplex^[185]
  • Diving elbow drop, with theatrics^[1]
  • Dropkick^[185]
  • Figure-four leglock^[185]
  • Flying forearm smash followed by a kip-up^[1]
  • Inverted atomic drop^[1]
  • Moonsault,^[1] sometimes while springboarding to the outside
  • Skin the cat^[85]
  • Slingshot crossbody^[185]
• Stables and Tag Teams
  • The Rockers
  • Two Dudes with Attitude
  • The Kliq
  • D-Generation X
  • The Corporation

• Managers
  • Diesel
  • Jose Lothario
  • Sensational Sherri^[18]
  • Sycho Sid
  • Rick Rude
  • Luna Vachon
  • Triple H
  • Hornswoggle

• Nicknames
  • "The Heartbreak Kid (HBK)"^[2][185]
  • "Sexy Boy"^[2][185]
  • "The Showstopper"^[2][185]
  • "The Most Honored Champion In WWE History"^[2][185]
  • "The Headliner"^[1][185]
  • "The Main Event"^[2][185]
  • "The Icon"^[1]
  • "Mr. WrestleMania"^[1]
  • "Mr. Hall of Fame"
  • "The Best Of The Best"^[2][185]

• Entrance themes
  • "Sexy Boy" by Sensational Sherri, Jim Johnston, Jimmy Hart and J.J. Maguire (February 15, 1992–January 30, 1993)
  • "Sexy Boy" by Shawn Michaels, Jim Johnston, Jimmy Hart and J.J. Maguire (February 13, 1993–November 9, 1997; November 30, 1998–June 26, 2000; June 3, 2002–June 12, 2006; April 9, 2007–April 5, 2009; March 26, 2010–present)
  • "Break It Down" by The DX Band (November 10, 1997–March 29, 1998; June 19, 2006–April 2, 2007; August 24, 2009–March 1, 2010) (Used while a member of D-Generation X)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• American Wrestling Association
  • AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)^[8] – with Marty Jannetty

• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time)^[8] – with Marty Jannetty

• Continental Wrestling Association
  • AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times)^[1][8] – with Marty Jannetty

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho
  • PWI Match of the Year (1993)^[187] vs. Marty Jannetty on Monday Night Raw on May 17
  • PWI Match of the Year (1994)^[188] vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X
  • PWI Match of the Year (1995)^[6] vs. Diesel at WrestleMania XI
  • PWI Match of the Year (1996)^[6] vs. Bret Hart in an Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII
  • PWI Match of the Year (2004)^[187] vs. Chris Benoit and Triple H at WrestleMania XX
  • PWI Match of the Year (2005)^[187] vs. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21
  • PWI Match of the Year (2006)^[187] vs. Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 22
  • PWI Match of the Year (2007)^[187] vs. John Cena on Raw on April 23
  • PWI Match of the Year (2008)^[187] vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV
  • PWI Match of the Year (2009)^[189] vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV
  • PWI Match of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker in a Career vs. Streak match at WrestleMania XXVI
  • PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2010)^[190]
  • PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1995, 1996)^[188]
  • PWI ranked him #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1996^[191]
  • PWI ranked him #10 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[192]
  • PWI ranked him #33 of the Top 100 Tag Teams of the "PWI Years" with Marty Jannetty in 2003^[192]

• Texas All-Star Wrestling
  • TASW Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times)^[8] – with Paul Diamond

• Texas Wrestling Alliance
  • TWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[1][8]

Michaels as WWF Tag Team Champion during his reign with Diesel.

• World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWF Championship (3 times)^[8]
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[8]
  • WWF European Championship (1 time)^[193]
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (3 times)^[8]
  • WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (5 times)^[194] – with Diesel (2), Steve Austin (1), John Cena (1), and Triple H (1)
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time)^[195] – with Triple H (1)
  • Royal Rumble (1995, 1996)^[8]
  • Fourth Triple Crown Champion
  • First Grand Slam Champion^[8]
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)
  • Slammy Award for Best Slammin' Jammin' Entrance (1996)
  • Slammy Award for Best Threads (1996)
  • Slammy Award for Squared Circle Shocker (1996) Won for collapsing; Owen Hart accepts the award for making Michaels collapse
  • Slammy Award for Master of Mat Mechanics (1996)
  • Slammy Award for Match of the Year (1996) vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at SummerSlam
  • Slammy Award for Leader of the New Generation (1996)
  • Slammy Award for Best Finisher (1997)
  • Slammy Award for Match of the Year (1997) vs. Bret Hart in an Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII
  • Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2008) vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV
  • Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV
  • Slammy Award for Moment of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI

^ In October 1990, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty defeated The Hart Foundation for the title. Despite winning the match, the win and reign are not recognized by WWE, as the ring ropes broke and the match was not aired on television. As a result, Michaels is only officially recognized as a 5-time World Tag Team Champion.

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 5 Star Match (1994) vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X.
  • 5 Star Match (1997) vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell at Badd Blood.
  • Best Babyface (1996)^[196]
  • Feud of the Year (2004) vs. Triple H and Chris Benoit^[196]
  • Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho^[196]
  • Match of the Year (1994) vs. Razor Ramon in a Ladder match at WrestleMania X^[196]
  • Match of the Year (2008) vs. Chris Jericho in a Ladder match at No Mercy^[196]
  • Match of the Year (2009) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV^[196]
  • Match of the Year (2010) vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI^[197]
  • Most Charismatic (1995, 1996)^[196]
  • Tag Team of the Year (1989) with Marty Jannetty as The Rockers^[196]
  • Worst Feud of the Year (2006) with Triple H vs. Shane and Vince McMahon^[196]
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2003)^[198]

See also[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• Texas Wrestling Academy

References[link]