10 Most Inspirational Wrestling Stars Of All Time
9. Shawn Michaels
Written out of wrestling with a supposedly career-ending back injury in 1998, just as the Attitude Era was hitting full swing, Shawn Michaels wasn’t missed by many backstage in the WWF. The truth was that the Heartbreak Kid was one of the most unpopular guys in the locker room, obnoxious and arrogant, with a drug problem that made him weak and cruel.
Michaels had the backing of the office - Vince McMahon was one of the Showstopper’s biggest fans - and of his little cabal of cronies, the Kliq, but most of the rest of the boys despised him. Had he not been who he was, naturally talented and with so much stroke behind the scenes, he’d had been future endeavoured long before.
That changed during the four years he was out of the game. A moment of clarity while pilled up and half passed out on his sofa gave him the impetus he needed to kick the drugs and get his life at home. Finding God helped - whether you believe that there’s a Supreme Being out there looking after his chosen people, or whether you believe that recovering addicts need to grab hold of something bigger than them, there’s no denying that Shawn Michaels completely turned his life around.
That newfound strength of will and strength of character brought him back to wrestling, where he worked a smarter, more creative style that earned him more plaudits than he’d ever received before his enforced sabbatical.
Right now, the Heartbreak Kid is retired through choice and the happiest he’s ever been, having left behind a locker room full of men and women who loved and admired him, and having gained a reputation as arguably the greatest professional wrestler of all time.
In 2016, Shawn Michaels is one of the poster boys for recovery, and a phenomenal inspiration for anyone wondering if they’ve burned too many bridges to ever go home again.