8 Most Pathetic Examples Of Backstage Politics In Wrestling

4. Shawn Michaels Wins The European Title

Ahead of WWF One Night Only, the British Bulldog vowed to defeat Shawn Michaels in honour of his dying sister. At WWF One Night Only, Shawn Michaels defeated the British Bulldog. This was pathetic on multiple levels - and mostly because it really didn’t need to happen. 

The British Bulldog was not a remote political threat. It wasn’t 1992 anymore; he hadn’t headlined a proper pay-per-view singles match since King Of The Ring 1996, and was nowhere close to a main event run stateside. “Stateside” is key here; Bulldog remained very over in the UK, and, pre-Attitude Era boom, it was probably a good idea to keep it that way. The WWF - at the time - needed the market. The company did not know the extent to which things were about to change. 

The European title was beneath the Intercontinental title, which Michaels had outgrown two years earlier. He didn’t need the title and was never in a million years going to drop it in the time-honoured tradition. Not only did Michaels simply not do this as a matter of course, this was the third most important of three singles titles. Michaels did not drop it in the time-honoured tradition. He did a jig when pretending to reverse an Irish whip in a comedy match against Triple H. 

One Night Only was a pay-per-view shown only in the United Kingdom and Canada. Michaels would technically have done a job, but if that few people see it, who cares? 

Michaels reasoned that, in addition to building his transgressive new character, a win in Birmingham would have fuelled huge interest in a return match. Perhaps everybody is too cynical about this shocking surprise finish. Shawn had a year-long masterplan, the ultimate beneficiary of which was Davey Boy! He was just looking out for him!