Story: At a special event put on to honour The Rock's family, Shawn Michaels was way out of line with his attitude, insulting Rocky's grandmother and generally acting like a pretty horrible dude. The incident supposedly occurred during the late-90's, which is in line with the various personal demons that HBK was battling, hooked on alcohol and drugs. After the incident, The Rock was furious with Michaels, and the pair haven't seen eye-to-eye since. Even more baffling for The Rock was that Shawn refused to apologise for his behaviour, blowing off assertions that he had been over the top. This blatant show of disrespect directly led to Dwayne Johnson refusing to work with Michaels at a later date. Why People Believe It: Let's be honest, Shawn Michaels was a difficult person to be around in the late-90's. Chris Jericho notes in one of his books that Michaels was routinely out of it backstage, which only led to his life threatening to spiral out of control. It wasn't until the man became a born again Christian that he started to get things back on track. Should We Believe It: Whilst 'hate' may be a terribly strong word, it's very likely that The Rock disliked Michaels intensely for his behaviour and disrespectful attitude towards his grandmother. Pictures surfacing online over the past few years seem to suggest that both men have patched things up, and Michaels himself is very open about apologising for the way he was in the late-90's.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.