10. Shawn Michaels "Loses His Smile" / Rocky Maivia Wins WWF Intercontinental Championship - February 13, 1997
By 1997, Shawn Michaels' primadonna attitude and WWE's "Attitude direction were well-established. However, on February 13, 1997's special one-time edition of "Thursday Raw Thursday," Shawn Michaels vacated the WWF Championship, explaining to the crowd that due to a severe knee injury, he would possibly be forced to retire. Of course, politically, the "knee injury" was seen by top WWF Championship contender Bret Hart as a slap in the face as Michaels was slated to lose the WWF Championship to Hart at Wrestlemania 13. Saying that he was also taking time off to "find his smile again," Michaels quickly returned after seeing Dr. James Andrews for knee surgery. Of course, throughout the time that Michaels was away, Bret Hart cut promos on live television claiming that Michaels' injury was illegitimate. Of course, this heat led to the DX versus Hart Foundation feud, which saw angst between Hart and Michaels escalate to the point of Survivor Series '97's "Montreal Screwjob." Now, of course, had Michaels never "lost his smile" and done business with Bret Hart would a series of events been kicked off that led to the development of the "Mr. McMahon" character that caused a key swing in WWE's business. And, yes. If Rocky Maivia would've never defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Thursday Raw Thursday, he never would've "sucked" he never would've truly been told to "die," and, yeah...we all know the rest. Know our damn roles, shut our damn mouths, make him millions of dollars richer and then go watch Hercules. Exactly.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
