10 Wrestlers Who Were Punished For Breaking Kayfabe

By Scott Fried /

9. Shawn Michaels

While the two have patched things up in recent years, it's no understatement to say that, in the mid-1990s, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart absolutely hated each other. They were feuding on TV at the time as well, and while the animosity made things more exciting, it also made the situation particularly volatile. The two had a verbal exchange on an episode of Raw in 1997, but Michaels went off-script and commented that Bret had been having "Sunny days" lately - implying that Bret was having an affair with Sunny. Needless to say, Hart wasn't happy. A few weeks later, things boiled over. Hart confronted Michaels backstage, and the two ended up getting into a skirmish. The fight was separated, but most agreed that "The Hitman" got the better of HBK. After that, a disgruntled Michaels took a leave of absence from the company. He wasn't officially punished, but the whole incident certainly didn't work out in his favor.