7 Wrestlers Shawn Michaels Refused To Lose Against
The Heartbreak Kid lays down for absolutely nobody... especially not these guys.
Let's cut right to the chase; Shawn Michaels was a dick in the 1990s. The Heartbreak Kid experienced one of wresting's greatest retribution stories in the second phase of his career from 2002 onwards, but from the moment Marty Jannetty cowardly tried to escape him by jumping through the Barber Shop window until his initial retirement (and beyond), Michaels was widely regarded as wrestling's biggest baby.
His matches were fantastic, whether he was up against similarly athletic performers or big stiffs. Michaels was deserving of his position on top from an ability point of view, but neurosis and paranoia meant that he would stoop to pretty low levels politically to make sure he stayed there.
In truth, it is still fairly difficult to accept a number of these rumours. Us keyboard warriors have no true idea of the political workings in a professional wrestling promotion, but part of me believes that if those in charge decide an individual is beating another, there is little either man can do about it.
Still, the evidence against Michaels on a number of occasions in the 1990s are pretty damning. He may have found God, but before doing so HBK wouldn't be found dead staring at the lights for these guys. Well, except one, but I guess we have a Deadman to thank for that...
7. Dean Douglas
Shawn Michaels has a pretty shoddy history of forfeiting titles, choosing to walk away from a championship reign as opposed to putting someone over to take the belt forward. One such example came way back in 1995, when HBK forfeited the Intercontinental Championship to Dean Douglas, better known to the wrestling world as Shane Douglas.
The story behind this forfeiture is a little murky, but the official line was that Michaels got into a number of altercations with some marines and found himself unable to compete. The truth is surely going to be a little less cut and dry, and most reports suggest that despite the scuffle with the marines Michaels was more then able to work the match.
The problem stemmed from HBK's refusal to lose to Douglas and drop the title, so he chose to forfeit the strap instead. Douglas' reign lasted all of 11 minutes, dropping the title to Razor Ramon (coincidentally a good friend of, yes, Shawn Michaels).